refurbished
 

I've always felt that factory refurbished electronics seemed like they'd be a very safe investment (not that I've ever purchased one). It seems to me that someone has tested the product, identified the problem, the factory has corrected the problem, so it's good to go. Is that crazy, or pretty accurate?

"Investment" is the wrong word, because they will never make money for you.

And it depends on the product. Maybe there is a product that is a piece of crap, like every external video capture device I've ever bought, and somebody returns it because it's complete crap, but it's as good as the day it rolled off the line, so they rebox it and sell it as refurbished. And it's still crap.

I've purchased a refurbished Dell laptop that was very good. It was just off lease.

I've had several refurbished electronic products. With very good results. I currently have a refurb Toshiba VCR/DVD combo, a Pioneer 1000 watt audio/video receiver, a Uniden police scanner, and 7" portable hdtv (brand unkown).

Excepting the tv, all are over 15 yrs old and have worked perfectly.

I agree. The refurbished item has received individual attention whereas the assembly line product has passed through several inattentive hands.

My laptop is a refurb. Works just dandy.

They say a lot of refurbs are from people who didn't know how to operate the thing in the first place, and returned it.

But then, they would say that, wouldn't they? That's just the sort of thing they'd say.

And probably some people get buyers remorse and just say the thing is broken so they can return it.

So is the consensus that electronic refurbs are generally a good deal?

I would say that if the item gets good reviews, and a refurb is available, the refurb is a good deal.

But a refurbed piece of crap is still a piece of crap.

Thanks, folks!

LCDDIGITAL?

Buyer Beware.

I would stick with resellers like overstock.com and Newegg to buy refurb equipment since it has some semblance of a warranty and has been serviced by a legitimate company.

I have bought from Overstock.com before and successfully returned refurb equipment. My home PC is a refurbished old Compaq desktop I got from Newegg with a full copy of Windows 7 x64.

Dell also offers refurbs, but I would not buy anything with an AMD processor from them as they had an issue with the processors overheating and melting.

I would not use Craigslist for this type of equipment. Unless you really need it, stick with other places.

No clue, man. It's in the top of the closet, and, you just don't want to go in there.:headshake

Agree with most of what is posted here. Do your research on the product as a new item. Check out the reputation of the seller. If you're happy with both of those, go for a refurb.

Apart from food, pretty much everything I buy is second-hand.
So not even refurb. And I can't remember a time I've been burned. Not literally of course, but also not be a second-hand item either.

I had my eye on something from Newegg.

Then I got home from work on Friday. My mother in law got a new laptop, and gave me her old one. It's an old HP pavilion "entertainment" unit, and I worked all weekend getting it running adequately, and adding the applications that I like. It still needs work.