Buying a used laptop rather than new can save you big bucks if you know what you are doing. Stick with the best equipment. Do not buy a used consumer version of a laptop like those sold a big box retailer. A notebook that you buy for $300 that was only $500 brand new is going to be nothing but trouble.

Instead, buy a used business machine like a Dell Latitude. These laptops can be bought at deep discounts when the businesses that originally leased the laptops are done with them. A quality Dell business laptop that was over a thousand dollars when new can be bought for $400 or less when it comes “off lease”. Regardless of the brand, always go for the business line rather than consumer models when buying a laptop. Laptops built for the US consumer are made with one thing in mind; price. The only way to build cheap computers is with cheap components.

The lease companies sell these Dell laptops to computer dealers throughout the US that in turn sell them to individuals and businesses at deep discounts. Some of these dealers offer warranties from as little as thirty days to as much as a year. Find out about the warranty before you buy. Be sure the warranty is through the store directly and not a third party. Otherwise you could find yourself shipping the laptop to a faraway repair facility if a problem occurs.

Make sure the computer store you are buying from has been established and has a good BBB rating. The warranty is no better than the store giving it.

Be careful when buying from individuals. If the machine fails you have no way to insure the person you bought it from will stand behind it. Worse yet, you could be buying stolen property.