Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Green Computing With Refurbished Laptops

We no longer live in the ‘throw away’ age of discarding products simply because they have developed a small fault or we are after the latest and greatest new model. Protecting our Earth is now a big priority for most people and businesses, therefore we are adapting our lifestyles to do everything we can to help preserve our planet for future generations. Instead of throwing a laptop in the bin simply because one of the components has failed or it is no longer considered to be up-to-date, more and more people are turning to recycling or ‘refurbishing’ as an environmentally sound option.

Recycling can be done in a number of ways, selling the laptop for spares, donating it to charities that supply third world countries or by selling it to a refurbishing company such as http://eflexcomputers.com Companies such as this will offer you money for old laptops, whether they function or not, and then refurbish them and put them back into the marketplace. The refurbishing process is carried out by professionals and incorporates the following stages.

The laptop is fully wiped of all personal data, programs, software etc and taken to a ‘blank’ state. This not only protects the previous owner from having any information stolen but also ensures the system is totally clean of any viruses or issues that could prevent it functioning properly. The hardware then undergoes rigorous testing to ensure that all of the components are functioning correctly and that they still have a good life left in them. If any of the components aren’t functioning correctly or are identified as only having a short life span left they are replaced with new parts. Fresh versions of all the software including operating system, required drivers, anti-virus programs etc are then re-installed on the laptop effectively returning it to the same state as when it was first sent out of the factory.

Refurbished laptops are generally considered by a lot of people to more reliable then systems bought directly after manufacture. This is due the fact they have been operated for some time and so any issues with faulty hardware have been picked up and resolved.

Refurbished laptops offer a lot of benefits over buying a new model. The instant one you will see is the huge savings you can make on the price. For the sake of some cosmetic marks that wont effect functionality at all you can save up to 50% on high street prices. The second benefit is the huge impact on the environment. New laptops produce a lot of harmful gases and toxins during the manufacturing process that damage our environment. The refurbished option means 1 less new laptop being manufactured and 1 less old laptop sitting on the local tip!