I see current computer models put on sale as 'refurbished' by major PC manufacturers. Are these old used computers or are they just customer returns for defects? If they are customer returns and the defects fixed, they should be as good as new. These PCs come with 90-day warranty. Are they good values? Anyone had experience with the 'refurbished' computers? Thanks in advance.

For refurbished units you have to consider the seller on an individual basis. Refurbishers can vary from blowing the dust off, to rebuilding to a `like new' condition.

Some sellers claim, "reconditioned and tested to meet original factory specifications." What you are saying is the seller could just repackage the returns without fixing the factory defects.

Blueverine, that's what I'm saying. There are no laws that I know of that govern refurbishing. Outfits like Dell, IBM, etc probably do a good job to protect their reputation,but ... I once bought a `refurbished' keyboard that was filthy, inside and out. This was not from a major manufacturer. I had to take it apart and clean it to get it working.

After a housefire, I bought a refurbed Thinkpad right from the IBM website. I think it's a third party company, with IBM's blessing. The case may have been refinished (sanded) I'm not sure. It looke like new, to me, and worked like new, came with a new recovery cd. The only thing, in this case, that wasn't "like new" was the manual, which was a loose-leaf reprint.

Hey blueravine, generally speaking, a refurbished or reconditioned computer will be fixed up to meet the original factory standards. it might be scratched or dusty or not LOOK great, but it will usually work just fine. I agree with the other postings that you should stick with a well known name manufacturer, or a well known seller. Just keep in mind that the product is actually used, even though it will have a nice shiny new warranty. Good luck on your purchase!

I recently bought a refurbished laptop, a month latter the hard drive went south. I had a feeling not to buy it, when I saw the "refurbished" tape on the box. Also some of the "Internet" buttons would not work properly. I returned it, bought a replacement that was new, basicly the same specs. So from this point on, no refurbished for me (even with a good warranty).