What are you thoughts on refurbished products?

Have/would you buy a refurbished product? What type would you buy and what type would you not buy? How much would you have to save?

This assumes the product comes with the 1 year manufacturers warranty.

I would buy one if it came with a warranty, and I couldn't afford to buy the product new. I am thinking about getting a refurbished Iphone. It would cost about $200 - $225. I just can't decide if I really want to pay for the internet service.

I've had some great experience with refurbs. I've bought iPods, dell laptops, and other electronic devices. I've never had any trouble except for a few errors with the laptop that very well could have nothing to do with it being a refurb. If it's purchased from the original manufacturer, there's usually a cheap or free warranty that sometimes matches what you'd get on a brand new product.

I recommend it. Did you get the iPhone?

Ha. When I started this post, I had the iPhone in mind. It's great that DO was thinking along the same lines.

I have only bought a couple of refurbs in the past and I have had no trouble at all with them. In fact, I bought a cordless phone from Uniden with the factory warranty etc. in 1999 and I believe it is still working today. I used it for quite a while and then passed it along to my parents who used it for even longer.

If/when I decide that I am going to get an iPhone, I am pretty sure I am going to give the refurb a shot. It's just that it is going to take a couple months of rationalization before I am ready to put that kind of money down. Also, I think the new "3G" iPhones are due to be out in the next month or so.

In regard to refurb, I'd buy damn near anything refurb, hell, i'd buy a used Iphone. More often than not, people are going to play with the Iphone for about 2 months, then it'll lose it's charm and they'll look at the monthly cost of keeping the data plan and decide to ditch it.

I just bailed on my cingular 8120 pda phone (fucking brick)

It was really neat and all, but after the new wore off, it left me wanting more.....namely a PHONE that was good at being a PHONE with tactile buttons and good reception.

We now have a laptop at the house, and I'm on a computer at work, so the pda ended up being a redundant slow POS that made me want to throw it off a building every time I actually needed to use a phone.

I don't need to mention the additional $600.00 bucks a year in a data plan as a contributing factor in my decision

Do you know how much black tar heroin you can buy for $600 bucks, sweet jesus, I don't know either, but I guarantee I'd get more enjoyment out of it than trying to wack off to such a little screen

I thought the data plan for iphone was $20/month, much lower than most others.

My used one, purchased for a ridiculously low price from a friend, arrives tomorrow. I'll let you guys know what I think.

If I could get 3g iphone with unlimited data, I think I could get my money's worth

I've had a dataplan on mine for over a yarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr and a half, and that was just over 50 bucks a month (in addition to the actual phone plan)

I have heard ProAss's complaints about not having buttons. Somehow I completely forgot about that when I began dreaming of an iPhone. I am not sure if that is enough to deter me, but it is something to be considered.

Also, I just checked on the iPhone data plans at AT&T and the unlimited data starts at $20 a month. If you want, you can pay more to increase the number of allowed text messages. I assume this price will remain fixed after the 3G iPhone is released.

The whole setup is pretty expensive, but it is just so cool looking.

On a coolness scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it an 11.

It just comes down to what you want out of your hand held device.

Is it the best phone on the market? No, probably not. I really like flip phones, they contour to your face, while the flat phones are just flat out poorly designed from an actual phone standpoint.

Is it the best computer on the market? No, probably not, the Iphone introduced very innovative features that allow the little peeky window of a screen to be far more useful than it's predecessors, but your still left with no keyboard, no mouse, and slow processing by todays standards.

I don't know how secure it is, I was hesitant on doing anything too important like logging into my bank with my cell phone, but it can be done. If you travel extensively, the map a very cool feature, but I don't get out much. You'll basically be spending an additional 25 bucks a month to have reddit, digg, and gmail at your beckon call. You won't use it at work, you won't use it at home, but you will use it while driving. If you find yourself stuck in incredibly boring situations like church, graduation, ProAss's wedding, piano recitals, ect... then it will pay for itself the first hour it distracts you from incredible boredom.

After the first 2 months, I basically used it like a cigarette, automatically playing with it to pass the time.




Can't toe like a truck, can't fit 4 people like a car. Icamino

Your critical thoughts and good points are killing my dream.

Thanks.

whoa, whoa, whoa! Everybody just shut up here. Buttons are only good for dialing in the dark. There is no dark with a touchscreen that lights up like heaven. The flat phone going out from one's face is not a problem because it conjures the universal memory of the happy go lucky days of one's youth when one exclusively used the Maxwell Smart shoe phone one ordered on special from Nick at Nite during the Get Smart marathon. The browser is light years beyond the blackberry interface where much content is either abbreviated, out of whack, or just annoying to read. Once the 3G comes out, it'll be smooth sailin'. However, whenever that happens, we're probably back in $600 range again.

My advice: Play with one. It's no good to go to the store because of that ridiculous matrix cable coming out of the back of it (do they seriously think that doesn't diminish the trial experience??). Find a friend with one, buy him a beer (preferably something dark or belgian), and try it out. Use the features that you would see yourself using every day and try to ignore some of the cool features that would eventually be useless to you. When I did this, I found that it was worth somewhere in the $100-250 range for me. But I'm an internet junkie. There aren't any others on this board...

