I thought about buying several of these, but I am
scared because they are refurbished.
You should be because there's no exact definition of "refurbished," and
it can mean:
1. Brand new, overstock return with full factory warranty
2. Returned by customer, inspected for missing items
3. Returned by customer, inspected for basic operation
4. Repaired by manufacturer, checked for basic operation
5. Repaired by third party service center, checked for basic operation
6. Repaired by manufacturer, all known high-failure components
routinely replaced even if working normally, all operational parameters
measured nd monitored by automated "bed of nails" testing machine
similar to the kind used on the manufacturing production line.
I would trust only #1 and #6 because virtually every company will say
that they thoroughly inspect, repair, and test the products - whether
it's true or not. You need to speak with people who actually work in
the refurbishment dept. and ask them fairly detailed technical
questions. In the 2 cases I've done that I was told that the products
were merely repaired, and a chief engineer for Viewsonic monitors said
anything more was too costly.
The worst refurbished products are those bought on the salvage market
and repaired by sweatshops, but even major manufacturers have been
known to do poor work, including Hitachi and Panasonic. Panasonic sent
me 2 refurbished (repaired) monitors in a row in sorry condition -
dropped (by them, not UPS), loose wires and components inside, fairly
large piece of metal left out. And I'm fairly sure a person I dealt
with in the warranty dept. was drunk or high each time I phoned him,
which could explain why Panasonic has an unsatisfactory rating from the
Better Business Bureau.
