I'm currently looking at buying a refurbished HDTV from a B&M dealer here in town. The product, a DLP HDTV (you know, lamp, mirrors, handjobs, all that shit), normally comes with a 1 year warranty but the refurb TV comes with a 90 day warranty. The refurb version costs about 20% less than the new version, and this puts it in the price range I could afford.

Has anyone here had any luck with purchasing refurbished items? I know that when my original mp3 player broke and they replaces it with a refurb item, the refurb item worked just as well for a long time. I think I'm just hesitant because it's kindof a large ticket item. Thanks for the insight or experiences.

4/17/2007 12:48:23 AM

fiirsst

4/17/2007 12:52:57 AM

my laptop is refurbed. works ok. a few minor problems, but nothing that affects performance
used to have a refurbed cb, no problems.

as for the big ass tv, that's a risk with so much money.

4/17/2007 12:53:35 AM

i just got a 42 inch refurb plasma tv from tigerdirect for 699 + tax, not only was it refurb, but it was right off the shelf.

It works great, and looks beautiful in my living room, as long as it lasts 2+ years I'm satisfied

4/17/2007 1:07:59 AM

It always just comes down to a gamble. Just take a look at it, ask all the questions you can about it, and decide if it seems to be in good condition and if it's what you really want.

4/17/2007 1:38:38 AM

Refurb is a gamble because of the warranty. However refurb is supposed to be at the same specs of operation quality as the new item. The best thing you can do if you decide to purchase is run the piss out of it for 90 days and look for any defects/problems in the picture/sound.

4/17/2007 1:40:50 AM

This is a GREAT accessory!!!

http://www.brentroad.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=472649

4/17/2007 1:44:31 AM

are you serious?

advertising a mouse to a guy looking at a HDTV TV?

4/17/2007 1:46:38 AM

Did you want to buy it instead?

4/17/2007 1:47:47 AM

but it makes clicking sounds!

4/17/2007 1:48:25 AM

^^ yeah get that shit outta here

[Edited on April 17, 2007 at 1:48 AM. Reason : ]

4/17/2007 1:48:25 AM

You can get better ones out of dumpsters behind Daniels.

4/17/2007 1:48:46 AM

Are all of you guys interested in buying the Microsoft mouse? I only have one

4/17/2007 1:49:27 AM

stick it up your ass

4/17/2007 1:49:59 AM

I'M A GIRL!

4/17/2007 1:50:47 AM

that mouse is a pos just like its owner

[Edited on April 17, 2007 at 1:51 AM. Reason : ]

4/17/2007 1:51:06 AM

girls don't have assholes now?

4/17/2007 1:51:44 AM

You don't know who the owner is.

4/17/2007 1:52:35 AM

so, a slight tangent on the original topic...

Does anyone else have purchase anxiety about buying large ticket items? Worrying if its a bad purchase, if it will break, if you're getting the best deal, if you should wait or go ahead and buy it before it runs out, etc can really fuck with you.

4/17/2007 1:57:29 AM

I'll sell you the mouse for $1 and you won't have to fret about a big ticket item.

4/17/2007 1:59:14 AM

Quote :

"so, a slight tangent on the original topic... Does anyone else have purchase anxiety about buying large ticket items? Worrying if its a bad purchase, if it will break, if you're getting the best deal, if you should wait or go ahead and buy it before it runs out, etc can really fuck with you."

I don't really have this problem, with the internet these days you can research the hell outta stuff reading reviews and such that by the time I'm ready to make a big purchase, I know exactly what I'm getting.

4/17/2007 2:00:24 AM

Yeah. I hate finding conflicting information though. Like just now, I was doing some more searching and one reviewer said it was horrible and had a large lag time, and another person said it was great for gaming. *sigh*

Might go back to that Best Buy and check it out again before ordering it.

4/17/2007 2:22:06 AM

you could tell us what the item is

4/17/2007 2:25:23 AM

Samsung HL-R5065W

http://www.hdtvsolutions.com/Samsung-HL-S5065W.htm

I just didnt wanna be that guy who was like HAY GUYS, LOOK WHAT IM BUYING.

4/17/2007 10:48:31 AM

i wont ever buy a refurbed tv again. i did it once, and it worked fine for a couple years, but now the picture looks like an hour glass.

4/17/2007 10:50:13 AM

I bought a refurb ipod and had it break pretty quickly. They sent me another refurb and the jury is still out on that.

