I only buy refurb if there is some kind of extra warranty for free, or some kind of other incentive. I have found the failure rate on refurb's to be much higher than brand new. I'm a big technology person, and am always buying various gadgets, which gives me a lot of experience with refurbished stuff because sometimes I can't resist the low price.

I'll buy a refurb video card, but probably not a refurb LCD (likely has bad pixels) or hard drive (trust my data to a refurb?)

@tvh2k

I have bought tons of refurb'd hard drives from woot, and have never had a problem. But I guess it also depends on the brand name of the merchandise, IE Western Digital vs. Maxtor...

People who inspect items to approve them as refurbished have about 30 seconds to inspect the item (or less).

So if it's an item where there may be problems not caught in a quick inspection, forget it. That includes cellphones, digital camera, PDAs...

Ummmm, so 13 people voted for "Doesnt contain an option about which I will complain in the comments"... but there are only 4 comments. This poll is totally FRAUDULENT!!! I want my money back!

I need a "I'll buy refurb if it's something that can't be screwed up TOO badly by whoever had it pre-refurb..."

@tvh2k: I never trust my data to a single hard drive.

@pestie:

I never trust my data to any hard drive...I write everything down in composition notebooks. It's a pain in the ass for Divx files.

Ummmm...actually there are five comments.

I am trying to learn to refurb what I can. Refurb potential isn't near what it can be.

I typically only buy refurb from the company I work for, because I know who to go to if I have problems.

@Greeper: Maybe it's a refurbished poll?

I bought a Logitech Harmony 880 refurbished. It came in a white box and had everything the retail package had. Also, the remote was brand new with the plastic sheets covering the LCD screen too. The base looked like it had been used before, but I got an email from Amazon telling me to call Logitech for a replacement since they accidentally packaged a base that might be defective. Overall, darn good deal, free shipping, no tax and about $50 cheaper than buying new.

as mentioned before, I'd NEVER buy a refurb'd LCD. It probably has more dead pixels than it's worth and usually the sellers usually stress not taking returns b/c they know people will be unhappy when a dead-pixeled unit is given to them.

I have absolutely no issue with buying something refurb'd, presuming it comes with the same warranty and lower cost compared to new. Most every time, it does. When I can't buy refurb'd, I usually wish that I could.

@bnet41:
i'm with you there. if i'm buying referb, the warranty better be fantastic, or have the option of buying an extended warranty for not too much more.

I've only bought refurbished electronics once, and I got burned. Never again, I've learned my lesson.

I would like to take this opportunity to log my vote complaint in its most accepted form, ahem:

OMG YOU GIZE!!!1!ONE WTF WHY WASNT "REFURBZ IZ MAD SUXORZ" LOLKTHXBYE

Thank you for this opportunity.

I've had good luck buying refurb home theater receivers and DVD players, but I'd never buy a refurb home theater projector or a computer from ANYONE.

I bought a refurb VCR: lasted about 4 days past the 90 day warranty.

I bought a refurb Cuisinart Coffee Maker at an outlet store (New: $89.95, refurb: $49.95). Lasted for about 9 months before experiencing the same issue that probably got it sent back for repair in the first place.

Kinda turned off on Refurbs now.

Ive bought refurbed and loved it. The money saved makes up for any cosmetic damages. Take my 5gen ipod, saved at least ~$120 by buying from Apple refurb.

I bought my 42" plasma from one of the Gizmodo Dealzmodo listings, refurb, HDTV (with built in tuner for $847 shipped (with tax). Sure it only has a 90 day warrenty, but I used a Visa card, which doubles the warrenty, AMEX will do the same. New list on the same TV is $1200.

I've bought refurbished a few times, and only got burned once on a video camera. It's a great way to save on things like wacom tablets though.

I've had good luck with refurbs for the most part; about the only refurb that I remember having problems with was a (CRT) monitor, which I was able to easily get fixed since the manufacturer had a repair depot nearby.

There are certain things I'm a little paranoid about that I won't buy refurb, namely hard drives.

i bought a refurbed lcd & it's awesome - 17" dell (back when they were retailing above $350), snagged it for about $150. no dead pixels whatsoever - minor scratch in upper right corner that is not visible when the screen is on.

i've had that for over 2 years & it's probably one of my better electronic buys.

About 2 years ago I started buying refurbed tools from Amazon. Quality tools like Bosch and Porter Cable that I don't use heavily. Sometimes it's cheaper than renting. No problems yet

Depends on the brand. I won't buy Sony when it's new, so I sure as hell won't buy them refurbed. Sharp on the other hand I've been nothing but happy with. Apple, of course. Gateway, hell no. IBM, hell yea.

As for tools, Sudonum, refurb tools are an awesome deal at places like Cummins (if you've got one handy to you. If you have to pay shipping the savings aren't so hot). I buy tools that I know I'm only going to use occasionally refurbed so I can spend the big money on the every day use ones.

@AlteredBeast:

I never trust my data to any hard drive...I write everything down in composition notebooks. It's a pain in the ass for Divx files.

I'll buy refurbs under two circumstances:

1) I can inspect it myself before purchasing it. This is mainly for my own peace of mind, honestly. I'm more likely to feel better about a product if it doesn't have a massive gash in the case or such.

2) It won't impact anything else if it breaks. I'm probably not going for the refurb power supply, for example. I don't want it to go haywire for the same reason it was returned and then fry the hard drive, melt the video card and shoot lightning bolts at my cat or something. But a clock radio? Sure. Hook me up.

