Think it is a good idea to buy Referb Item ???

[leeland]

I am looking at purchasing a PDA off of Ebay and it is a referb...i have never bought a referb item and am curious what people think, and if you have any negative or positive experiences


here is an example of what i am looking at

PDA

thanks in advance

leeland

 

[Heisenberg]

Depends on the warranty. If it's comparable to a new one, sure. Also depends on what I'm buying. Some things I want new, others I don't mind.

 

[TallBill]

i've had very good luck with refurbs at low prices. not from ebay, but other places.

 

[bonk102]

it depends i guess, i've heard some serious horror stories about refurb products breaking quickly, dying after 30 days, etc... but i had a refurb compaq computer for 2 1/2 years that worked flawlessly before it finally got stolen from me but up till that point it was a great unit. I've also used a refurb PS2 however that was "sketchy" at best, and sometimes would'nt work at all, so i guess it's a real YMMV

 

[Staples]

I buy lost of refurb items and they have all worked well with the exception of motherboards. One crashed every two hours and another one worked fine except the onboard sound didn't work. I replaced the first one with the second board and there is no big problem when I can use a PCI card so I still use it.

 

[Sid59]

in 99, i bought a refurbed Sony 4x CDRW USB and it still runs great.

 

[leeland]

the way i kinda look at it is the unit that is referbed has been inspected or repaired and should be new or as new condition. i would believe you still get the same manufacture warranty when compared to a brand new model...

so basically, to me it all falls down if you want a totally brand new unit or one that has been repaired and is as new status given that everything else is the same


what do you think ?


leeland

 

[Joker81]

Nice post count leeland. I think refurbs are ok depending on the company they are coming from. Sony im guessing have good refurbs while other companies might have crappy ones. Sometimes its just a crapshoot depending on why the item is refurbed. It could be because of some dumb user didn't know what to do and just sent it in and the company just sent a new one out. Other cases it might be someone knocked off a tranistor and the company just resoldered one back on. If you get an refurb item try and break it but putting it through all the tests. My guess with a refurb PDA is that a screen cracked or something simple and they might have just replaced it or maybe bad memory.

 

[HappyCracker]

Factory refurbs are probably safer. This monitor is a Sony refurb, had it for two months and it's great. I have two refurb NAD stereo components, and they're as good as new to me.So, yeah, umm, oh yes find out where it comes from.

 

[Dedpuhl]

I've bought a refurbished Voodoo 2, Audigy platinum, and 21" nokia monitor and haven't had a problem.

I'd be cautious buying from eBay...

 

[Pliablemoose]

If it has a factory warranty, I wouldn't worry...

I like refurbished items & buy quite a few of them.

Sometimes you can contact the seller & negotiate a decent price on items he doesn't have listed, I picked up a hedge trimmer & a yard vac that way last fall, they work great, although I am going deaf from using them gotta buy some hearing protection with built in speakers...