Top-brand notebooks up to 30% cheaper: what are "outlets" and which ones are available?

Processor and memory power, screen clarity, and brand confidence are some of the details to consider when purchasing a laptop . But in Argentina, the first thing people look at is the price . In the local market, technological devices often cost twice as much (in dollars) as in other countries.

Today, via global networks or online stores , it's easy to compare prices here with those in Chile, the United States, or any European country. And doing so angers Argentine buyers.

But now, those who don't have a friend who travels abroad often and can bring them a laptop, or those who don't want to buy online from foreign sites, have a good option in the country: so-called notebook outlets, which cost, on average, 30% less than those offered at more renowned retailers.

Outlets are refurbished laptops. Laptops that, for various reasons, are returned from a store back to the manufacturer, and the manufacturer puts them back on sale. So far, nothing new. Refurbished products have been sold for years. But the difference is that outlets are refurbished in local stores certified by a global brand .

Thus, anyone selling an outlet in Argentina bought the machine from the manufacturer, and the manufacturer certifies that they are capable of guaranteeing that the computer will be sold again as good as new.

The reasons why a laptop enters the refurbished circuit are almost endless. But the most common are that the laptop was part of a batch sale for a large company or government and they returned some equipment; it was returned because the box or casing was cracked or scratched; and, of course, it may have had hardware or software issues.

"We work with Lenovo . They send an outside agent, a sort of supervisor, who certifies everything for us. How we work, our capacity to repair equipment if it needs fixing... And in parallel, we buy batches of machines from them and refurbish them ourselves," XTR Notebooks told Clarín .

And they add: "In these batches come all kinds of equipment. From very powerful machines for gamers to the most basic ones for schoolwork. And they come in various conditions. Some have battery problems, disk problems, but most have some scratches and others have nothing at all."

While customers often want to know why the computer they're about to buy is refurbished, these stores claim that's the least of their worries. Because they're trained to perform the repair (usually just replacing one part with another) with global brand certification, and they leave the equipment in perfect condition.

"Once you take the product, we give you a six-month warranty. It's our own guarantee. So if you have a problem, you can come here and we'll fix it," XTR adds.

What's the difference between outlet laptops and refurbished ones? The former are fine-tuned in a local store with the support of the global manufacturer. Traditional refurbished laptops follow the same process but lack the backing of global certification. With these types of machines, the trust you have in the refurbished store is key.

A fact: among refurbished stores and outlets, you can often find models that don't reach the country through traditional sales channels.

Beyond price, it's also worth keeping an eye on the quality of the processor , which is the most important part of the computer. It regulates power consumption and manages the instructions for all operations, from the most demanding to the most basic.

In the case of Intel processors, you can find Celeron and Core processors. The latter model offers the best options for a workstation.

They are divided into Core i3, i5, i7, and i9. And the higher the number, of course, the higher the price.

Continuing with AMD, the situation is similar. There are basically A, Athlon, and Ryzen. The Athlon series almost doubles the processing power of the A series, and the very high performance starts with the Ryzen series.

When considering a computer for office work, they recommend focusing on Athlon and up. Ryzen processors are divided into 3, 5, 7, and 9. Ryzen processors are more than adequate for teleworking.

The operating system uses RAM to store data and instructions for running applications, but only temporarily, so as not to exhaust processor resources.

Software tends to use more RAM as it increases in complexity. This means that the more memory the system has, the more programs it can handle simultaneously. While 4 GB is the acceptable minimum, it's recommended to opt for a base configuration of 8 GB to allow for greater performance and responsiveness.

The other component that significantly increases system performance is solid-state drives (SSDs) . Their secret is that, since they have no moving parts (they're flash memory), they require less power, which allows for several degrees of temperature reduction. It's recommended that they have at least 256 GB. Some models, for example.

Outlet with an Intel Core i3-1005G1-1.2G processor and Iris Plus Graphics. It comes with 4GB of memory and a 256GB SSD. It has a 14-inch display and Windows 10 Home. $500,953.

Refurbished. Core i7-6600, 8GB of memory, and 256GB SSD. 14-inch display and Windows 10 Home. $686,500.

Refurbished. Ryzen 5 processor, 8GB RAM, and a 256GB solid-state drive. This Dell has a 15-inch display and Windows 11. $500,000.

It's an outlet with an Intel Core i5 processor and 8GB of memory, a 1TB hard drive, a 15.6" Full HD display, and Windows 10 Pro operating system. $848,838.

Refurbished. Comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 processor, 16GB of memory, and a 512GB SSD. 15-inch display and Windows 11. $705,499.