Tecra Laptops

[Roy_J]

I'm looking at purchasing a refurbished M10-S3401 model and would like to know if it is worth the $400 or so discount from a new model.

Are these models prone to problems? I don't see too many other models available besides this model.

Are there any reliable vendors online that I check for other models?

Thanks!

Roy

[Pensacola_Tiger]

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Roy_J wrote:

I'm looking at purchasing a refurbished M10-S3401 model and would like to know if it is worth the $400 or so discount from a new model.

Are these models prone to problems? I don't see too many other models available besides this model.

Are there any reliable vendors online that I check for other models?

Thanks!

Roy

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Buying a used or refurbished laptop can be a moneysaving option, or it could be a nightmare.  It depends on who did the 'refurbishing'.  Generally, I would not recommend that you buy a refurbished computer from any place other than the original manufacturer.  I have bought two laptops and a desktop from IBM/Lenovo, and a laptop from Apple and have had no problems.  I would expect that you will have a similar experience with Dell or Toshiba. Just be certain that you are at the manufacturer's website.  This pretty much disqualifies any seller on eBay and outfits like TigerDirect.

[Techman]

Toshiba recertified should have recertified on the product sticker on the bottom and will have a B at the very end of the part number.

[Roy_J]

The only thing I can tell is that it is from TigerDirect and says the refurbished warranty is from Toshiba:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4817090&csid=ITD&body=MAI...

If Toshiba is behind the warranty, then I assume Toshiba did the refurbishing and TigerDirect purchased a pallet of these systems from Toshiba and selling at a markup?

I've never purchased a refurbished computer before. The only thing I ever purchased refurbished was a Garmin GPS which was in brand new condition and has been working flawlessly. Maybe I'm spoiled?

[Pensacola_Tiger]

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Roy_J wrote:

The only thing I can tell is that it is from TigerDirect and says the refurbished warranty is from Toshiba:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4817090&csid=ITD&body=MAI...

If Toshiba is behind the warranty, then I assume Toshiba did the refurbishing and TigerDirect purchased a pallet of these systems from Toshiba and selling at a markup?

I've never purchased a refurbished computer before. The only thing I ever purchased refurbished was a Garmin GPS which was in brand new condition and has been working flawlessly. Maybe I'm spoiled?

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Perhps I do TigerDirect a disservice.  Perhaps they have changed in the last five years.  But my opinion, and it's only an opinion, is based on a very bad experience I had with them. 

As I mentioned, I've had good experiences with Apple and IBM/Lenovo.  The computers I purchased from them looked like brand new machines, just in brown boxes rather than the normal packaging.  All of the accessories were there, and in Apple's case, the warranty was identical to the new machine (no 90 day weasel warranty there).

[Techman]

That looks official for three reasons-

- "The terms refurbished and recertified are used interchangeable to describe products that were returned to their manufacturer, inspected, brought back to original manufacturer’s specification then tested and repackaged for sale."

- The photo of the bottom of the computer shows the sticker and shows the factory reconditioned wording at the top, printed in White text on a black backround.

- The warranty shown matches the warranty that Toshiba offers on reconditioned units, which is 3 months or 90 days.

[Roy_J]

Thanks for all the help!

I've decided to go with a Dell Latitude E6400 from the Dell Outlet site. It is a "scratch and dent". I configured a similar new model from Dell's site and it goes for almost $1900.00. The outlet had it for $989.00 with free 3-5 day shipping.

I also came across a %15 coupon (B8M8?3557ZR7SN) (http://www.xpbargains.com/st_deals.php/Dell_coupons.htm) for Dell outlet latitudes.

The final price was $840.65!

The specs are:

Latitude E6400 Laptop: Intel Core 2 Duo P9500 (2.53GHz, 6M L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB)

4 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz (2 DIMMs)

250 GB Free Fall Sensor Hard Drive (7200 RPM)

NVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M With Express Card

14.1 inch UltraSharp WXGA+ LED Display - Brush Metal Black

Intel WiFi Link 5300 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card

Internal 56K Modem

8X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability

Back-lit Keyboard

9 Cell Primary Battery

Fingerprint Reader Internal

Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module

Integrated Webcam with digital microphone

Lat E6400: 3Yr Basic Ltd Warranty and Mail-In Service