Savvy users seeking to maximise bang for their buck could consider investing in a refurbished or Chromebook laptop.
There’s a misconception that purchasing a
refurbished laptop is a risk. In reality, if you buy directly from the manufacturer, a re-conditioned device is a pretty safe bet. A qualified technician will inspect, test, and clean every refurbished laptop sold from the HP store. If any faults appear, the technician will replace the relevant parts and re-test the device.
HP ensures all refurbished laptops on its online store come in good aesthetic condition. Often, it’s difficult to tell if the device has been used at all. And to put your mind at ease, HP provides a 12-month warranty on all its manufacturer-refurbished laptops.
Buying refurbished gives you a like-new device with a generous warranty and at a significant discount in some cases. On the downside, your laptop won’t be 100% new and may have a slightly lower lifespan.
Another clever way to maximise value is switching to a Chromebook. Unlike Windows, Chrome OS is free, which saves manufacturers a significant sum on licensing fees - and those savings get passed on to the consumer.
Chrome OS uses cloud computing for storage and processing. That enables the Chromebook to perform better with inferior hardware, further lowering production costs. As a nifty bonus of this undemanding operating system, Chromebooks tend to be lighter and have superior battery life.
But there are a few drawbacks to consider. Chromebooks can only run apps on a web browser or from the Google Web Store. Some apps simply aren’t available on these platforms; and when they are, you may experience limited functionality. Plus, as Chromebooks rely so heavily on the cloud, these budget-friendly devices perform poorly offline.