Welcome to the UN Tech Help Centre

This is where we put everything we’d otherwise have to explain over the phone: what our grades mean, how to set up your new machine, what to do when something goes wrong, and how the warranty works.

If you’re buying

Start with What “refurbished” actually means: what we do to every machine before it goes on sale.

Then Understanding our grading. This is the one people wish they’d read first: it explains why a Fair machine performs exactly like a Premium one, and what you’re actually paying for when you pay more.

If the specifications mean nothing to you, Choosing the right computer translates them into plain English and tells you which ones actually matter. (Short version: storage and memory matter; the processor matters less than you’d think.)

If you’ve just bought

Setting up your computer takes you from the box to a working desktop, and Transferring your files gets your things across from the old machine.

If something’s wrong

Work through the Troubleshooting articles first. They’re written as checklists, ordered from the most likely cause to the least. Most problems are solved in the first two steps, and you’ll save yourself a phone call.

If it’s a genuine hardware fault, it’s covered. Every device we sell has a 12-month warranty, at every grade, and a claim costs you nothing.

Two deadlines worth knowing: if a device is faulty on arrival, or you’ve changed your mind, you have 14 days in each case. Don’t sit on either.

If you’re getting rid of an old machine

We’ll buy it if it has value, take it for recycling if it doesn’t, and destroy the data on it properly either way.

Please don’t put it in the bin, and please don’t sell it without wiping it. Deleting your files does not remove them from the drive.

Can’t find something?

Use the search bar at the top of any page; it searches the full text of every article, so searching the exact error message you’re looking at usually works.

If an article is wrong, unclear or missing, tell us. We’d rather fix it than answer the same question twice. Get in touch.