Refurbished HP Envy 17?

[slicedtoad]

I have a friend who I've convinced not to buy a mac book. She needs a 17" laptop for general PC usage, mulitmedia and some light video editing. She's hoping to keep the budget around $1000 and wants something fast enough to last that will also look nice.

The HP Envy 17 looks like it should fit her needs nicely. Actually it should exceed them a bit but that should help to extend it's lifetime.

In the US it isn't priced to bad and can be found around $800-950 with an i7 package. We're in Canada though and the price is apparently double here (wtf hp). Eventually I looked at ebay and found some far more attractive deals:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-ENVY-17-17-3-1080P-i7-2670QM-2-2GHZ-6GB-750GB-BLU-RAY-1GB-ATI-HD7690M-LAPTOP-/360460164015?pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item53ed199baf#ht_3378wt_1397

It's refurbished though and I've never dealt with a refurbished laptop. Anyone have any experience or advice with regards to refurbished laptops? Also tell me if you see any other deals I should be looking at. thanks.

 

[WR2]

What's the difference between buying a refurb laptop from a US dealer as opposed buying a new laptop from a US dealer?

 

[WR2]

OK, I guess the price is the main thing.
It's unfortunate it's got the bigger graphics cards that is a lot more than your friend needs.

At least it got refurbished by HP (maybe) or a manufacturer-approved vendor (probable). And it has a 90 day warranty. That 7 day return policy isn't terrible.

CONDITION & WARRANTY
Manufacturer (HP) refurbished item in HP box
-> 90 days warranty through HP

It's a bit of a gamble. If it works out well, you're a hero.
If it bombs - at least you get a couple days to figure out if you made a mistake.

 

[slicedtoad]

7 day? I only see a 14 day return policy.
I suppose the gpu is a bit much. Looking around at other 17" second or third gen i7 laptops I can't find anything more suitable at a lower cost though.

HP's customer service is pretty bad so I'd want to avoid using their 90 day warranty but most problems show themselves within the first few days in my experience.

I'll ask my friend if a refurb is something she'd consider. If not, what's your opinion on the sony vaios? An F series one with the 2670qm and a blu-ray drive comes to $1,172.74 after taxes, shipping and the coupon code. It's only 1600x900 but I don't think that'd make a huge difference to her. It's 4GB of ram with a 520m. 8GB of ram costs $130 but I'm pretty sure 4GB should be plenty, right?.

 

[WR2]

7 day? I only see a 14 day return policy.

If you look below at the Payment/Shipping/Terms & Conditions in the Colorado Computer Outlet section. You'll find:
"RETURN POLICY: All of our items come with a 7 day Total Satisfaction Guarantee. Return any item within 7 days from the delivery date for a full refund less shipping costs "

I know it says something different above - but you want to have it made clear what the real terms are.

 

[WR2]

The only alternative I've run across is a HP Probook 4730s $CAD989
Core i7 2670QM CPU, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD and 17.3" 1600x900 anti-glare LCD w/ HD 6490 graphics card.
No Blu-Ray drive. 4GB of RAM is probably enough but you can add 4GB more RAM for about $30

HP Probook 4730s Review (not an identical match - model above has better CPU/HDD for example)
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-HP-ProBook-4730s-LH335EA-LH343EA-Notebook.64146.0.html

 

[WR2]

ASUS A73SD 17" Notebook $900
Core i7 2670QM CPU, 4GB RAM, 750GB HDD and 17.3" 1600x900 LCD w/ GT610M graphics card.

ASUS K73SV-DH51 17" Notebook $748
Core i5-2430M 2.4GHz, 4GB RAM, 750GB HDD, 17.3" 1600x900 LCD w/ GeForce GT 540M graphics, Blu-ray Player/DVDRW.
I know it's i5 dual core - but it will still do a good job on the workload you describe.

 

[slicedtoad]

hmm... ok I'll run these by her. Thanks for the help.

 

[slicedtoad]

Best answer selected by slicedtoad.