Reference
What the condition grades mean
“Refurbished” means whatever the seller wants it to mean. Here it means one of six specific things, each with a written list of the tests it passed and how long it is covered for. The grade is on the listing, on the quote and on the invoice, and it is what sets the price. Not a vague feeling about how used something looks.
New / Sealed
Factory sealed, full manufacturer warranty where the vendor honours it in Pakistan.
827 parts- Testing
- Still sealed from the factory. We only open it if you ask us to test it before sending.
- Warranty
- The manufacturer covers it if they honour warranties in Pakistan. Where they do not, we cover it.
- Right for
- Anything running your business, anything under a support contract, anything you cannot afford to have down.
- Wrong for
- Test and development work, where the money saved buys you a whole second machine.
- Testing
- Returned by a customer without being used. We test it fully and check it over when it arrives.
- Warranty
- 12 months from us.
- Right for
- Anywhere you would buy new. You are only paying less because the box was opened.
- Wrong for
- Nothing really. This is the easiest grade for us to recommend.
- Testing
- Sent back to the manufacturer, checked and re-certified by them, with the original serial number still on it.
- Warranty
- 12 months from us, and the manufacturer will usually still recognise the serial number.
- Right for
- Business kit where you want to keep the manufacturer's own firmware and support.
- Wrong for
- Anywhere you need the original purchase date for a support contract.
Refurbished Grade A
Bench tested under load for 48 hours. Cosmetically near-new. Covered in-house.
685 parts- Testing
- Run flat out for 48 hours on the bench. Fresh thermal paste, and fans and pads replaced if worn. Looks nearly new.
- Warranty
- 12 months from us.
- Right for
- Our usual recommendation. Behaves like new and costs noticeably less.
- Wrong for
- Anywhere an audit would object to a replacement serial sticker.
Refurbished Grade B
Bench tested under load for 48 hours. Visible cosmetic wear, no functional impact.
326 parts- Testing
- The same 48-hour test as Grade A. Scuffed, scratched or faded on the outside. Works exactly the same.
- Warranty
- 6 months from us.
- Right for
- Anything that lives inside a rack where nobody looks at it. Compute machines, spares, test kit.
- Wrong for
- Machines that sit on someone's desk, or anywhere the way it looks is part of the handover.
Tested Pull
Pulled working from a decommissioned system, cleaned, re-pasted and load tested.
308 parts- Testing
- Taken working out of a machine being retired, then cleaned, re-pasted and tested under load. We record the health readings and give them to you.
- Warranty
- 3 months from us.
- Right for
- Spares, extra compute machines where a failure just means the job runs again, and things you are experimenting with.
- Wrong for
- The main machine, the storage, or the network. Anywhere one failure takes everything down with it.
About used drives
Every used SSD comes with its health report attached to the invoice: how many hours it has been running, how much has been written to it, and how much life it has left as a percentage. A drive that has used 4% of its life is a genuinely good buy. One that has used 80% is not, however clean it looks. We will not sell you the second one without telling you first.
About used graphics cards
Cards that were used for mining turn up a lot here, and they are not automatically bad. A card run at a steady, gentle load often had an easier life than one that spent three years heating up and cooling down in a gaming PC. What matters is the fans, the thermal pads and the power connector. We check all three and replace what needs replacing, and we look at the power connector for the browning that usually comes before it fails.