Open Box: Is it worth it?

[AtaruMoroboshi18]

I'm on the lookout for a new motherboard and I'm seeing some really good ones on Newegg.com going for some seriously cheap prices. My question is, is it too risky to buy open box or should I play it safe and order the full retail package?

 

[yh125d]

I've only had one experience with open box products, an old P5B about 2 years ago. It came with all the accessories (some open box items won't) and it's still running fine today

 

[zerocool84]

It all depends if the difference in price is worth it to you. On newegg for example, if it doesn't work you have 15 days to return it which is fine but only for a refund. You have to pay to ship it back and wait for the refund. Also you are not guaranteed to get any cd's with drivers or any cables or back plate or anything else. Me, personally, I wouldn't buy it but there have been many people on here that have and it's been fine.

 

[AtaruMoroboshi18]

I'm thinking of getting one of the ASUS open box motherboards, I think that even if the board was DOA, I could still RMA it to ASUS if it's bad.

Edit: Oh yeah, don't worry about miscellaneous stuff like cables, screws, and what not, I've had two mobos that had tons of those things, I'm literally tripping over them.

 

[garritynet]

I ordered an open box MB once that arrived without a I/O plate. That sucked.

Its hit or miss with open box stuff and over time I have learned to just pay the extra bucks for the new one.

 

[RebateMonger]

It's been three years since I last ordered an open-box item from Newegg.

I own six or seven of their motherboards. Mostly Abit. Those typically came with ALL accessories. But other brands came with very little. I don't find the loss of a I/O plate that big a deal, anyway.

Only one board was really "defective". Something was wrong with the power side and it wouldn't run the onboard sound system. The board worked with a Soundblaster, but I didn't really trust it and put it back into the box and put it on the shelf. Recently I actually used the CPU retention system on another motherboard, so it wasn't a total loss.

On the other hand, Newegg sent me TWO high-end open-box power supplies that wouldn't start up at all. I think they sent me the SAME exact supply twice, actually. I ordered the first one, returned it, and re-ordered the same model and I tthink they shipped me the same one again. An Antec Tru-Power (one of several I ordered) wouldn't start up its fan. I opened the PS and connected the fan directly to 12V and it worked fine, but with no speed control.

 

[Denithor]

It's hit-or-miss.

If you're an experienced builder with lots of spare parts laying around and the knowledge of how to troubleshoot that dreaded "no signal input" on the first boot then you're probably ok to order open box items & potentially save some cash.

Otherwise stay away.

I've ordered about 5-6 motherboards open box. Of these, one came DOA and only two came with I/O backplate (which, if you contact the manufacturer, they will usually provide for a minimal shipping charge - or free, depending on the maker - some are better than others). One was flakey (BSOD, temp problems, freezes) that I had to RMA for replacement (newegg replaced with a new, non-open-box board - woot!). For these reasons I highly recommend you test ASAP when delivered because you only have a short window to RMA to newegg, after which you have to work things out with the manufacturer.

EDIT: You should also check out their "recertified" boards (fully tested & with all accessories). Sometimes you can find a steal in there.

 

[JackMDS]

Originally posted by: Denithor
It's hit-or-miss..

:thumbsup:

Nah, in most cases the saving is so low that it does not worth while.

 

[AtaruMoroboshi18]

Gah, it's so tempting...the ASUS mobo I'm looking at, open box, is nearly $60 less than it's retail counterpart...

 

[yh125d]

I think you're looking at P5Q pro for $69? Me too, my main motherboard just died

 

[AtaruMoroboshi18]

Originally posted by: yh125d
I think you're looking at P5Q pro for $69? Me too, my main motherboard just died

It's just so damn tempting! If you get a working motherboard, then it's an unquestioned steal as it's also SLI capable...

Anyone have experience with ASUS open box?

 

[Denithor]

Originally posted by: AtaruMoroboshi18

Originally posted by: yh125d
I think you're looking at P5Q pro for $69? Me too, my main motherboard just died

It's just so damn tempting! If you get a working motherboard, then it's an unquestioned steal as it's also SLI capable...

Anyone have experience with ASUS open box?

No, it's not...it's Crossfire capable...

One of the boards I got (over a year ago) was an Asus OB. Worked perfectly and had the IO backplate so I don't know their policy on replacements (may charge if you don't get one).

I say, go for it...just make sure you test it out thoroughly before the newegg RMA period expires otherwise you gotta go through Asus for repair work.

 

[DaveSimmons]

You have plenty of cables, but do you have a metal plate (I/O shield) with the right cutouts for the Asus' ports?

