If you’re looking to outfit or upgrade your team’s IT equipment, you’ve got two main choices. You can either pay for brand new ‘white box’ goods or save money by opting for used and renovated assets. Both methods of sourcing IT hardware have their advantages and disadvantages, and both approaches suit different businesses better than others. Here’s what to expect from each.

New Hardware

Buying the latest PCs, tablets, and laptops for your business is a great way to guarantee a functional, fast, clean setup. There’s little risk of data contamination and quirks left over from careless past owners. New units also come with guarantees and fixed-term tech support attached, saving you money in case of sudden failure.

Unfortunately, off-the-shelf hardware often means paying premium costs – with custom-build units coming with even higher price tags. Inevitably, you’re also looking at losing your cutting-edge status quickly as technology develops.

The latest and greatest hardware can also be somewhat over-engineered for simple, routine tasks such as editing documents.

Advantages

  • Speed, compatibility, and efficiency are usually guaranteed
  • Less wear and tear – no exterior scratches, UV exposure, or thermal damage
  • Current tech support and advice available from the manufacturer
  • Powerful enough to run all the latest apps

Disadvantages

  • Off-the-shelf costs are usually far higher than refurbed equipment
  • Staff may need updates for new OS builds
  • Might be too powerful for your workplace – cost efficiency is a concern
  • First-gen tech often comes with unresolved glitches and problems
  • Risk of ‘betamaxing’ – unestablished, unpopular new products fall behind dominant, proven ones, even if quality is higher
  • May not be compatible with legacy machines and software

Refurbished Hardware

For smaller businesses, sourcing is often a more effective solution to expand, replace, and enhance your IT infrastructure. F1 Solutions offer manufacturer-accredited refurbished hardware sourcing, helping you save money and better fit your acquisitions to your existing setups.

Advantages

  • Usually much cheaper to purchase and upgrade – savings over time stack up
  • Often more familiar to users and inexperienced staff – no training required
  • Might be better fitted to low-intensity tasks; office work, internet browsing, emails
  • Can be customised to improve base units easily
  • Better ageing and legacy tech support – most issues are known about by the three-year mark
  • Environmentally friendly – few to no new materials used in renovating older machines
  • Often guaranteed for free repairs by the refurbisher for up to five years
  • Often the only way to obtain outdated, rare, or obscure older hardware

Disadvantages

  • May not be able to run the latest versions of some software
  • Higher risk of part failure long-term
  • Can be more power intensive or dangerous to run and repair
  • Bulk orders trickier – unless popular, older fixed builds are rarer
  • Poor data sanitisation/removal is a serious issue – look for accredited suppliers, such as F1 Support

IT Hardware Sourcing From F1 Support

Do you need high quality refurbished IT hardware to fit your needs, users, and business model? F1 Support offer matched hardware sourcing as part of our managed IT service. Please get in touch to find out more.

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