It all depends on the warranty that comes with it and the service you get. For myself, I view laptops as being more fragile than a desktop. I might buy a refurb desktop, but probably not a laptop. YMMV.

Many refurb computers are from large companies (banks, petroleum industry, etc.) who routinely replace their units. Doesn't mean there were problems involved.

I've bought several desktop refurbs ... one for myself, one for my parents, two for my employer/office, one for a friend (she reimbursed). And a laptop for another friend (Christmas gift). Have had no problems with any of them.

If handy with a screwdriver might consider taking a gamble on ebay used business laptops that mostly come minus hard drive and hard drive carrier & its rails, sometimes the hard drive door cover & you usually need to buy windows for it.

End up with a one or two year old business grade laptop on the cheap with no guarantees other than guaranteed tested and working.

But you have to be friendly with tiny screws and have a little bit of know how. And with most things off ebay.. you need to be a little bit of a gambler too.

big_al-

What kind of money are we talking about here?

While there are still multi-thousand dollar laptops, a pretty decent machine can be bought in the $600-900 range that will meet the needs of most users. I would be more inclined to look at something "factory certified" (or whatever the industry term is) that includes a manufacturers warranty, rather than a third-party warranty. All the big companies have some kind of outlet where they sell "refurbished" machines or just a model that's being discontinued at a discount.

I've actually been thinking about a new laptop and these are the specs I have more or less in mind:

• Intel Core i5 or better.
• 8 gigabytes of RAM (leaning towards 12-16)
• 256 gigabyte PCIe solid state drive
• Full HD screen
• Maybe a discrete video card
• Not interested in a touch screen or 2-in-one

Your daughter is going to be carrying the laptop around for school or whatever, rather just as a desktop replacement, I might be inclined to look at a "business" machine. Typically they're built tougher, with some degree of shock and even water resistance built in. Example's would include Lenovo's ThinkPad, Dell's Latitude, and HP's Elite and ProBook series. They do cost more, sometimes a lot more.

Thank you all.... you have given me much to think about .

Keep searching office type websites, you can find loads of deals on brand new at the same price point or lower, why buy what was someone else's problems if you can get brand new?

I have no knowledge about refurbished Windows laptops, but any refurbished laptop sold by Apple or one of it's licensed re-sellers, is eligible for a full warranty and also for AppleCare, Apple's very valuable extra warranty (well worth the cost). I intend to buy a refurbished iPad Air 2 as I prefer the size and weight to the new iPad and it will not be much more expensive than replacing the battery in my existing iPad Air 2. I will get exactly what I want and save some money as well.

One needs to make sure they are comparing apples to apples as manufacturers make a dizzying array of models, all slightly different. I don't necessarily believe that buying a refurbished computer is any more "buying someone else's problems" than buying a used car. Heck, "certified" used cars often come with better warranties that new cars. Computers are returned for all kinds of reasons, not necessarily because there was a problem. Heck, there's probably people returning them because they didn't like the color.

As I said, I would be far more inclined to go with a refurbished machine with a manufacturer's warranty. Of course, that's not to say that you can't get a good deal on new machine too.

One point I have not seen made here yet is who is doing the refurbishing. I would have no qualms at all about buying a manufacturer-refurbished laptop. I would think twice about one refurbished by third parties or "my technician" (as frequently referred to on that big auction site).

Some third parties do an excellent conscientous job of refurbishing; others seem to think of it as "install a new cheap hard drive, wipe it off, and throw in a generic charger". Know exactly what you're buying, who has done the work, and how willing they are to stand behind their offering.

A couple years ago I purchased 2 Acer Ultrathin Laptops - Refurbished (Acer Aspire V5 573p-6896). These laptops have Intel i5 Processors, 4gb DDR3L RAM, 500gb Hard Drives, 1080p Touchscreen, Lighted Keyboard, 4 Speaker Dolby Home Theater, etc... with Window 8 installed.

Both Laptops were in great shape and worked well (Every Feature Worked). I decided I wanted to Upgrade the RAM, maxing it out at 12gb. When I popped open the case I was surprised to find an Empty Slot for RAM and an Open Slot for a mSATA SSD Drive. Usually the manufacturers have 2 slots for RAM, both are used and if you want to upgrade the RAM you must replace it all! In this case, all I had to do was to purchase an 8gb Stick.

Found another feature on these laptops I overlooked. These came equipped with a Thunderbolt Port Connection. These Ports were set to Replace USB (not sure if they still are or not)? It's my understanding around 7 devices can be run from One Thunderbolt Port (Daisy Chained). Whereas a USB, One Port, One Device!

I decided to Upgrade both Laptops with a 256gb mSATA SSD Drive and keep the 500gb Hard Drives in the laptops and set them up just for storage (I did upgrade mine from a 5400rpm to a 7200rpm)! Both of these computers have turned into very nice computers with an SSD Drives for the Operating System (Upgraded to Windows 10).

My Sister also purchased one of these Laptops. She too has been very happy with it. We paid $350 each for the Laptops. Then I paid around another $120 for the RAM and mSATA SSD Drive, Approx. $470 in each computer! All are still running great after 2 years!