“Refurbished” is one of those words in PC-land that’s filled with mystery for the average consumer. Sure, we know what the word means, in theory, but how much care and work goes into the refurbishing process? Is it a light dusting or a full-on rebuild?
When US Micro Corp’s latest batch of goodies landed at Newegg, I wanted to take a look and find out if their refurbed PCs were something worth buying. So US Micro sent us their Dell Latitude E6230 and the HP desktop Compaq 8100 Elite.
Unlike most PCs that come through Newegg’s doors, these PCs are decidedly boring, created for hours of stable work, not the latest FPS gaming. The Dell Latitude comes with an i5, 720p HD 12” screen and 8GB RAM for $360. The HP desktop sports a surprisingly large 16GB RAM, 750GB HDD and comes with a mouse and keyboard all for $347.
The big attraction of US Micro (owned by Arrow Electronics, a Fortune 500 company is that they’re one of the few giant Microsoft Authorized Refurbishers (MAR). The MAR process is pretty strict, and to get in the game, you need to have a serious technical background and stand behind your units. For US Micro, that means shipping thousands of units a month, supporting authentication software, online services and much more. Also, data on the PCs is wiped from previous owners, conforming to the Department of Defense standards for purging PCs of sensitive info. If there’s one thing the government knows how to do, it’s how to wipe data.
Just like new?
So, my personal impressions of the machines? The PCs booted up just fine, installed with a fresh retro copy of Windows 7. Like all office battleaxes, these PCs seemed stable, functional, and ready for hours of maximum productivity. They are noteworthy in how un-noteworthy they are . They just work, which is what you want, right?
As for the cosmetic qualities, there were some scuffs and smudges, but otherwise the PCs seemed entirely clean and ready to rock. In fact, they looked better than any of my laptops after a week of typical gaming with my greasy Dorito fingers.
If you’re in the market for refurbished PCs, check out the Microsoft Authorized Refurbished gear available on Newegg. It’s solid, it’s cheap, it’s ready for max web-browsing or Excel action.
