refurb advice needed

[lenjack]

For various reasons, I'm looking into purchasing an Intel, W10, refurb, desktop, needing only the box. Not a gamer, but a heavy browser and emailer. I note, most refurbs tend to be Dell's, HP's, and Lenovo's. What does this signify? Looking for advice on what make to look for in a refurb, and where to buy. I tend to trust Newegg, Amazon, and B&H. Also can go right to the maker's websites. I see Dell and Lenovo have some fairly good looking stuff for $300 and under in this category. W10 home and 500G storage (or 256G SSD) will do. Somehow, I don't feel comfy with HP.Thanks in advance.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Check the Official Acer Store on ebay. They had a Haswell i3, 4GB / 500GB HDD, for under $200 refurb.

 

[Torn Mind]

RAM, storage, and CPU all matter for the task of web browsing.

i3 at the least, SSD, and 8+ gigs are need for extended browsing session. Get 16 if you use Chrome and disable the auto "tab close" feature on that browser.

Lots of businesses lease computers and those off lease computers often get sold as refurbs by refurbishers. HP, Dell, Lenovos are popular choices there because of support.

HP might have proprietary PSUs for some of their refurbs. Generally speaking, the PSUs are never bad to the point of being a threat to the parts themselves, although they might need a swap down the line unless the refurbisher already swap it.

There are a variety of form factors for the same line of computers. The small ones, like the Compaq DC8200s, tend to provide cheapest CPU power for the dollar. The towers are the ones least likely to tie you down unexpectedly.

 

[UsandThem]

There are usually some really good deals at Dell Outlet when they have a sale/coupon code.

Dell Refurbished has business off-lease items, and they also have sales/ coupon codes as well.

https://www.dellrefurbished.com

 

[UsandThem]

Also, if you use sites like Slickdeals or Edealinfo, you can sometimes find really good deals on new and refurb computers in your price range:

http://www.edealinfo.com/d/00020161...0-Series-Desktop-with-AMD-Quad-Core-A10-8700P

 

[Torn Mind]

Arrowdirect offers pretty good prices as well.

 

[Torn Mind]

Also, workstations are built more durably. A Dell Precision is higher end computer and endowed with Japanese caps and a bigger PSU, thus saving the need to upgrade.

 

[lenjack]

Thanks all. Also looking at ebay. Yes, I know, but i'm an old hand there, and know what to look out for. Not looking for parts, but a complete box.

 

[Burpo]

New Lenovo, add 4gb and SSD & OS of your choice.

https://www.neweggbusiness.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9B-14P-000A-00060&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleBiz-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleBiz-PC-_-pla-_-Server/Workstation+Systems-_-9B-14P-000A-00060&gclid=CjwKEAiAvZTCBRDvnoOaoa2j3xISJABxPjN9d55rpW2UAp6XABBqNqZRG5Ys0--JGyxlH1kgGwwJkhoC7QHw_wcB