I've been noticing that JB Hi-Hi have a few laptops discounted by a few hundred dollars.
With a closer look the price tags are marked as demonstration models. This means (for the unknowing) that these laptops have been running continuously but on the most part idle. Are the discounts worth purchasing for what is of all accounts a 'slightly secondhand' laptop? If a couple of years extra warranty is chucked in would that overcome the age and wearing of the laptop?
I appreciate any thoughts.
I guess you know that it "works"
I think it would be fine. In terms of worth, it depends on the best price you can get for new version of the laptop. Min discount should be 10%. Anything >20% I would definitely take.
Don't forget to ask JB to discount further.
They will
The warranty most likely wouldn't cover the battery which would experience the most wear and tear for being turned on all day every day. Batteries are usually classified as a "consumable" so usually have a significantly shorter warranty period, eg 3 to 6 months usually for phones and laptops.
It depends on the discount, but I'd say generally its not worth getting demo laptops.
1000 kids have probably put their grubby hands all over it if it's on the display stand….
I wouldn't touch it. A traditional second hand model probably will be in far better condition, atleast only 1 person touched it… Provided warranty is transferrable obviously.
What is a demonstration laptop ?
Could it be a selling pitch with unopened boxes in stock out back.
EG: not unusual for new car dealerships to sell demonstrators when they are simply "earmarked" as a demonstrator.
Ask for one in an unopened box, otherwise no deal for well used demonstrator with a tiny discount.
If its unopened in the back, it wouldn't be demonstrator then, they'd sell it as brand new.
Don't do it. Even if the battery is good, the screen will usually start developing faults quite early. I bought a demo Toshiba laptop around 5 years ago and it developed lines within a year. Luckily I was able to warranty it, but because they couldn't fix it; they offered to refund.
All in all, I wasted around $100 travelling to and from the shop and from the time lost; phoning up and enquiring and more.
Depends, just check it out and if it looks alright go for it, biggest thing to worry about is the HDD and Battery, might only be 2-3 months old, most laptop hardware doesn't degrade over time, but as the hard drive has physical moving parts it will wear out and the batteries wear out too. (My laptop has over 15,000 hours on the hard drive and hasn't skipped a beat, battery has been replaced once and was $45)
Normally you can get Demo's at or sometimes below cost price, but normal stock can be like that as well, depends, just work their price down, someone will be desperate to hit a target for their commission
Does the extra warranty cover the wear and tear on keyboard/body of the laptop and the degradation of the screen/battery? Probably unlikely.