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Refurb s10-3's - are they ok?

E.g. 3000, IdeaPad, S- and U-Series, B-Series and so on...
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albo
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Refurb s10-3's - are they ok?

#1 Post by albo » Thu Jun 10, 2010 7:48 am

Hi Folks,

Has anyone had any experience with the refurb s10-3 units? Has anyone had any problems? Do they seem like "new", or are there issues? Thanks!

BruisedQuasar
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Re: Refurb s10-3's - are they ok?

#2 Post by BruisedQuasar » Wed May 18, 2011 6:30 pm

I just noticed this question. I post an answer only because I notice people do look this thread over..

"Refurbished" is a factory and retail label that is somewhat legal in that Factories and authorized retailers cannot legally sell certain products as "new", if they have been opened. There is vagueness however in the differences between "Open Box", "returned open box", "slightly used," "like new", "recertified" and "refurbished".These terms are too loosely defined in federal and state law and too widely applied by resellers and retailers. When you consider each new US Congressman is immediately approached by 150 professional representatives of vested interest groups, you can guess why consumer "protection" & "labelling" terms are loosely defined by government. Bad sellers rely on buyer tendency to assume the common sense definition of these terms. The devil is in the details.

"Refurbished" can mean merely 'open box' or 'unused return.' It usually means the manufacturer inspected the item and made sure it is in like new working & cosmetic condition. Like or dislike Tigerdirect.com, truth is Tiger clearly defines its terms. They cannot make buyers read the explanations. Above average sellers like cowboom.com list every departure from factory sealed new. Unfortunately, many buyers do not bother to read the descriptions carefully.

In practice, there seems to be three basic kinds of "refurbished". In general, factory refurbished is best. It is also usually the most expensive. There is cost to being able to put your brain in park.

In most cases factory refurbished comes with a factory warranty, sometimes the original warranty, usually a 30 to 90 day warranty. Many refurbished products are refurbished and sold by third parties. These third parties range from refurbishing factories to resellers. Further complicating matters is the fact that some factories have a third party refurbish products and the factory and its authorized sellers still label it factory refurbished or recertified. Having said this I must say that in general the most risky buy is reseller refurbished, even if the reseller includes a warranty. There are unscrupulous resellers who do not test or inspect their "refurbished" products but claim they did and still provide a warranty. Such sellers use buyers for 'testers.' Why not? The buyer must pay two way postage for repair or exchange and many do not bother as the expensive and risk isn't worth it in their estimation.

Complicating things further, I say there is risk to buying factory sealed new also! Ask anyone who purchased a new Ford Pinto or a Chevy Vega. More recently, ask any one who bought a new Buick Rondevous & kept it past 20,000 miles. Then, there are the thousands of unhappy buyers of new
Xbox 360 game consoles. Many buyers of the first Apple IPADs should be enraged. Instead, most of them bought version II nine months later. (I don't understand it but I figured I should keep the Apple stock I bought for $14 a share when Steve Jobs came back. I figured he would triple my money but I didn't foresee his hypnotic powers over herd-like buyers. Together they jacked up my 5,000 shares to over $400 each. Even so, I will never buy an Apple product.)

Before buying anything refurbished, off lease, used, recertified make sure the source is a quality seller. For many online sellers you can check other buyers experiences at resellerratings.com
Don't let the buyers ratings think for you but it is a good idea to look for patterns in the comments and heed what they say, plus and minus. By no means, do I suggest people not buy refurbished or off lease, used, recertified. I buy all my electronics and automobiles this way. .

I purchase items the same way I invest. I observe what most people do and I find the profit of taking advantage of the fact that most investors and most consumers do not do the homework.
Inform yourself, do the homework, make calm calculated moves and you can live high on relatively little money and nothing has changed about an ancient fact, namely it takes money to make money. Pay cash and do not overpay. The savings is useful for making more money. Besides, living on credit makes you a modern 'sharecropper'. (Master kept them deep in debt and thus enslaved to him)

My message is an old one BUYER BEWARE. Make sellers define their terms and always know the actual terms of any warranty. Many are not worth beans.

--Bruised

Are You Part of the Problem...or...Victim of the Solution?

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