refurbished

2012 was hellish in a lot of ways, but it was a good year for saving money.

Indeed, as any regular reader of The Cheapskate or CNET's Marketplace knows, you could count on finding a good deal -- often a great deal -- pretty much every single day.

Of course, some of the best money-saving advice applies all year round, not just on a particular day. With that in mind, I've rounded up some of my favorite thrifty tips from 2012. (It probably goes without saying that most of them will work just as well in 2013.)

1. Always buy refurbished Apple gear.… Read more

Maybe it's that Black Friday shopping time of year or maybe Apple is trying an experiment, but it appears that the company now may be selling its refurbished products on eBay.

According to 9to5Mac, which noticed the site a few weeks ago, the eBay store has been up for about a month, and many aspects of it exactly mimic Apple's Web store. For example, the refurbished products are the exact same price and come with the same perks as the Apple Store, like a one-year warranty, original OS, and "final quality inspection by Apple."

As Ned Flanders would say: here's a dilly of a pickle!

You've probably heard that the iPad Mini went on sale today, with a price tag of $329 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model.

What you may not know is that the online Apple Store now sells the refurbished iPad 2 with Wi-Fi (16GB) for $319 shipped. (It's also available in white for that price.)

That begs a very interesting question: with a price difference of just $10, which is the smarter buy? (I know, I know: "The Kindle Fire!" Ba-dump-bump. We're here to compare … Read more

Here's a deal of the day that normally would make me sit up and take notice:

RedTag has the Proscan PLEDV2488A 24-inch LED HDTV with built-in DVD player for $169, plus $1.95 for shipping.

Just one problem: it's refurbished.

Surprised? Normally I'm a champion of refurbished gear. You'll often hear me touting deals on refurbished laptops, tablets, Blu-ray players, and the like. In fact, I think if you're shopping for any Apple product, you should go the refurb route every time.

But there are exceptions, starting with the aforementioned deal. Here's a rundown … Read more

Consumers in the market for a MacBook Air can now save a fair amount of cash on a refurbished unit.

Apple has cut its prices on several factory-refurbished MacBook Air editions. A tour of the company's Refurbished product page reveals an 11.6-inch, 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 model selling for $749, 16 percent off the normal price. This flavor offers 2GB of memory and 64GB of flash storage.

A similar version but with 4GB of memory and 128GB of flash storage is selling for $829, a 17 percent cut off the usual price. And a 13.3-inch … Read more

With all due respect to my colleague Donald Bell, I don't believe Apple should dump the iPod Touch.

Rather, I still think it's a killer product, perfect for kids and other users who want the iPhone experience without the iPhone price. In fact, thanks to apps like Skype and Truphone, all you need is proximity to Wi-Fi and you can make phone calls from a Touch.

Apple hasn't released a new model since 2010, nor has it budged on prices -- but you can still score a deal. While supplies last, Apple has the refurbished 8GB iPod Touch fourth-gen for $169 shipped. … Read more

As I noted back in January, the only smart way to buy Apple gear is to buy it refurbished.

You're guaranteed to save money while getting gear that's literally as good as new.

Just one problem: how can you keep tabs on Apple's latest refurb deals? Suppose, for example, you're in the market for a refurbished fourth-gen iPod Touch, the one with the built-in cameras and Retina display. (As it happens, that's exactly what my kids are after.)

For a long while, there weren't any for sale. I know because I checked the store … Read more

In recent weeks there's been speculation that Apple would continue selling the iPad 2 after the new iPad came out to further amp up the pressure on competing 10-inch Android tablets, which were having a hard enough time competing with the iPad 2 at Apple's entry-level price of $499.

Well, it turns out the iPad 2 is indeed sticking around, and it's selling for what people thought it might: $399. But only the 16GB models will continue to be sold new. … Read more

Not all refurbished products are created equal. The very definition can differ depending on what the product is and who's doing the refurbishing.

For example, I once bought a small, refurbished HDTV that had a broken stand, scuffed bezel, and barely there packaging. Bleh.

However, when it comes to Apple products, I see no reason to choose anything but refurbs. I say this not as a gushing Apple fanboy, but rather as someone who thinks most Apple hardware is overpriced--and sees refurbs as a rare opportunity to get it for less.

Here's a great example. Head to the … Read more