Dell Outlet

[DrPublo]

Has anyone purchased a laptop through Dell Outlet (available through Dell.com, just look for the link)? It appears that you can puchase some refurbished stuff there for a few hundred off what they would cost new (for example, maybe a $1400 laptop for like $1150).

Are there horror stories associated with Dell Outlet? Anything to beware? How does the warranty and future support compare to new products? Any help in this regard is appreciated.

Thanks.

The Doc

[TacoVendor]

I routinely buy equipment from the Dell Outlet for business use. Compared to new equipment I have really found no difference in the operation of any of it.

That said, with Dell laptops you will definitely want to purchase a 3 year warranty. If you can deal with not having the computer for a few days then do the mail-in warranty, if you cannot be without it then purchase the 3 day on site 24 hour response warranty. 3 laptops (same model) that I purchased in 2000 each had the main system board fail in the last year of the warranty. 2 others (different models than above) had hard drives fail the last year of the warranty. The few hundred dollars spent on the 3 year warranty was easily worth it. Typical life span and usefulness of a laptop is around the 3 year range anyway.

The only real drawback of buying refurbished is waiting for the right laptop with the right options to pop up. Poke at their list early in the mornings to find the best deals. Many in the business community do so and snatch up the best ones within minutes (sometimes seconds) of them being put online. Make sure you have setup your Dell login before you try to get into the race, you only get 15 minutes from the time you put the system into your cart to actually make the purchase.

[benfranklin]

I bought a desktop there, no problems. About $500 for a P4-2800 fully loaded, 2 DVD drives, big HD, lots of memory, upgraded video card, etc.

As previous poster said, you just have to keep checking for the right configuration and price.