Had to choose between a refurbished laptop and a new Chromebook for remote work...

I went with the refurbished ThinkPad for $350 instead of a $250 Chromebook because I needed proper Windows apps. It showed up with a loose hinge and dead pixel on day three, now I'm second guessing if I should have just gotten the simpler option. Has anyone else gambled on refurbished gear and regretted it?

3 comments

3 Comments

lee.cora16d ago

Did you check if the dead pixel is one of those that sometimes goes away after a few days? I had a similar thing happen with a used monitor I bought off Craigslist a couple years back. The guy seemed nice enough and it worked fine for the first week, then the backlight started flickering like crazy. I don't remember ever being that mad about a purchase before. Ended up having to take it apart and reseat the ribbon cable inside, which felt super sketchy but actually fixed it. So sometimes those refurb issues can be minor stuff you can fix yourself if you're patient and careful.

owens.laura16d agoTop Commenter

Yeah @lee.cora, I've had a similar experience with a refurb phone that had a weird screen artifact. Left it alone for like three days and it just sorted itself out, no idea why. Might be worth giving it a little time before doing anything drastic, but your mileage may vary.

the_lucas16d ago

Ha, the "backlight flickering like crazy" part hit home. I once tried to "fix" a laptop by reseating the ribbon cable and ended up snapping the clip clean off. Now my laptop has a permanent piece of tape holding the screen together, which is basically my signature repair move. Anybody else ever turn a simple fix into a permanent disaster?