SHOULD I CHOOSE REFURBISHED OR REMANUFACTURED BUSINESS LAPTOPS?

With more people working from home, it’s hardly surprising that there has been a surge in demand for laptops and other remote devices. A global shortage of laptops even prompted HP to extol the benefits of Remanufactured business laptops as a potential alternative to buying new.

Refurbished or Remanufactured Laptops?

While these two terms seem to be interchangeable, there are some important differences:

Refurbished (or ‘Reconditioned’) Laptops will have been cleaned, the data wiped and perhaps some components replaced. They generally come with limited guarantees, so they are a much safer option than buying privately secondhand. Widely available online, sellers include established brands like Dell, many specialist computer re-sellers, plus the usual auction and shopping sites.

Remanufactured Laptops will typically be subject to a much more intensive check, including a 100-point inspection to comply with ISO9001 certification. Batteries may be replaced and tracker pads restored to ensure smooth movement. Cosmetically the body will most likely have been resprayed, and the screen dismantled and fixed if required. Expect guarantees to be for at least one year. These assurances make Remanufactured laptops a much better option for business users, especially if buying laptops in bulk.

Refurbished Laptops for Business and Home Users

Most users of IT devices don’t need to have the very latest spec, unless they are using their computer equipment for gaming. A PC or laptop that’s maybe 2-3 years old can in most cases be quite adequate. Especially when its workload is likely to comprise common office tasks such as sending emails, creating spreadsheets and surfing the internet. There is plenty of choice out there, and definitely some great bargains to be had. Do some research to find the spec you need, choose a well-known brand, check the warranty and off you go.

Disadvantages of Refurbished Laptops

There is always one nagging doubt about for any second-user computers. One company’s ‘Grade A+’ ranking might be quite different from another’s. The image of a laptop you see online might turn out to be quite different to the one you receive in a brown cardboard box, with minimal paperwork and a bit of bubble-wrap to protect it in transit.

Even if cosmetically your cut-price laptop does match the picture, what’s to say that the inner workings are as good as they’re purported to be? Nobody would disagree that any electrical or electronic item, even new, can go wrong but most of us would prefer to narrow the odds before making a purchase.

All these are reasons why business users are often wary about buying used equipment.

When you are dependent on a laptop for doing your work, the last thing you want is for part of your day to be spent on a support line, trying to recall if you paid extra for the call-out service guarantee, or if you are going to have to pack your faulty Refurbished laptop and return it to base.

Everything escalates to a new level altogether If you are the person responsible for buying laptops in larger volumes for your organisation. Imagine how you might feel if you’ve just done a storming deal on 100 Refurbished laptops, only to find reports filtering through from colleagues that their batteries are draining quickly, or some of the keys don’t function – or worse.

How to Buy Refurbished Laptops

A little extra research goes a long way. There are many suppliers of refurbished laptops or desktops but how do you pick out the good from the bad.? Take these steps, and read what their customers say, to find the most reputable suppliers of refurbished devices:

1. Accreditation – make sure the company you buy from has all the right accreditations. Look for those with Microsoft Authorised Refurbisher certification. Telling you that the equipment has been professionally refurbished, and that the operating software – such as Windows 10 – has been legally and genuinely installed.
2. Warranty – most Refurbished IT suppliers will offer at least a 3 Month warranty on their items. Is that really good enough? Accept nothing less than a 12 month warranty because it immediately narrows your choice to those suppliers that have confidence in the quality of products supplied.
3. Provenance – most people don’t give a second thought to where their second-user equipment comes from but provenance is important. You want to find companies that source from large corporations or government departments, ideally in the UK or Ireland. Just like buying a used car, that way you know that it’s been maintained properly with nothing unpleasant hidden within.
4. Returns Policy – read this carefully. Ask yourself if it seems fair, and check that you can return any unwanted item back for refund or exchange if you are not completely satisfied.
5. Manufacturer – brand names are very important when it comes to IT. Stick with the likes of Dell, HP and Lenovo. They are the biggest selling business laptop manufacturers. All of them share the highest production standards and have a cherished reputation for build quality and performance.

Our own Refurbished scheme includes an intensive 8-stage check on laptops (and desktops and monitors). All are pre-supplied with Microsoft software. We supply refurbished laptops only from the world’s leading brands. They are reliably sourced from well-known, reputable organisations. We are so confident of the quality that we include a 12 Month Warranty as standard. A great choice for the most budget-conscious users, whether buying in bulk or as an individual.

If your business needs a further step up from Refurbished, but is still looking for savings then there is one further option – Remanufactured.

The smart solution for business – Remanufactured Laptops

At Clarion, we’ve made it our mission to change the way the world buys laptops. Instead of buying new, we support the concept of sustainable IT. We supply leading brand, remanufactured laptops from Dell, HP and Lenovo for use in businesses, schools and other organisations across the UK.

If you need to buy laptops for your business, and are looking for savings on volume purchases, it certainly makes sense to put Remanufactured on the shortlist. The best schemes will give you all the assurances of buying new but without blowing the ICT budget in one hit.

When it comes to Remanufactured laptops there is one name that stands out.

Circular Computing is the only company in the market to remanufacture laptops, with a process quite unique, and far advanced, from simple refurbishment. Manufacturing from a state-of-the-art production centre, employing 250 people, they produce more than 250,000 enterprise-grade laptops each year. No other such Remanufactured programme exists.

Kitemark™ for Remanufactured Products

Recognising the importance and benefits of reconditioned and remanufactured products, the BSI has introduced a new category Kitemark: BS887-220: 2010 The process of remanufacture.

This denotes the ‘process of returning a used product to at least to its original performance with a warranty that is equivalent or better than that of a newly manufactured product’, and that ‘from a consumer viewpoint, the remanufactured product can be the same as a new product.’

In October 2021, Circular Computing became the first company in the world to gain the BSI Kitemark for the remanufacture of laptops, a guarantee that their products truly are ‘equal to, or better than new’.

Quality and Consistency across large numbers

By remanufacturing in such large numbers, Circular Computing has solved the major sticking point that bulk business buyers always had with Refurbished laptops: how to guarantee quality and consistency across a large number of second-user units. Every single Remanufactured laptop is subjected to a rigorous 5-hour inspection to ISO SO8887:211 standard i.e. “returning a used product to at least its original performance with a warranty that is equivalent to (or better than) that of the newly manufactured product”.

As a proud partner of Circular Computing, Clarion has direct manufacturer access, enabling us to secure stock, and pass discounts on to our customers. These Remanufactured Laptops are virtually indistinguishable from new. The only thing volume buyers will definitely notice is the much lower price.

Refurbished or Remanufactured Laptops: what’s the difference?

The table below shows just how close Remanufactured Laptops are to brand new ones –

Carbon-neutral laptops – our long-term, sustainable option

Clarion has long been an advocate of sustainable solutions in ICT. When it comes to IT and Telephony hardware, we have a proud track record for offering our customers greener alternatives. As well as laptops, our remanufacturing capability extends to telephone handsets and headsets. We also have a unique buy-back scheme for redundant telephone hardware.

It’s all part of our drive to promote sustainability and create a ‘circular’ economy for old equipment, instead of discarding it too quickly to landfill. It’s kinder to the planet and kinder on the pocket. We even support our Remanufactured Laptop programme with a nationwide tree-planting scheme, thereby making our own visible green contribution.

You can join our sustainability initiative too. For more information about our ISO-accredited, remanufactured, carbon-neutral laptops, please email or call us on 0333 222 6633.