Essentially everyone who owns either a computer or a laptop will have heard of Dell: the computer manufacturing giant. They are one of the biggest IT manufactures around.
Due to this, it is common for people to mistakenly think that Dell will be expensive to purchase from (via logic such as “Well if they have so many customers, they could easily charge a premium and get away with it”).
And whilst this logic is understandable, thankfully it is misguided: Dell laptops are relatively competitively priced. However despite this, not everyone can afford a brand new laptop. Thankfully there’s a solution, if you know where to look.
Namely, the Dell Outlet.
This is where Dell sell computers and laptops which they deem not to be brand new. This obviously includes refurbished products (in other words, ones which have been reported as faulty, and so completely fixed before being resold), although it isn’t limited to that. Products in the Dell Outlet come under three categories overall:
1. Certified Refurbished – As above, this is where a system has been returned as faulty, and so Dell completely fix it and then completely test it (in some cases, testing it more than new builds!) to ensure that it’s fully fixed.
2. Previously Ordered New – This includes cancelled orders and instances where customers have returned the system without evening using it. So it would be completely new, but it’s being sold at a discount since its box might have been opened!
3. Scratch and Dent – This case is where a system has been scratched or dented when it was being manufactured. And so even though it is cosmetically damaged, the important bits (i.e. its hardware) has no problems at all. Meaning that if you don’t mind minor cosmetic damage, you can get a discounted laptop which is not faulty in any way (other than some aesthetic blemishes).
As you can see, despite the bad name that ‘refurbished’ products get, laptops and computers sold in the Dell Outlet are actually perfectly safe to buy and use. Hopefully this will help defuse some of your fears!
