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refurbished

One tale of woe: Apple, HP laptop 'refurbs'

Refurbished laptops from Apple and Hewlett-Packard are relatively inexpensive and, in many cases, virtually new. But it all depends on how you define "new."

Let me begin by saying that I would not recommend a refurbished laptop. That's just my experience, of course. I recognize that others have had positive experiences and that some would swear it's like buying a new computer, just cheaper. But I have purchased two refurbished laptops--one from Apple, another from HP--that were both defective out of the box.

Apple case first. I recently purchased a refurbished Apple MacBook Air. Unpacking it … Read more

Best Buy offers refurbished iPhones

Add electronics retailer Best Buy to the list of places you can get a used iPhone cheap.

Best Buy is now selling refurbished Apple iPhone 3G models at a $50 discount to brand-new, unused models, according to the Reuters news agency. The lower prices of $149 for the 8GB iPhone (normally $199) and $249 for the 16GB iPhone (normally $299)--with a two-year service contract with AT&T contract--apply to devices that were returned to the store within 30 days of their initial purchase.

The move comes a little more than a week after megaretailer Wal-Mart Stores began selling … Read more

AT&T Offering Refurbished iPhone 3G Online

AT&T is now offering iPhone 3G phones that are refurbished via its online store. The used devices are priced as follows: $150 for the 8GB model and $250 for the 16GB model. Buyers will be required to sign up for a two year contract, just like when buying a new phone. This announcement follows AT&T's under-the-radar launch of iPhone 3G sales from their online store with home activation. Currently, the only model that Apple has ever sold refurbished is the first-generation iPhone, which was sold through its online store in the US. A quick check … Read more

Taking PCs apart--and sending them back to school

BOGOTA, Colombia--In one corner of a massive warehouse, workers pick through bins of computers, keyboards, and mice, painstakingly cleaning each part.

There's a special room where peripherals such as mice go for washing and another where they go for drying. Once the hardware is reassembled, often with a few new parts added to the mix, the first set of testing takes place, to make sure all of the hardware functions as it should.

In another area, the newly rebuilt systems get their collection of software--Windows 2000 and a several-generations-old version of Office. Then the machines go through another round … Read more

Refurbished gear: Good or bad?

From time to time I'll post deals on refurbished/recertified items, which are sold at a discount because they didn't meet a manufacturer's quality standards or were returned (for one reason or another) and can't be sold as new. What do you think of these deals? Have you had good luck buying refurb gear, or did you end up regretting it? I'd love to hear your stories--and so would your fellow Cheapskate readers.

I'll kick things off with one of my own. Last year, Mrs. Cheapskate needed an LCD TV with a built-in DVD … Read more