Computer Refurbishing Summary
Computer Refurbishing
I operated my own computer refurbishing business for more than ten years and provided technical support to my customers. The websites I created during that time are:
This is the refurbishing checklist I used for the Dell XPS-15Z. The one I used for the Dell XPS-15 L521X was very similar.
I chose not to operate a more general repair business because I was working in my house and didn't have room to store parts for more than a few specific models. Nor did I want to operate with a huge backlog or overcharge customers for labor, as was commonly done by competitors in the area.
I closed the refurbishing business primarily because it had become impossible to get good batteries. I would not resell a laptop unless the battery had at least 85% of its original capacity and very few of the ones I bought came with a usable battery. In an XPS-15 laptop, the battery, the power supply, and the motherboard all have to be compatible or the battery won't charge. Some combinations work and some refuse to charge for reasons I can't explain. Flashing the BIOS made no difference.
For several years, I spent $60 to $100 each on "genuine Dell OEM" batteries that turned out to be garbage: ones that wouldn't take a full charge, wouldn't hold a charge for more than a few hours, or wouldn't charge at all. Most had holes that didn't line up with the posts and had markings indicating that they were manufactured in one specific Asian country that I don't have to name. I sent many back to the seller but rarely got a replacement or a refund. Since then, I've found a good source of batteries but they're still quite expensive and I have no desire to resume the business with newer models.
Another reason for closing the refurbishing business was that buyers on eBay were astonishingly stupid about their choices when buying a used laptop. I had a competitor who had apparently purchased a bulk lot of XPS-15Zs and was reselling them in poor to fair condition with the original hard drives for slightly less than mine. Ironically, one of my refurbished laptops with upgraded memory, a solid-state drive, and a 1920 x 1080 display is still more than adequate for typical home computer users in 2024.