Refurbish your school IT.

We’ve been using refurbished IT equipment (PCs & Laptops) in our schools for the last 4 years or so. We moved this way because the business-grade devices supplied by true refurb resellers are of better build quality than the brand new entry/home grade devices that are within most schools budget.

We’re determined to give our customers the choice where their kit comes from and give them the knowledge to choose for themselves. We’ve been working very closely with two national refurb suppliers over the last 2 years after trying many suppliers over the last four years.

Myth Busters:

1. Refurb Companies DO NOT always refurb kit, some is just bought at auction and reboxed for resale without processing.
2. There is no industry standard… Grade A to one company is not Grade A to another.

What do I need to look for when buying Refurb Kit?

• What spec is the kit? Evolve will recommend a spec that you need to look for to suit the specific need of our customer.
• How old is the kit? Buying intel core processors gives you a great chance to check the age of the equipment you’re buying.

A Core i5 2^nd Generation Processor was manufactured in 2011 which mean you’d be buying an 8-year-old laptop or PC in 2019. How long is that going to last in reality, will it be serviceable beyond your 3-year warranty?

A Core i5 5^th Generation processor means your device is not older than March 2015 but could be as new as September 2016.

• Where is your supplier buying the kit from? Have the machines had a hard life and or have they been underutilised?
• Do they offer a minimum battery health spec or do they recommend you buy a new battery?
• What is the suppliers definition of “Grade A”?
• What does the warranty service offer? How quick is the turn around for support requests?

What issues have we had in buying / servicing refurbished IT equipment?

• Some suppliers don’t check what they ship out, it might be dirty, it might be ‘well used’. It might even have the wrong sized hard drive.
• Warranty claims might require you send the entire device back to base… at your cost.
• “Grade A” doesn’t always mean “Grade A”.
• You can place an order and then the stock ‘disappears’
• The older the kit is the longer warranty claims take… some suppliers will be frantically trawling eBay for parts if you make a claim on an old device. Some will send you a new equivalent device or stock appropriate parts.
• There are so many companies out there offering ‘like for like’ you have to really ask questions to understand what that means.
• Some suppliers are so lazy you can still see fingerprints on screens, dust in vents and to prove they don’t all get opened up… toast inside a PC!

Alright so what next?

• Fell free to buy from your chosen supplier but PLEASE ask about the questions raised above and include us in the conversation!
• Buy brand new, from wherever you want but please ask us to recommend a spec suitable for your needs and let us see you offers before you order.
• Let us get you pricing from our two tried & tested suppliers of Refurbished Kit, we’ve worked with them both for over 2 years and we can offer both Grade A – Very Good Condition or Grade X – Remanufactured “As New” devices, we negotiated discounts based on the 54 schools that we represent so you won’t get better refurb kit for less money in our opinion.

As ever if you have any questions please speak to you technician or email [email protected]