Would you purchase refurbished electronics?

[Generic Brad]

As I price computers and MP3 players I notice there are a lot of refurbished products on the market that are deeply discounted. But how is the quality? Is there a greater risk of product failure in refurbished products?

I don't work retail, so I am hesitant to put my hard earned dollars in something that has already let someone else down. What is the recommendation among you GD experts?

[rzemanfl]

1. I've purchased several refurbished items (digital camera, iPods)

and haven't had problems. I think a lot of this stuff is just buyer's remorse, not defective merchandise. I was told to return an iPod as defective, had the same installation problem with the next one and figured out how to work around the problem myself. The one I returned was, I am sure, perfectly good.

[MannyGoldstein]

2. If It's Refurbed And Warranteed By The Manufacturer

And it's a deep discount, I'd do it. These are often returns that get cleaned up.

Otherwise, not.

[mondo joe]

3. I might, depending. I'd go refurbished from Apple because I think they have high

quality standards, for example.

[napi21]

4. I've purchased refurbished electronics and appliances for several

years now, and I've never had any problems. I always make sure the listing says "factory refurbished" though. I think the only thing in my house that ISN't refurbished is my TV, and that's only because I'm such an impatient person, and when my TV was fried by lightening, I wasn't willing to wait for a refurbished one to be shipped, so I went to Best Buy and bought a new one.

[demosincebirth]

5. Many items have just cosmetic defects and have been refurbished.

[madokie]

6. I think refurbished goods for the most part has a good track record as such

the ones I've noticed come with the same warranty as new. I know people who go looking for the refurbished products everytime and they seem to be happy with them. Hell if you can save a bundle of cash I say why not. I purchased a refurbished belt sander and saved myself close to a c note and I couldn't tell it from new when I first got it.

[Stinky The Clown]

7. I've bought plenty of factory refurbished. No problems.

If they come with a factory warranty, and it is a good name brand, I go for it. I've never had any problems.

[LeftyMom]

8. Like the first reply said, much of that stuff was fine the first time.

I used to do RTV for a big electronics chain, and I know we sent back a lot of perfectly good stuff either because it was returned defective and was only PLBKAC, because somebody claimed something was defective rather than admit they changed their mind, or because we needed to get it out of the store to make room for other stuff.

A lot of the bigger buyers write into their contracts that they can RTV stuff for full credit for any or no reason.

[Gman]

9. I've had no problems with refurbisheds

most recentlya GPS unit that has no problems. The best thing, as someone mentioned above, is the factory warranty is good.

[dweller]

10. I just purchased a refurbished DVD/VCR unit

that had the features i wanted, the features that are being discontinued in the newer models.
Paid about 1/2 what it cost new, came w/ the same year warranty as the original.

no complaints.
dp

[MissWaverly]

11. I bought a refurbished computer from manufacturer

it had a subprogram under the Windows shell, the guy who had it before surfed the internet for porn, burnt it to CDs and sold them,
so if anyone came by it had the standard windows shell but every time I went on the net, there were porn files to be downloaded,
I did everything to scrub the machine and it did not work, I finally had to junk the machine. It was not worth it, you would be better buying from someone you know than taking a risk like that. I am sure that folks will say that this is impossible, I just know that it happened to me.

[Edweird]

25. Fdisk, format, install.,

No need to "junk" a computer over software.

[madokie]

26. I've reformated and reloaded xp on this machine several times now

I'm always playing with my install, removing shit and adding others ;-)

[MissWaverly]

30. I reformatted hard drive, it did not help

I am not saying that reformatting would not remove the windows based system, what was on this machine was built outside the windows
format and it did not help. Now, I did buy a refurbished Brother CS6000i sewimg machine that I am really happy with, the reason I
think that women return them is that the tension should remain at 0 for most stitching becuz computer chip handles that, most women
my age have had a tension setting of 3 beat into their brains.

[Edweird]

31. Fdisking pior to formatting is critical.

When you delete a partition it permanently and irretrievably deletes the FAT, and thus eliminates any viruses or spyware that may have existed. Simply reformatting does not have the same "clean slate" benefit.

[idovoodoo]

12. Absolutely...do it all the time. They're usually superior to new.

...

[Sanctified]

13. I buy refurbished Apple products all the time, they come with a standard 1 year warranty

and you can upgrade their refurbished computers to a 3 year warranty. If they trust their refurbished products enough to give those kinds of Warranties I think they have to be pretty good.

[Generic Brad]

14. You've sold me

This weekend my daughter has an IMac on loan from her school so she can complete a major project. After seeing that thing in action I am beginning to price IMacs and the refurbished ones caught my eye.

Too bad I did not pose this question before I bought my MP3 player.

[Sanctified]

15. I have two refurbished ibook G4's that I have had for almost 3 years never had a problem with

either of them. I am about to buy a iMac refurb also you won't be sorry I love Macs.

[Pavulon]

16. Yep

buy refurb all the time.

Is that code39 or 128b?

[Buzz Clik]

17. Sansa MP3 player; RCA wireless speakers to name a couple.

No problem.

Usually, these refurbs are simply new stuff that was tried once and returned. It's highly likely that nothing was wrong with the product.

[msedano]

18. two kinds of refurbished

likely both reliable.

in the factory, some percentage get tested thoroughly, others get a more cursory inspection. items that don't pass one or the other inspection typically are cycled to the rework table then retested and ok's by the QC staff.

when consumers return failed product the rework table gets to work and brings the thing back to performance standard.

i would heed the advice to ensure you get the original factory warranty. i advocate buying the insurance plan for higher ticket items. case in point, this powerbook i'm typing on. it shared a glass of cabernet one evening with me. the apple warranty replaced the keyboard and mouse pad at no charge beyond the insurance i'd purchased from apple.

[BlooInBloo]

19. With *your* money I would, but not with my own.

[kineneb]

20. the laptop I am now using to type these words...

was refurbished/recycled. I bought it online after some research into what I could afford. So I am the proud owner of a used ThinkPad T30, happily running Kubuntu Linux.

[FedoraLV]

21. My Computer Is

Mind, it needed a new motherboard and hard drive before worked quite right: a warranty/repair plan/good return policy may be in order.

(I bought it off the manufacturers' website; they were also the one who fixed it.)

-FedoraLV

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

22. I have purchased refurbished products from a coffee maker to a computer and have had

knock on wood, no problems! :)

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. My macbook was a floor model

I have bought more than one refurbished computer since I started buying years ago, decades, I am dating myself

Just do your research, and MAKE SURE they come with a factory guarantee, like my macbook

Oh and I'd say I have saved thousands by now

[Prefer]

24. Anything but a television

An LCD TV is too expensive. Many times a whole series that is blown out has design problems.

[BooScout]

27. I'm on a refurbished Toshiba Laptop now....

It's great.........no problems so far and it's almost a year since I bought it. It's a hell of a lot better than the piece of shit Dell I had brand new.

[ThomWV]

28. I'm on a refurbished Dell at the moment: Saved about $1/3

[sendero]

29. I think they are generally a good deal...

.. most "refurbished" merchandise is, I believe, simply returns. Once the packaging is opened, it has to be checked and repackaged.

A manufacturer can't really repair most electronic devices (except for the simplest problems) cost effectively. But they cannot repackage returns and sell them as new, hence the "refurbished".