Thanks for the links and post. I had one doubt. My new Dell fan is
having issues in 3 years. How long might these refurbished last?
The pictures were primarily to show what it looked like. If
I were buying one from ebay (or wherever), I'd want a new
fan. Note in the pictures though (if they are still
available, one link didn't work a moment ago) that among
same compatible heatsinks, more than one make of fan was
used... it wouldn't be uncommon for one to be better than
the other(s), but since I don't have them for comparison I
can't say which might be.
I
don't want to be changing these every few months(even though if I get 6
for $20 in terms of expense I can). Could they have some other adverse
effect if they are not of good quality(like overheating of CPU if it is
not working properly)?
if the default (manufacturer spec'd and as labeled) current
is lower, they will tend to have a lower max RPM, which
would (all else being equal which seems to be the case since
they're drop-in replacements with same diameter, thickness,
and blade design) mean a little lower airflow. It will also
tend to mean they'd last longer than an otherwise
*identical* fan with higher RPM.
Since I don't know how hot nor how much margin that
partiuclar notebook has, I can't predict whether a different
airflow would be a problem. We might be able to ignore this
factor though, since they are all meant to cool this model
of laptop and as such, should have acceptible airflow.
A low quality fan will simply wear out sooner, and/or be
noisier.
I don't intend to be ungracious but 6 for $20 is
quite surprising. Particularly, when a new one is far more expensive. I
know I asked for price saving options but I have had friends whose
refurbished computers failed in a 2-3 months. I understand this can
happen with a brand new also.
First you can pretty much ignore Dell's price, it will
usually be subtantially higher than anywhere else except
some notebook specialty shops which don't try to be cost
competitive with anyone else. I'd tend to suspect that if
you find a seller with only one of them, it might be a pull
from an old system (particularly if the seller doesn't sell
a lot of other similar hardware), but someone will lots of
similar or same parts may have a source for these... on
occasion I've been able to buy bulk Dell sound and video
cards on ebay, once they stop using a particular part and
the warranty period for the series is up, the remaining
stock gets sold off.
But given the ones from ebay(or some other retailer) and Dell which is
generally of good quality?
There's no reason to think any are necessarily of better
quality, they were likely all made by same manufacturer for
Dell, the only question is how they ended up with a
particular seller or if they were used, pulled out of a
laptop after it was deemed not worthy of repairs so the fan
would then have much of it's original lifespan gone already.
I can't predict this with any particular fan, to a cetain
extent you have to take the seller's word for it that it's
"New", and inspect it when it arrives for signs of dust (or
cleaning residue, if they tried to clean it so it looked
new(ish) again).
I can pay little more if the product has more chances of lasting long.
I apologize Kony if my note is improper. I am truly grateful for the
links and all your help.
Comparing a new replacement from Dell vs an ebay seller,
there is no reason to believe the one from Dell would last
longer or vice-versa. The main issue would be that with
Dell you have a certain assurance it is a new part, while
with any website selling as regular supposed-new stock, it's
probably reasonably safe to assume it is new but with ebay
your odds of finding used fans goes up significantly... so
read the descriptions carefully and ask the seller
questions.
