Refurbished Computers
While I never have been a home user of refurbished or second hand kit, there are those who do and there do appear to be some bargains to be had. For some reason, I get the sense that computing and photographic hardware seems to heading more upmarket as time goes on so it may be that this becomes the only way of getting cheaper computers unless you stick with Chromebooks and their like. Interestingly, the now defunct Micro Mart magazine did a feature on the subject and even Apple has legitimised the idea with its presence.
Manufacturers
With the premium reputation that Apple has, the chance of bagging any sort of a bargain from them is too good to overlook and they have had a refurbished goods store for longer than many. There are no iPhones here but Macs, iPads and iPods are made available in this way so it is worth a look. The chance of a cheaper Mac of some sort is a tempting idea.
A colleague of mine at work swears by this so much that it is where he looked when buying a laptop for his father. There are home and business sections too so even servers are available along with laptop and desktop PC’s as well as tablets.
Resellers
This is a computer kit reseller who I have never used so far but there have been qualms expressed about their customer service. Like many, they too have a clearance section so it may be worth a look if fancy taking a little risk.
The mainstay of this lot are pre-used computers and they have been around a while too, even if they disappeared from the web for a while at one stage. They also had a shop near Manchester’s Piccadilly train station though I am left wondering if any of the apparent bargains tempted anyone.
Specialists
Giga Refurb
MicroDream
Pure IT Refurbished
Tier1online.com
Itzoo
These have the quality of their work approved by Microsoft themselves so there should be some confidence here. With Microsoft having put Windows XP out to grass, Windows 7 is being promoted on machines with at least Intel Core 2 Duo CPU’s and prices can be very reasonable too.