Re: [PLUG] Reputable sources for reconditioned / refurbished laptops

Just to close out the topic: I bought a refurbished HP from Micro Center, and it worked like a charm except for one show stopper: the video camera didn't work with a couple different Linux distros. The camera indicator light came on, but there was no image. Since I didn't want to spend a lot of time troubleshooting whether it was the hardware or the software, I returned it. As Micro Center didn't have any refurbished laptops in stock that met my needs, I ordered an Asus Vivobook through Back Market. Debian Bookworm had a problem with power management in that it would go to sleep, but decline to be awoken. EndeavourOS (an Arch derivative that is my go-to distro these days) works perfectly.

The only hiccup in the Back Market purchase was UPS claiming no one was home when they came to deliver it. I know this is a lie as we have working Ring doorbells, and my wife was in the kitchen where she would have heard anyone knocking on either the front or side doors. The dog was not outside, so there was no excuse for claiming a delivery failure. I had to pick it up the next day at a drop-off point.

Thanks for the suggestions and help.

Regards

– Bhaskar

On Tue, Sep 17, 2024 at 11:16 PM Walt Mankowski via plug <plug@lists.phillylinux.org> wrote:

I'll second that. I got an Anker 8338 5-in-1 USB-C hub a few years ago
when I got my current MacBook, which only has USB-C ports. It works
great. My only caveat, which I just discovered a few weeks ago when I
got a new monitor, is that my hub only does HDMI 1, so it can't drive
my new 3440x1440 widescreen monitor. I borrowed an HDMI-2 dongle and
that worked fine. So check the specs and you should be fine.

On Tue, Sep 17, 2024 at 12:41:35PM -0400, Keith C. Perry via plug wrote:
> Just to throw this out there but for laptops without NICs, I've been recommending the Anker 555 USB-C hub. That's one of the smaller 8-in-1 units. It actually fits in my laptop sleeve with the laptop without adding much width. Considering that laptop ports- ethernet, usb, hdmi, etc. tend to die anyway, for around $50 it's a good investment that can keep older hardware in service (until you lose the USB-C port). The NIC on the unit is 1Gbs and is has USB-C PD pass through so you don't lose your USB-C power port if that is how you charge your device.
>
>
> ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
> Keith C. Perry, MS E.E.
> Managing Member, DAO Technologies LLC
> (O) +1.215.525.4165 x2033
> (M) +1.215.432.5167
> [ http://www.daotechnologies.com/ | www.daotechnologies.com ]
>
>
> From: "Philadelphia Linux User's Group Discussion List" <plug@lists.phillylinux.org>
> To: "Philadelphia Linux User's Group Discussion List" <plug@lists.phillylinux.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2024 12:27:34 PM
> Subject: Re: [PLUG] Reputable sources for reconditioned / refurbished laptops
>
> Thanks for the suggestions and recommendations, Rich, Steven, Bill, and Alan. I have been looking at those sites.
>
> To follow-up, the reason I wanted to look elsewhere was that MicroCenter doesn't have any reconditioned laptops with NICs; they were Wifi only. However, yesterday, I discovered an unused USB NIC, put it on the laptop I want to replace (which only has Wifi), and was able to get around 100Mbps down, which is the speed of my home Verizon connection. This means that I can potentially get a laptop without a NIC.
>
> Thanks again.
>
> Regards
> – Bhaskar
>
> On Sat, Sep 14, 2024 at 9:08 PM K.S. Bhaskar < [ mailto:ksbhaskar@gmail.com | ksbhaskar@gmail.com ] > wrote:
>
>
>
> I have in the past bought reconditioned / refurbished laptops from MicroCenter, generally with good results. Are there other reputable sources that anyone can recommend (especially if MicroCenter doesn't have what I'm looking for)? Thanks.
>
> Regards
> – Bhaskar
>
>
>
>
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> ___________________________________________________________________________
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> General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug

___________________________________________________________________________
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Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
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