Its definitely a risk. I will tell you right now though, I would never buy an HDTV, much less a PLASMA with only a 90 day warranty.

4/17/2007 10:50:34 AM

just buy the tv then buy a refurbished Wii with the faulty strap, throw it through the screen and if it still works you're good to go!

4/17/2007 10:54:52 AM

At TD, the new ones just went on sale for ~ 160 more. They come with a 1 year warranty, or I could get the extended 2 year warranty on the refurb item for like 10 more than it would cost to get the new one with just the standard 1 year. I was thinking about that.

4/17/2007 11:02:20 AM

When I first left for college, my dad got me a refurbished HP computer with 19" monitor (at that time the 19" CRTs were pretty expensive so it was a "good deal"). The computer was fine (still runs fine although my dad gave it away to charity), but the monitor broke after a couple months.

So I agree, maybe on less expensive items (<$200) if the savings is significant, but I wouldn't risk it on that expensive or complex of an item. A refurbished computer has a hard drive go bad you can fix it, good luck fixing that plasma TV.

4/17/2007 11:14:43 AM

^^ if you can get the refurb with a 2-year warranty for $10 more than a new one with a 1-year warranty, i'd go for that...since refurbs are SUPPOSED to be at company specs, and samsung is a solid company (or so i've always heard...i've had nothing but good products and service from them), it seems like the best bet IMO

4/17/2007 1:40:52 PM

I've got one of those refurbed HP 19" monitors that was a good deal at the time.

I'm using it to take up space right now. Does its job pretty well... (Too fucking big to use.)

4/17/2007 3:32:52 PM

If you really think about it, most refurbished items are simply the new ones that fucked up right away so they fixed the problems they had.

4/17/2007 3:39:22 PM

That was my thinking, that they actually fixed whatever problem they had with the TV. It's a hard thing to judge.

4/17/2007 5:31:28 PM

The only thing I'd want to check for is the bulb usage. I mean, it sounds great that for $10 more than new you can get a refurb with a two-year warranty, but if the bulb is half dead and your warranty doesn't cover bulbs it'll skew that number a bit.

4/17/2007 5:37:14 PM

Yeah. Id only get it if it had bulb coverage. Otherwise, Id feel safe with the 3 months. I guess I'm still on the fence about the value of getting a much bigger TV but knowing that I'm going to have to shell out ~ 150 every year for a new bulb. I imagine the costs might go down SOME, but I'm not going to count on a LOT. Right now, I'm deciding between a smaller LCD or a bigger DLP.

LCD
Advantages - No yearly bulb replacement, cheaper
Disadvantages - Smaller, poorer standard signal image quality (I feel like it looks worse than the DLP)

DLP
Advantages - fucking massive, looks better
Disadvantages - couple hundred more, have to spend ~ 150 each year on a bulb

I guess I have to figure out if having a huge TV with more inputs and a better image quality is worth the extra bit of money every year.

SIDE NOTE: A lot of these bulbs you buy say they last 6000 hours or so, but most people only get 2-4k hours out of them. I wonder how often they actually go prematurely. Someone pointed out that reading online forums about the bulbs, youre gonna get a higher percentage of complaints than compliments, just because people dont think to post anything unless they have problems.

Any of you guys have experience with a DLP? How long did your bulb last.

4/17/2007 7:48:13 PM

I'm pretty certain you won't be replacing your bulb yearly. Even at 4,000 hours you'd have to watch your TV roughly 12 hours a day to kill it.

4/17/2007 11:16:31 PM

you hit 12 hours a day with roommates

4/17/2007 11:26:59 PM

i like my lcd for the sheer convenience of being able to move it myself and/or mount it on the wall.

4/17/2007 11:29:24 PM

I called Samsung today, and they stated that their bulbs have a life of 20,000 hours. Even if you get like 6-8,000 from that, it should last a while. I think I figured like 5 hours a day, but I also used a REALLY small estimate of 2000 hour bulbs because thats what I saw people saying they were getting online, but that could have been the people with defective or cheap second rate bulbs complaining. I find it hard to believe that Samsung could get away with calling it a 20,000 hour bulb and it only really work 2000 hours.

4/18/2007 12:29:47 AM

FWIW, I had a OEM Toshiba bulb burn out on me in 1.5 years, ~3000 hours on it.

4/18/2007 12:50:12 PM