I have a refurb wife. She was married once before. She's lasted over 4 years and has been a joy.

Sincerely,

refurb-guy

Revmatty-
I buy most of my electronics from Sony and quite a number of them are refurbished.

What issues did you have? Is there anything to look out for?

Just because I haven't had any problems doesn't mean it won't happen.

I had a refurb Harmon Kardon receiver, the volume knob crapped out but the remote worked fine. I rarely touched buttons or knobs on the face of it anyway, so it was a good deal overall.

No complaints, just wanted to say that my co-workers looked at me weird when I let out a loud chuckle at option #5

The only refurb I've ever bought was when my Moto V265 crapped out. Verizon sold me a refurb (at 14 months into my contract) for $65. Hell, I saved $5 by not using their insurance ($5 a month and they give you a refurb anyway.) But that phone only lasted 4 months and I just bought a better phone for $110 from ebay.

The way I look at it, I won't even consider buying a refurbed gadget if it's something that has a high potential for abuse like a cell phone, laptop, PDA, camera, etc. Refurbs only get a cursory inspection and repair and I don't want to get stuck with something that's been dropped, spilled on, and beat and then returned and refurbed.

Also, if you've ever had something repaired by a manufacturer, chances are you got refurbed parts. My alma mater leases HP laptops for all the students and faculty and is an authorized repair center and sends stuff like hard drives back to HP for refurbishing.

I bought a refurbed iBook G4 about 3 years ago - it's still happily running. It was one of the ones with the exploding batteries too, so I got a new battery for free when that whole thing went down. I paid about $250 less than the cost of a new one.

In 1999 I bought a refurbed Sony detachable faceplate MiniDisc car stereo to put into my car. It was still in there with nary a malfunction when I donated the car to charity at the end of last year. I got the stereo for less than half of its original price.

Given my luck with refurbed products to date, I'm inclined to keep buying them when possible.

I only buy refurb if it's not a terribly expensive product in the first place. Like, I'd never buy a refurbed computer. There'd probably still be someone's porn on it.

Nope nope nope nope nope. I occasionally buy refurbs of simpler, less delicate items like power tools and kitchen appliances, and I've had pretty good luck with those. My experience with refurb electronics, however, is that you have about one chance in five of getting a normal useful lifetime out of it. Cost-ineffective regardless of the discount, and unacceptable for a critical device like a hard drive.

@QuirkyRachel: You say that like it's a bad thing.

So far I'm 1 for 1 in the refurb electronics category (cellphone). Generally I can get new stuff for so cheap that it isn't worth bothering with refurbished.

I said I would complain, so...how about sometimes, depending on the company?! I mean what a horrible poll...jk. but not kidding about the sometimes option

I often buy things used, but not "refurbished" - the risk always seems higher than the savings warrent.

At my house, though, we have bought refurbished Apple products, an iMac G5, a G4 iBook and the Airport Express and saved hundreds of dollars. We have been very happy. We did buy Apple care, and would have even if they had been new. Haven't needed it yet.

I work for a technology company, so I have little fear in buying refurb items from reliable companies. If I trust their hardware (and their RMA process) I'm not going to worry about their "recertified" products.

I might worry about 3rd party refurbishers, though.

Only from the brands actual store, not from Fry's, etc.

My Dell laptop is a refurb. I bought a brand new one and was browsing the refurb store a few days later and saw 1 model that exactly matched my laptop only with a smaller HDD. I bought it, called Dell, and they said I could switch the HDDs and send the first one back for a full credit. Saved me $600. Still using it now, 1.5 years later. No dead pixels, or anything.

I also bought my 30GB iPod Refurb'd. Right after the 5.5g came out the 5g was a steal through the refurb store. Had it since the 5.5g came out and no problems.

We adopted a dog through a rescue organization that we call Refurb!

I'm missing the "not any more" option. Is this where I complain? ;)

Bought a refurb Sony 300-CD changer from eCost - turned out still bad, didn't discover it in time.

So. Not any more.

@Mike Panic: Did you check with your card on that? Some exclude refurbished items.

If the thing I'm buying has the same warranty as a new one, I would buy refurb before new. The reason is because if it's refurbed, it means it went through quality and diagnostic testing before being ready for the market. With new items, not each item is tested thoroughly.

I have a refurb Nano and it's great. No problems. My warranty is just about up, and I was considering whether to buy AppleCare. Probably will. I can't remember, but I think my Shuffle was refurb, too. I passed it on to my sister, and she has no complaints. If I trust the company, I'm much more likely to buy a refurb.

I've bought two Mac towers this way, as well as my monitor. I don't do it all the time, but $400 savings is well worth it if you're willing to trade for a slightly older model.

When it comes to electronics it depends on who's offering it. Reputable name and the same warranty as a new product? Yea. I'd do it.

Low tech things like vaccumms and other household appliance are usually a good deal if you don't mind the usual scuff marks and the like.

Refurb r0xx0rs! For me it depends on the item and the price. I bought a refurb mini-dv camcorder from Woot last year for like $150. It was an outstanding deal and I've used it a ton to make videos of my baby daughter. I couldn't be happier with it.

Don't know if I'd buy a refurb PC from Woot but I definitely would (and have) from Dell. Some of the Dell refurbs have never even been used - companies place a large order and then cancel all or part of it, but Dell can't sell the systems they built as new anymore. I bought a tower like that a few years ago and was very happy with it.

Bottom line - if the price is right, I'll try it.