Need a 2nd opinion - refurbished machine

I must lead an entirely charmed life (with the exception of that Dell G15 Ryzen machine with the screen that "just keeps quitting") as I have had very few issues related to consumer grade equipment that could not be attributed to abuse. And I've had plenty of business class equipment that has suffered from abuse, too.

In general, if not significantly maltreated, and if there isn't a specific design weakness, I've found most computers to be quite durable. And that has included ones on the lower end of the cost spectrum.

If they're constantly being dropped, crushed, or the like they all have issues from that sort of treatment. My Inspiron 1720, received from a friend's estate, which started out life as a Vista machine, was still running strong when Windows 10 hit. The problem was that there ended up being no Win10 compatible driver for the mousepad, of all things, which forced it into exile and, eventually, recycling.
 
Porthos said:
They do not make them like they used to.
Click to expand...

Think about the market segment I service. While I absolutely know this, and agree (the Dell Inspiron 1720 was a tank even compared against some more recent business class machines) I still don't see consumer class machines "just falling apart" from normal use.

What I'm appalled by is how much the drive for "small and light" has also driven "thin and flimsy" regardless of class of machine. When the plastic surround for a screen is barely more than a skin a couple of mm thick and where the screen is much thicker than the surround parts, you know that trouble will lie ahead under "typical usage patterns" that are not abusive.

I actually advise my clients who do not have a reall need for maximum portability to look for machines that are "a bit bulkier" when they can.
 
britechguy said:
I still don't see consumer class machines "just falling apart" from normal use.
Click to expand...
You will do in time. Wait until the existing 'in use' machines fall off the end of the conveyor ...
britechguy said:
What I'm appalled by is how much the drive for "small and light" has also driven "thin and flimsy" regardless of class of machine.
Click to expand...
... and the 'thin and flimsy' replaces them. Witness your ongoing Dell screen issues.
 
NJW said:
... and the 'thin and flimsy' replaces them. Witness your ongoing Dell screen issues.
Click to expand...

Indeed. But it isn't a consumer versus business class thing, it's the insane drive for so thin and light that virtually no structural strength is there to be had, in both classes.

There was a time when business class machines were "tanks" and consumer grade were "paper airplanes." That's just not the case anymore, and the two are far closer in ability (or inability) to take the kind of usual use they get.

With regard to the Dell screen issues, I do attribute the initial screen crack to "thin and flimsy" but not the almost immediately DoA first replacement screen and the second dying weeks later. The original screen had been working OK for at least 3 or 4 months prior to being cracked. Neither of the replacements has lasted even 2 months. It really makes me wonder if there wasn't a "bad production run" and I'm really hoping that replacement number 3 is not from the same run.

At least I know that it is absolutely unnecessary to take the entire display unit off of the laptop to do the replacement now. That made the process much, much more complicated than it need have been. While you do have to pop the bottom off to disconnect the battery cable, all you need to do on the lid side is to pry off the bezel and pull the tape to get the screen out. No need to be disconnecting all these cables from the mobo (video, Wifi card and cables, and at least one more I think) to take the entire display assembly off. And none of that, of course, is documented in the official service manual.
 
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