Hot take: I picked the $400 used laptop for my side gig over a $1200 new one and I regret nothing

Ruby King · 2026-10-08T19:45:04.424529+00:00

Last month I needed a laptop for my freelance bookkeeping, just spreadsheets and invoices for 6 small clients. I stood in the store for 20 minutes comparing a new $1200 machine with 16GB of RAM against a refurbished one from 2021 for $400. I went with the cheap one because my old laptop crapped out and I needed something that day, not in a week. Three weeks in and it runs QuickBooks and Chrome tabs without a hiccup, plus I put the $800 difference into a savings account for taxes. My brother keeps saying I will regret it when the battery dies, but a new battery for this model is $50. Has anyone else gone the refurb route for work and had it backfire later?

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Hot take: I picked the $400 used laptop for my side gig over a $1200 new one and I regret nothing | Business And Finance - SMM Buzz