Astraghal wrote on Feb 25
th, 2016 at 6:24pm:
I'm going to buy a portable computer soon and refurbished laptops seem to be the best value for money.
I have been monitoring this website for the past few weeks; it is updated approximately once a week.
http://www.dell.com/learn/au/en/audhs1/campaigns/dell-outlet-auConsidering the Dell range of refurbished machines, the Latitude seems to be the most durable, upgradable, repairable unit.
They also often come with an SSD, but no optical drive.
These are pretty much within my price range.
Ok, so you're over in Australia. I'm not actually sure what $600 AU dollars translates to in American currency
But here's the thing:
You can get a brand new laptop
http://www.dell.com/au/p/inspiron-11-3162-laptop/pd?ref=PD_Family starting at about $300. You can get a brand new, really good laptop for $550. That means the hardware is modern(vs hardware from a few years ago, you'd be amazed how much can change in just a few years) and a brand new unit is always going to have a better operational lifespan than a refurbished unit.
Think of it this way: the machine id designed with an operational lifespan of about 5 years. Even refurbished, the hardware litterally decays. So if you buy a 2-3 year old refurbished machine, you've only got so much time left on it. It doesn't matter how repairable it is, replacement parts will cost more than you spent on it.
Obviously I'm not telling you how to live your life, but I've bought a loooooot of computers in my life. A lot of new, a lot of used, a lot of refurbs. For the money, new is always better. This is double true for laptops.