How to buy a refurbished laptop in Peru

Before paying for a refurbished laptop, read the shop's whole warranty, ask what battery percentage the grade you are buying promises, and confirm whether the installed Windows comes licensed or is a trial version. When it arrives, measure the battery, run the manufacturer's diagnostic and check that the machine is not still tied to the company that used it before. Do it in the first few days, because in Peru there is no general right to return an online purchase and the trial period, if the shop gives one, is whatever the shop wrote. Prices by shop are on the laptops page.

The checklist before and after buying

Open the shop's warranty page and read all of it. Note the term, what it covers and what it excludes.
Ask what battery percentage the grade you are buying promises.
Ask whether Windows comes licensed or as a trial version.
Look up the exact processor model in Microsoft's list of approved CPUs for Windows 11.
Ask the seller to confirm the machine has no BIOS password, that it left Absolute and that it was deregistered from Windows Autopilot.
Check that the listing and the receipt say the machine is used or refurbished.
When it arrives, photograph the sealed package and the machine, and report any dents the same day.
Turn it on with internet and watch whether an organisation's screen appears.
Generate the battery report with powercfg /batteryreport.
Run the manufacturer's diagnostic.
Keep the box, packaging, receipt and warranty.

Grades change from shop to shop

There is no single scale. Mercado Libre Peru requires a grade attribute to enter its refurbished catalogue, with three values. Excelente means subtle signs of use and a screen with no marks or imperfections. Bueno means small signs of use and a screen with no marks or imperfections. Aceptable means noticeable signs of use and a screen with scratches. All three require more than 80% battery capacity. Every refurbished listing must also carry a seller warranty of 90 days or more.

Shops use other words. Falabella has a condition field with values such as "Reacondicionado excelente (A)", "Reacondicionado detalle estético (B)" and "Open Box". KPDM uses Reacondicionado, Grado A and Grado B. CompuOutlet uses Remanufacturada, Open Box, reacondicionada and showroom, and Lenovo Outlet Peru uses Reacondicionado and Caja Abierta. We did not read those shops' grade definitions, so compare the battery percentage and the faults each grade allows, not the grade name.

The warranty is what the shop states

This is what the shops that carry refurbished laptops stated on 1 October 2026. Confirm that the term applies to laptops on the offer you choose.

CompuOutlet. From 6 to 12 months depending on the product. A remanufactured Lenovo IdeaPad laptop we looked at said "Garantía: 9 Meses".
Lenovo Outlet Peru. 6 months from receipt, on refurbished and open box items. Its catalogue is very small.
KPDM. "Hasta 1 año" (up to 1 year). Its terms say products may carry a warranty according to their condition, so the term is per product.
Plaza Vea, Oechsle, Promart and Shopstar. Each seller sets the term on the offer. A ThinkPad E15 at Oechsle said "garantía de 12 meses" and a Dell Latitude 7300 at Promart said "Garantía UNET: 15 meses por fallas de hardware de fábrica".
Falabella. Each seller states its "Garantía del proveedor" on the offer.
Mercado Libre Peru. Each seller sets its own, with a minimum of 90 days on refurbished items.

The term a shop states is its explicit warranty and binds it (article 20 of Ley 29571). How it relates to the law is in the rights section below.

Windows activated is not the same as Windows genuine

Microsoft explains that activation pairs the product key or digital entitlement with the device's hardware, and that it does not assess the authenticity of the copy or guarantee that the copy of Windows is genuine. Ask before paying whether Windows comes licensed or as a trial version, and add the cost of a licence if it is not included. We did not read what each Peruvian shop says about the Windows licence on its laptops.

Windows 10 support ended on 14 October 2025. Microsoft offers a consumer Extended Security Updates programme that protects the machine until 12 October 2027; we did not confirm whether it is sold in Peru. Windows 11 requires TPM version 2.0 and a processor of 1 GHz or faster, with 2 or more cores, that appears on Microsoft's list of approved CPUs. Many old business laptops do not qualify. Look up the exact processor model on that list before buying.

The battery

Windows generates a battery report. Open the Command Prompt, type powercfg /batteryreport and press Enter. Windows saves the report as an HTML file. In the installed batteries section, compare the design capacity with the full charge capacity.

Compare the resulting percentage with what the shop promised you in writing. Mercado Libre Peru's battery requirement above 80% applies to listings using its refurbished condition; it is not a legal threshold or a universal test of a laptop battery.

What the previous company may have left

Many refurbished laptops come from companies, and there are three locks the buyer cannot remove alone.

BIOS password. Lenovo says in the manual for its ThinkPad T14 and T16 that, if you forget the supervisor password, there is no service procedure to remove it. The system board has to be replaced by an authorised provider, with a charge for parts and service. Ask the seller to demonstrate that you can enter BIOS settings without another person's password.

Absolute, formerly Computrace. Absolute says the component is built into the firmware on compatible devices and that, once activated, it reinstalls its software if it is removed. We could not read how a corporate customer releases a device, so ask the seller to confirm that the machine left Absolute.

Windows Autopilot. Microsoft says any device that permanently leaves an organisation must be deregistered from Autopilot, and that the organisation's administrator does it. The practical test is to turn the laptop on with internet and see whether an organisation's screen appears. If it does, the machine is still tied to it.

The manufacturer's diagnostic

HP publishes that its HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI tool runs outside the operating system and lets you separate hardware faults from those caused by Windows or other software. It is useful for testing the battery, memory and disk when the machine arrives. Look for your brand's tool and run it within the shop's return period, if it gives one. The general checklist is in what to check when it arrives.

Your rights in Peru

In Peru, Ley 29571 (the Consumer Protection and Defence Code) sets no warranty period in months. It distinguishes the legal guarantee, the explicit one, which is what the shop states on its page, in its advertising or on the payment receipt, and the implicit one, which applies when the shop says nothing (articles 20 and 21). The law does not use the word "reacondicionado". Its article 11 requires used, rebuilt or remanufactured goods to be flagged prominently, on the product, its label, wrapping or packaging, and on the payment receipt. If your laptop was sold as refurbished, ask for the receipt to say it is used or refurbished, and get the warranty in writing. Confirm the listing warranty directly with the seller.

In Peru there is no general right to return an online purchase without giving a reason. The 7-day period in article 59 applies only when the shop used aggressive or deceptive practices (article 58). The returns some shops offer are voluntary and are worth what each shop wrote, so ask in writing for the period, the conditions and who pays the shipping. If the shop gives a trial period, use it to check the laptop and do not use it as your work machine until you decide, and ask in writing whether a laptop used beyond inspection still qualifies for that return. If the product is not fit for its use because of defects or hidden flaws, or if the defects remain after the legal guarantee is honoured, article 97 gives the right to repair, replacement or a refund.

If the shop does not answer, file a complaint in its Libro de Reclamaciones, which it must answer within 15 business days. If it does not answer or you are not satisfied, go to INDECOPI (Lima 224-7777, regions 0-800-44040). The full route is in your rights when buying refurbished, and the signs of a fake are in original or clone.

Sources

Shop policies are what each site stated on 1 October 2026 and may change. The Microsoft, Lenovo, Absolute and HP pages were opened again during this review; both Dell support pages returned HTTP 403, so we removed the technical claims that depended on them. None of this replaces advice from a lawyer.