Even though the times are tough and many students and their families have a pinched budget, when you’re in school and need a laptop to do your school work, there’s not much you can do but to bite the bullet on making a laptop purpose.  Laptops are a very important tool for being efficient and succeeding in college these days, so it’s worth buying a quality laptop to last your four years.

The good news is that there are man ways to reduce your costs of buying a laptop and scoring a deal, we’ve covered options in the past such as student discounts from Dell, HP and Lenovo and of course the use of discount coupon codes.  Another way to really save money is by buying refurbished “like new” laptops direct from a manufacturer.  Several manufacturers offer refurbished laptops, but Dell has one of the best online sites for buying refurbished laptops, and they also offer some of the best deals.

Dell calls their refurbished laptop sales area Dell Outlet.  Dell Outlet sells laptops that fall into one of three categories in the Oulet:

1. Previously Ordered New - Laptops that were ordered by a Dell customer, delivered and either immediately returned without being opened or removed from the box and then returned without being powered up.
2. Refurbished - Laptops that were ordered by a Dell customer, delivered, then opened and used for a period of time (generally 21-days or less).  If there was anything previously wrong with the system Dell replaces the part and then resells it as refurbished.  There is a chance that some cosmetic blemishes exist on a refurbished laptop, the Dell Outlet listing will not specify if a laptop does or does not have a cosmetic defect.
3. Scratch & Dent - Laptops that were cosmetically damaged during the production process and never shipped to a customer or laptops that were shipped out to customers and are returned with a cosmetic blemish.  Cosmetic blemishes generally mean paint scratches or nicks, not gigantic dents that compromise the structural integrity of a laptop.

In general the Scratch & Dent offerings are the most discounted, Refurbished second most and Previously Ordered New are the highest priced Outlet systems.  Below is a price comparison table of a Dell Outlet Studio 15 laptop compared to the new system price at the time of this writing:

Here you can see that the Scratch & Dent system is $50 cheaper than an equivalent Refurbished system.  The total savings on the Scratch & Dent from brand new is $270, which is about a 30% off savings.

Dell Outlet Warranty

A lot of people buying a refurbished system are worried that they won’t receive the same support or warranty as a new system.  This is not the case, Dell Outlet backs up all refurb laptops with a 1-year warranty.  You actually get the same level of tech support (24 hours a day 7-days a week phone support) and ability to upgrade or extend a warranty as you do with any new system.  You also have the same 21-day Dell return policy that comes with new laptops, note that there is a 15% restocking fee and you still pay for the shipping and handling.  You can check out Dell’s warranty and return information here.

How “Used” Does a Refurbished Laptop Look?

There is of course some variation in how used a system looks, the reason prices are low is because you take a slight risk in not knowing the exact condition of a system.  You might get a system that looks 99% new, or you might get one that’s got a noticeable blemish, such as scratches in the paint.  There is no way to tell exactly what a system looks like ahead of time, don’t bother calling Dell to ask if they can send a photo or tell you exactly what is wrong with the cosmetics of a system, they won’t be able to tell you.  When I ordered an XPS M1330 laptop from Dell Outlet last year the only noticeable difference was that there was a “Refurbished” green sticker on the bottom of the laptop and the instruction manual was a bit crumpled.  The sticker was easily removed and I could care less about the instruction manual.  Even the packaging was new, as Dell reboxes and repackages all Outlet PCs after inspecting them.

Advantage Other than Price

There is an advantage other than the better price you get on a Dell Outlet PC.  The laptop will ship almost immediately.  I ordered a laptop on a Monday morning and had it by Wednesday with 2-day shipping.  Typically with a new Dell PC you configure a system, order it and then have to wait 2 - 3 weeks as your laptop goes through a series of build, test and shipping phases.

Tips on Buying

A good idea is to come up with a configuration you want to buy for a laptop, and then keep checking Dell Outlet to see if the configuration shows up.  The online tools are pretty easy to use for filtering by a specific configuration, price or model.  The stock is frequently updated, it seems like the morning is best for finding the most newly added and available products so certainly check then.  You should also be flexible with the configuration you want, sometimes the precise configuration will take a while to show up, so if you need a laptop fast just be ready to accept the fact you may just have to go with something close to what you want.

Dell Outlet Coupons

As crazy as it may seem with prices already being much below new prices, Dell Outlet does offer coupon codes, sometimes in the range of 15 - 20% off.  The best way to track these coupon codes is via Twitter: http://twitter.com/delloutlet

Conclusion

Some people really like to have something that is entirely new and never used by somebody else before, but if you’re not such a person and also really like to save money then the Dell Outlet is a great option.  Chances are the laptop you’ll get is as good as new in its looks and it will definitely function as well as any new laptop.  Also consider the fact you get the same warranty and support treatment as you do with a new laptop, and you’ll see there’s little downside to ordering from the Dell Outlet to save money.