[Robert McClelland]

I don't have alot money I did saw 19inch flat for 89 bucks
NEC FP955 / 19-Inch / 1920 x 1440 / 0.24 / Pure Flat CRT Monitor Off-Lease

[The_Neon_Cowboy]

Its a risk / gamble and if you knew the kinda of peole the reberbished most stuff you'd think twice

[drwho]

I have to agree with the Neon_Cowboy, when you get refurbished products, it's a hit and miss proposition. You never know quite what your getting, the product can be great or you can get a lemon. And with most refurbished products it usually is "take it as it is" with no warrenty. I hope it works out for you.



drwho

[SexPistoL]

You get what you pay for M8

[riles9262]

The one time I got refurbished (in my case a stereo) I got burned. Rest assured I won't get burned again...

[Tipstaff]

Sometimes refurbed products are actually brand new, it's just that there was an issue with it, and was sent back to the manufacturer. It can be a scratch, a dead pixel, non-working power supply, anything, but since the manufacturer can't resell it as new they sell it as refurbed. These are usually resold as "white box" products. My 3 most recent selloffs (I bought the whole skid of these things.. and sold every one of them in a week) were some Canon Canoscan scanners, and 2 skids of HP laptops. The only thing is that while the scanners had a 1 year warranty the laptops only came with a 90 day, no questions asked warranty.

Speaking of which, remember that first link you gave out in your monitor post? That sites warranty on their refurb monitors was a 1 year limited warranty. Rather surprising, actually.

Then, there are those times where you will get a POS refurb. These are the ones that "look" fine to the seller, but should never have been resold. 8 outta 10 times this is the garbage you find on eBay... or something your friend sells you.

Like the man says, it's a crap shoot, but sometimes you get lucky. Just remember this: the only difference between buying a new product vs a refurbed is that the odds are stacked in your favour of getting something that's not broken, but even with a new product there is no garuantee you won't get a lemon. Buying new gets you a better warranty, better chance of returning, and more recourse for help if it suddenly decides to lift it's leg and either take a wiz on you, or keal over.

[The_Neon_Cowboy]

But what refubished is that the item had a problem, was sent back was repaired
and tested by people who are rushed and pushed for valume, so quailty of work
can be very low. Even one that are don't by the MFG them selfs are TERRABLE.

Another defontion people are calling used "referbished"
as it has a nicer ring then "used as-is" good luck

It can also mean a product that was returned and quick checked, an is a hurry
like how good you'd look it you gotta take a dump really bad and needed to rush
to the bathoroom. If it no obviously bad it get kick back and sold as used of
referbished even though it had nothing done but a verry low quialty quick testing

It a game of russion roulte, with 3 bullets in the revolver

[BWX]

These are a couple refurbs I would buy-

RADEON® X800 PRO AGP 256MB - REFURB*
RADEON® X800 PRO PCIE 256MB - REFURB*
http://shop.ati.com/searchresults.asp?dept_id=39


I almost got the AGP X800pro the other day.. went for a more expensive new X800XL retail, but those refurbs are good deals and come with a 3 yr warranty. Other than that refurbs are a gamble, one you will probably lose.

[Tipstaff]

Originally Posted by The_Neon_Cowboy

It a game of russion roulte, with 3 bullets in the revolver

That's a good analogy, Neon.

I'm really particular of the refurbed items I sell. For the most part, I don't sell refurb. I've only done so a few times after a long tryout with the product first. If I don't too much can go wrong, and I can get left eating the POS on a massive scale. LCD monitors, in particular, I will not sell. They are a very personal item to sell new, because of peoples perception of them compared to a CRT. People are really picky when it comes to LCDs, and any little thing wrong with them can set them off on a "I don't want this" binge. To sell them used, where you could get one that has a dead pixel, would just be too much of a hassle since I wouldn't be able to do squat with them if they don't like it.

