A lot of people don't quite understand the term refurbished and just instantly think that it’s a second-hand item when this isn't the case.

Generally, a refurbished item is an item that was found to have a slight defect so was sent back to the manufacture or another service person to have whatever parts need attention to be replaced.

By purchasing a refurbished device instead of a second have one you are decreasing the chances needed for expensive computer repairs further down the track. There is also the huge amount of savings to consider when purchasing these devices.

When doing some research, I was quite glad to find that there is a large amount of schools, organizations and businesses who have a regular contract agreement to purchase refurbished computers and laptops.

The reason I am glad to see that there are many people already taking advantage of this is because of the financial savings that can be gained. When an item has been marked as refurbished it can no longer be sold as new, therefore it usually comes with a nice discount attached.

However, something to keep in mind if you are looking to go down the road of purchasing a refurbished device is the warranty. Some of the time these devices that have an extremely cheap price tag as they come with little or no warranty. Do shop around though as there is plenty of retailers who will supply a 6 or even 12-month warranty with these items.

Another fantastic option for those who are looking to pick up a device at a fraction of the price is ex-lease devices. These are generally purchased brand new by a company who for some reason end up shutting down and needs to sell all their stock.

We contacted a range of different businesses and schools in the Auckland area and inquired as to whether they purchased ex-lease items.

We were very pleasantly surprised to find that majority of schools and educational institutions were taking advantage of the fantastic benefits of using quality, ex-lease cheap computers.

Places like schools and not for profit organizations usually have a tight budget so purchase ex-lease equipment that is only just gone 12 months idea is a fantastic idea to get quality items at a fraction of the cost.

Majority of the schools we spoke to had a Ex-Lease computer contract in place which meant they were purchasing them at fantastic rated due to buying multiple at a time.