Refurbished E6400

I just ordered one but I can't help but notice that the inventory is always well stocked. Least number of pages that I have seen is 9 and today there's over 20 pages.

Could it be that the E6400 have a high return rate?

 

All of dell notebooks have a high return rate.

Some of those notebooks, even yours could very well have been part of the Dell leasing program for small/large businesses.

Or they could not be up to snuff, so they refurb them after finding out what flaws they have.

Many number of reasons. But they come with 3 year onsite standard, so you should not be worried once so ever.

I am looking to get a refurb too. But I must sell my Sony vaio fw373 first

 

Good point. However, some other models (XPS for example) isn't as well stocked in the outlet which led me to think that the problem is with the E6400.

 

1) Dell has a very generous return policy for their Business systems. All Vostro, Latitude and Precision notebooks can be returned within 30 days for a full refund.

2) Businesses often purchase in quantities. So a single return could easily be 20+ systems (or more).

3) Off-lease systems aren't sold by the Dell Business Outlet- Dell Financial Services sells those units and they are usually 2+ years old.

4) Take a look at the number of "Previously Ordered New" systems. There are currently 233 E6400s in stock, 62 of them are Previously Ordered New ones. Technically, these can be ordered cancelled after they went into production.

They may also be inventory that Dell manufactured with the intent of selling them thru the Outlet- excess production I've heard it called. Particularly in difficult economic times, selling a few thousand units here and there at a lower profit margin is preferable to not selling them at all! If the company has a large surplus of components, it may become preferable to sell some units at cost or even at a loss, which will at least generate cash flow.

When a model is being phased out or replaced, you will see a large quanity of those systems appear in the Outlet. When Dell switched upgraded the Studio 1535 to the 1537, there were hundreds of Previoiusly Ordered New 1535 models in the Outlet for weeks at a time.

In any case, the Outlet is a great way to save hundreds of dollars on a new Dell notebook. I've purchased dozens of systems from the Outlet over the last several years (most for the companies I worked for, but quite a few for myself and my family memebers). Overall, I highly recommend it and I'm very pleased with each of my purchases from them!

Del

 

Would you know if the Outlet includes returned systems from other countries? I'm not sure if the other countries sell refurbs too

 

I'd guess that since none of the Dell websites for most of the other countries have an Outlet section, the US Outlet does indeed stock refurbs from other countries. Dell UK also has an Outlet, so maybe European refurbs go there and North American refurbs go to the US Outlet? Or Dell has a different way of distributing refurbs in other countries...

 

I just purchased a E6400 from the Dell outlet, the unit is in perfect condition. This is a well built laptop. I think my Lenovo T61 still edges it out, but it's much better than what I expected.

Dell did have some build issues with these but that was when they first came out. When the E6400 was first available at the outlet, I've seen the count over seven hundred. I think you can be confident you'll get a good laptop. You can always return it, they don't charge for shipping anymore so you'll only have to pay for sending it back if you don't like it.