 

[yh125d]

Originally posted by: AtaruMoroboshi18

Originally posted by: yh125d
I think you're looking at P5Q pro for $69? Me too, my main motherboard just died

It's just so damn tempting! If you get a working motherboard, then it's an unquestioned steal as it's also SLI capable...

Anyone have experience with ASUS open box?

You can do CF, or GPU + physx card on that board, but sadly no SLI

My one open box was an asus motherboard, and it was no different from buying new in my case. Honestly I wouldn't be concerned if it didn't come with an I/O plate. I clean my case out plenty often enough

 

[AtaruMoroboshi18]

Alright, I just purchased this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?Item=N82E16813131299R Open Box, but looks like it would be killer, I'm gonna have my fingers crossed and hope it's not DOA...but even if it is, I should be able to RMA it back to ASUS and get it fixed right?

 

[yh125d]

If it's DOA return it to newegg for refund withing 15 days and order another


I'm pretty positive Asus doesn't do anything on open box items.

 

[AtaruMoroboshi18]

Originally posted by: yh125d
If it's DOA return it to newegg for refund withing 15 days and order another


I'm pretty positive Asus doesn't do anything on open box items.

I'll give it a shot and see what comes my way. Since others have said they got working mobos, then I can only hope for the best.

Edit: And if it doesn't work, then I'll never get open box again.

 

[PingSpike]

It always seemed like there was barely any discount for open box items at the egg. And motherboards have a lot of components in them. While finding out the obvious stuff like "its totally dead" is easy enough to do in 15 days, cracky audio, bad USB ports or any other element you don't initially use could be tougher to do in such a tight time period. That, coupled with the risk of having a missing I/O plate meant I never thought they were much of a deal at all.

 

[AtaruMoroboshi18]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
It always seemed like there was barely any discount for open box items at the egg. And motherboards have a lot of components in them. While finding out the obvious stuff like "its totally dead" is easy enough to do in 15 days, cracky audio, bad USB ports or any other element you don't initially use could be tougher to do in such a tight time period. That, coupled with the risk of having a missing I/O plate meant I never thought they were much of a deal at all.

Maybe, we'll see, if this open box turns out to be a flop, then I'm not going to get another one and just simply get a new mobo.

 

[yh125d]

All their open box items are tested in house for functionality before resale, there shouldn't really be much of a higher than normal chance of DOA

 

[Denithor]

If it's missing the IO backplate just contact the manufacturer, they will usually send you a replacement (you may have to pay a shipping charge).

Regarding the "minor" stuff (crackly audio, bad USB, etc): when buying an "open box" I would test thoroughly to make sure nothing like that exists before the RMA period expires.

 

[AtaruMoroboshi18]

Originally posted by: Denithor
If it's missing the IO backplate just contact the manufacturer, they will usually send you a replacement (you may have to pay a shipping charge).

Regarding the "minor" stuff (crackly audio, bad USB, etc): when buying an "open box" I would test thoroughly to make sure nothing like that exists before the RMA period expires.

Trust me, I'll be using nearly all of the features of my motherboard, I love to game with headphones and 5.1 surround sound, I have LOTS of USB devices that I plug into my computer constantly such as my little wireless USB receiver and gamepad, I've got this cool little multi-card reader/headphone jack/triple USB slot on the front of my computer, and most important of all, I currently have 2 PCIe graphics cards with which to test out both PCIe slots, 1 8800 GT and 1 260 GTX . I'm still wondering if the factory warranty on the mobo will be valid...

 

[yh125d]

Well Asus wouldn't even respond when a "no" when I inquired if my P5B open box qualified for an RMA, so I'd say probably not. Call/e-mail them

 

[VirtualLarry]

I bought a couple of open-box S939 mobos from the Egg, a 939dual-sata2 and 939dual-vista. Boot-tested them when I got them, they worked. Never installed them into working systems.

Well, a friend needed a replacement 939 board, so I gave him a 939dual-sata2. Turned out, after running for 10 minutes, the northbridge gets too hot to touch. A different friend is currently tested the system, with a fan on the northbridge. Seems to work so far.

But that just goes to show you that there might be non-obvious problems with open-box products.

On the whole, though, I've been sucessful, although recently I opted to purchase a new K9A2 Platinum, rather than risk the open-box, because I wanted the warranty.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: yh125d
Well Asus wouldn't even respond when a "no" when I inquired if my P5B open box qualified for an RMA, so I'd say probably not. Call/e-mail them

so why did you tell them it was an OPEN BOX ITEM.........duh....