Refurb or not ?

[IamIsaid]

Does anyone have any thoughts on whether a refurb from J&R ( for $290 ) is a good choice or not ? I'd obviously prefer a new unit but at this time they're about $100 more. I'm more concerned about battery lifespan than anything else..... should I be concerned about how many times the battery has already been recharged and if I'm possibly looking at a must shorter lifespan of the battery because of previous use ?
Thanks for any thoughts regarding that and anything 'refurb'.

 

[pbrauer]

Personally I have not had problems with refurb equip. Usually it has been rechecked more thoroughly than from the factory.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Android Tablet Forum

 

[Pamster]

I have bought two refurbed computers from Dell's outlet and really been impressed with them so far. Neither is over a year old yet, but the netbook is close, I purchased it in January, so we'll see, so far it's going strong (in my mother's care) and my new Inspiron 17R is doing great here with me. The concern you raised about battery life is a valid one, I don't know the answer though, I just thought it would be useful to chime in with my so far positive experience with a refurbed unit, and I agree with pbrauer about them being checked more times then if it was straight from the factory. Hopefully there are some people here who've bought a refurbed Acer and can sound off on this subject.

 

[IamIsaid]

Thank you both very much for your help.
I agree ( hope anyway ! ) that a refurb likely has an even better check of everything than a unit just cranked out of a factory. Battery lifespan..... I'll just keep my fingers crossed as well as doing all I can to determine how it appears initially and within the 30 day return time frame. I do have a 90 day warranty to boot, in my experience electronics of any kind show their true colors within that time - if something's not up to par that usually seems to go bad or just not meet expectations before then.

I'll certainly post my experience (s) !

 

[Icebike]

Go get yourself a SquareTrade warranty while it is still within your 90 day warranty.

My experience with refurbs has been much worse than most.

We got a refurb on a Samsung Captivate (replacement for an in-warranty unit) that turned out way worse then the original phone.
We had two refurbs on iPhones (again replacing an in-warranty unit) that had to be taken back the very next day. The third one is still going strong.

The problem with with refurbs is that each company has their own process, and just because Dell does good refurbs it means nothing
when dealing with Acer.

Someone turned that tablet in for some reason, and they will never tell you why.
Maybe it was just a software issue that was solved by a later release.
Maybe it worked great in the 10 minutes they devoted to testing it after a software reload.

What ever you do, use every single feature on the tablet in the first 30 days.
Test it very well.
And if you decide to keep it be sure to get the warranty.

 

[IamIsaid]

I appreciate your Square Trade advise, Icebike. Although I certainly was considering doing just what you advised, I might have let it slide if the unit didn't give me a hint of trouble right off the bat. You've convinced me otherwise, thank you.

My luck with electronics over the years has been almost too good regarding future purchases - except for a couple hard drives I've never had anything I can think of fail even well beyond any extended warranty time.

I'm in brand new territory with tablets however, just knowing all they can do has been quite a pleasant learning experience, problem is I might not even know 'what' ever single feature is *to* test within 30 days.

Sorry to hear about your refurb experiences, it's a crime to me when any company covers any in-warranty replacement with anything but a brand new unit - I have had that experience with Seagate and their hard drives and because of that policy Seagate lost me as a customer permanently.

Thanks again - your solid advise / warning is something I needed to hear.

 

[stankopp]

With the Acer, someone probably returned it due to a GPS problem. Most, if not all, of the GPS problems were due to kernel versions. I would take the risk. If there are GPS problems, try a different ROM and/or kernel.

 

[Douvie]

Well as far as battery life is concerned I've had 9 hours 15 minutes with 30% power left in the battery. That is even with Bluetooth, WiFi, and GPS all working. With the earplugs I get ~5 hours with 38% left.

One thing I have done is to turn down the screen brightness because it is not necessary to have the screen so bright - except in bright sunlight.

I've played GOF II which has 1080p graphics, stereo sound and you need to have more than one finger on the screen to control the spacecraft. This also uses a fair amount of battery power. I've had 53% even after I've played for 6 hours.

 

[idontknow]

I rather buy used than refurb, and if you check well the seller, you might get a tablet barely used. I had great experiences with used on e bay and some friends of mine did too.

Sent from my NookdColor using Android Tablet Forum

 

[IamIsaid]

Thanks a lot for your help and info, Douvie and idontknow ------

Thanks to circumstances beyond my control (and perhaps best 'thanks' to the initial online biz I placed my refurb order with ) - I instead ended up buying a new Iconia A500 from Amazon instead for quite a bit more $$$$ up front.

And yes, yes, yes, I *know* what I missed on Black Friday.

It was worth it to me, however. I'm glad things went as they did - I never liked the idea of a refurb at all but the price almost got me one - but since the initially refurb retailer just didn't come through, I'm instead Very happy with a brand new unit.

 

[TabletNewb]

I purchased one of the Acer A500 refurb units from J&R. They have excellent reviews. It should be here tomorrow.

 

[dparr]

I bought the refurb through Best Buy about 6 weeks ago, no problems... no regrets. Good Luck

 

[TabletNewb]

I purchased one of the Acer A500 refurb units from J&R. They have excellent reviews. It should be here tomorrow.

I have had my refurb tablet for about 5 hours now, and everything is working great so far. I've downloaded/played a few games, watched YouTube videos, played with the settings, used the camera, etc. The update process was very quick. I'm happy.

Edit: I've played with the tablet for about 6-7 hrs now doing light web browsing and playing games, and I still have 45% battery left. It looks like the refurbished batteries are good to go. I turned the brightness down a litte bit to save energy.

 

[jerrybrake]

The refurbished Acer Iconia tablets, refurbished by Acer, receive new batteries.

This is according to the questions asked on the Best Buy website, and answered by the ACER representative.
Best Buy Acer Refurbished Iconia Tablet with 16GB Memory - Silver : Questions, Answers, How To, FAQs, Tips, Advice, Answers, Buying Guide

For what it is worth, a Best Buy salesperson told me Acer refurbished tablets ordered online from Best Buy, are shipped to the store direct from Acer and have been refurbished by Acer.

 

[RobKort]

I have one, and it has been working flawlessly since day one.

Sent from Rob's TapadaIconia