Everyone loves to get a new laptop, to replace that old broken piece of garbage, or just to be able to communicate with friends, but a laptop off the shelf could be really expensive. There is a solution to that problem though, as refurb or renew laptops are easily accessible and cheap to buy.

There are a few points I’d like to make sure everyone buying a cheap refurbished laptop takes into consideration.

1. Laptops are personal belongings, so keyboards tend to be full of human residue. There aren’t many things that are more disgusting than hair and pieces of skin of the former owner of the notebook in the keyboard. Make sure the unit you are considering to buy is properly cleaned. Not only it is a more pretty view but proper personal hygiene dictates so as well.

2. Notebooks are rather fragile, one or two dents and scratches are almost inevitable but the notebook should be taken care of. Not that an used notebook should look like a new, but no 3 cm long cracks or manual paints should be on the case. A good general condition is always desirable.

3. Laptop hard disk drives are prone to wear and tear. Because it is a mobile device, there are more risks lurking around waiting to strike the hard disk than in a desktop computer. Constant vibration or small bumps and shocks reduce the lifetime of a laptop hard drive and this is almost inevitable. Check for bad sectors on it if you got a chance or at least decide if you’re okay with buying a new HDD later on.

4. Get to know the owner. On auction sites it is obviously much harder, but if you’re going to buy a used laptop spending 2-3 minutes on small talk with the previous owner goes a long way. You’ll see if there is anything shady going on, and if there is none you may even make a friend or get to know somebody you normally wouldn’t have. Good topics to talk about: Why is he selling it, what is he going to get next, what’s his opinion about the brand in general? Along that line.

5. If it’s not a private owner you’re buying the laptop from, always ask for warranty. At least 2-3 months to allow the device to spit out all the chunks. If something shady is going on, you’ll get to know in a week or two anyway and it is anything but rude to ask for a month or two of warranty, some companies even give that as default.

Picking the model however is not that easy, you should always make sure you know enough of the brand or the particular model before making the purchase. This might be too obvious, but I can’t stress it enough. Before parting with money, go and take a look around on the net to see if it’s what you want. It’s free! Well, it’s not, but you would have paid your net subscription anyway…