[Robert McClelland]

I'd still haven't made my mind up yet lol

[Geminiwave]

actually it really depends on where you buy it from. if its newegg then theres a good chance you can trust it. Even if its FUBAR, they'll take it back. Most refurbs are actually very good deals. Neon will disagree with the newegg bit but I think God hates him because I've never met ANYONE with complaints like his about newegg.

Refurbs ARE a gamble, but not a huge one.

[DuncanMcDermott]

Originally Posted by Robert McClelland

I don't have alot money I did saw 19inch flat for 89 bucks
NEC FP955 / 19-Inch / 1920 x 1440 / 0.24 / Pure Flat CRT Monitor Off-Lease

I think it depneds on the manufacturer of the product and who is doing the refurbishing? My wife bought a IBM LCD refurb'd monitor and has absolutely no problems with it. ATI sells video cards on clearance as refurbs and some of those are new cards. I would say do some research and ask others who may have bought the refurbs what their experiences were.

[swimtech]

Originally Posted by DuncanMcDermott

I think it depneds on the manufacturer of the product and who is doing the refurbishing? My wife bought a IBM LCD refurb'd monitor and has absolutely no problems with it. ATI sells video cards on clearance as refurbs and some of those are new cards. I would say do some research and ask others who may have bought the refurbs what their experiences were.

I agree that this is the most important item to consider when purchasing a refurbished item. Know the seller, they have a reputation to uphold, or not...

In the balance of things, it's also about your peace of mind. Weigh carefully how much you would be upset about the frustration you would go through if the product was defective during whatever warranty you were given and the procedures involved.

Finally, think through how an item can be effectively refurbished (which really means repaired - 100% - and thoroughly tested) - and what a company or person would have to do to effectively repair a broken item. This does take knowledge of how an item is made and how it works. It generally takes a lot of expertise and special equipment to refurbish any electronic component nowadays...

[The_Neon_Cowboy]

Mae sure there is a return policy as well as most stuff like that is
all sales final or a really short warrenty... you reponceable for the reurnt shiping....

If it cost you $25 to get the monitor shiped to you and it;s bad, you pay
anoher $20 to return it for exacange... So it can be a bum deal especally
with a heavey item like that

[Judas]

reguardless of whom manufactured it.... refurbished products have probably 2-3 times more likelyness to fail then the brand spanking new variation.

IMO, enless you can get at LEAST 1 years warranty on it, it simply may not be worth it. Course depending on the price your going to have to make your own mind up.

Find a place that sell the specific product your looking for either refurbished or open box. If the place sells a extended warranty plan that you know you can hold them to. Buy it if it makes sence. Specially at say Futureshop for me. I've walked in, bought $160 hardrive that was refurbished or open box, stamp on an extra 2-3 year warranty plan via futureshop to bring the price up say another 20-30 bucks. If it works for 3 years... well sure... 20-30 bucks outa your pocket, BUT, if within those 3 years (and cross your fingers that if it's going to fail, have it fail JUST before the warranty period is up ) you take it back, they make the exchange on a more superior product, and purchase another warranty plan on it.

For example, 3 years from now, IF they still have that same $160 product in stock even, i couldn't see it being worth much, say 50 bucks tops. But most likely, they won't even have it in stock and the cheapest product on the shelf will probably be anywhere from 2-even 4 times better/value. 160 dollar HD say 120gb IDE 2mb cashe, 3 years later, end up with a 400gb 16mb cache sata 300 drive or better possibly.


it's all chance though, you'll rarely see me even look at a refurbished product at all, only time i look at it is if i know i can get a good warranty plan on it, if i have an older machine that can only accept the currently only available refurbished product BUT MUST have 30 days minimum warranty for me to still buy it.

Monitors i rarely look at for being refurbished. nor do i considering other major components of the computer such as the video card or motherboard. Hardrives/sound cards/modems/ethernet cards/keyboards/mice... etc yes i'll consider.

[Lowfat]

Ive boughten a refurbished motherboard before. 2 years later, still going strong.

[H3X4D3C1M4L]

I have a refurbed IBM P260 monitor. Works bastard good.