Consumer Electronics Talker Kim Komando recently published a list of common technology myths. Things like MAC’s never get viruses, the more megapixels the better, public Wi-Fi is safe and a myth near and dear to our hearts–Always buy new gear.
To quote Kim…
As long as you buy direct from the manufacturer or a trusted re-seller and there’s a good return policy and warranty in place, there isn’t much of a downside to buying refurbished.
Kim is referring to refurb as a first time buy and we agree. There are plenty of great deals on “refurbished” consumer tech that cost a fraction of what new will run. A great example is my first (and only) portable GPS system for my car. I bought it so long ago I can’t recall, refurbished, for about a third of the retail price of a new one. It still works great today. And I have no plan or need to replace it.
But you can’t always use consumer tech in rugged applications and you can’t always start out with refurb.