Richard,

As a person who's had a touchscreen phone for over a year, I can speak from experience and tell you the least comfortable thing while driving is navigating a touch screen interface. You may be a person who never ever text's while driving, but if you're not now, you will be. You can kiss that ability goodbye. The screen and numbers on almost every phone i've had since highschool lite up just fine, thats not the problem. When you're operating your iPHONE it REQUIRES you look at it. This may not seem like a big deal, but I gaurantee you it's a pain in the ass. Get one, I want you to. It sounds like you already have, and be conscious of my prediction that this will be THE BIGGEST disappointment of your life.

Bigger than that night you got all liquored up in high school before finals because your best pal Fuzzy said it'd make you smarter.

BIGger than that time in Switzerland when we went to the bed and breakfast and you tasted real espresso for the first time.

EVEN BIGGER than last week, when you asked "Why do they call em balls when you only have one?"

THE BIGGEST DISAPPIONTMENT of your otherwise wonderful iPhone Experience.

On second thought, get the iPhone. You and the iPhone are a perfect match. It's people like you that confirm the cool factor. It was built for you!


Skyhook,

You don't want to be like every Heritage Hall duetshcbag......

Just kidding.

In all honesty, I had no idea I was paying 30 bucks more a month than if I had an iPhone. I feel even worse about myself now than ever before. I will probably look down on people who do not have the internet in the pocket five years from now as cavemen. I just need a break right now. My phone was slower, bigger, and not an iphone but I had it long enough for the sparkle to wear off and it would of collected dust, but it didn't cause it was my only phone.

I just bought a 747 samsung. Just a nice little flip phone.

I want a PHONE again, not just something that has a phone function.

Yes, this driving thing will be a problem. I hope the benefits outweigh it. I guess it could be worse. I could be using a stylus at the same time.

What exactly is a duetshcbag? An officer in the german army?

I'll report back to you. ProAss is definitely not the first to feel the urge to go "back to basics" and just use a phone again.

I've been carrying a blackberry (data only) and a very thin phone (phone only) for the past 3 or 4 months. Other than a bit of pocket bulge, I've enjoyed the experience. Perhaps I just bring in a third device. I have two pockets left, after all.

So whats the news on the iPhone front?

Richard, did you get one?

Is it making you happy?

I did get it. I do like it a lot. It's pretty much what I've been waiting for. As an internet junkie, being able to surf anywhere (like the toilet) is outstanding. I'm getting better at the texting while driving thing. The interface is great. Extremely intuitive in some of its features. I don't enjoy holding it to my ear because a) it's heavy and b) I can't hear people as well I could on my old phones, especially in the car. So I use bluetooth almost exclusively when in the car.

The faster internet will be nice on the new one. Unfortunately, my prediction that the price would still be too high to buy a new model was wrong. It's only $199, which isn't much more than the "steal" I got on my used model. However, they haven't announced the data pricing model yet, which I'm hoping is expensive as hell if only to justify my purchase.

Overall, I give it a B+. Definitely worth the $20/month ($30 if you need more than 200 text messages...bastards)

New Data Profile = 30 bucks a month + 5 bucks for any text at all

Thanks for the review. I'm glad to hear you're using the bluetooth headset, that makes this all totally worth it.

and...you just ruined it.

btw, my iphone is going strong. The new world of third-party programs has been a blast. I still have the old iphone and have seen little reason for upgrading.

I got the LG Vu (aka the poor man's iPhone) last night and I have been enjoying it so far. The haptic feedback is pretty cool. It plays MP3s and MP4s so it can buy me some time before I feel the need to buy an iPod. It also has a 2mp camera. I am guessing that I will probably wait another 2 years before I jump into paying for internet access for my phone.

It was $59 with a contract extension. Not refurbished, but I would have gone for a refurb had it been offered for free.

In the market for a new phone for Lizard on AT&T. I saw this Vu. Did you research any other phones that you can recommend?

I did not do the best research I have ever done, but I did a little.

I was looking for a phone that could hold (at minimum) 4GB of storage, play MP3s (MP4s a bonus), connect to my car stereo / headphones, has a decent camera (video a bonus), and not cost an arm/leg. I did not want a flip phone or a Motorola and I wanted to stick with a brand that I have at least heard of.

It basically came down to the LG Shine, LG Vu, and the Sony/Erikson Walkman 580i. I went with the LG Vu and have been happy with it for nearly 7 hours now.

I have my first issue with the LG Vu. (in case you were still thinking of buying a phone)

It has to do with the alarm clock. I have used my phone as my alarm clock for several years now and I was planning on continuing this with the new phone. But it has a few issues that make this difficult.

There is one feature I like about the alarm clock, so let me get that out of the way. It has the option to automatically set an alarm for the same time M-F.

However, the phone has to be on and in "ring mode" for the alarm to sound. So if I forget and leave it on vibrate, then I am going to be late for work. If I want to turn the sound off so I am not woken up by crazy calls in the night, then I will not be woken up by my alarm either. (woken looks weird, is that a word?... it is now!)

The alarm also has only one time set for the snooze and that is 5 minutes. Not enough time for me. I like around 7-9 minutes for my snooze.

These are not deal-breakers, but they are a bit annoying.

I am looking to move out of the dark ages and get a new phone, preferably one of these fancy pants iphones.
Apparently, I know a whole group of people (Hook, eskimo, do, t-nuts) who have invested time and effort in finding which phone is the best. They probably have quantifiable data to support their favorite.
Seems like the choices are iphone (OG), iphone 3G, and Vu.
I wanted to see if everyone is still as happy with their phones as they were the day after they were purchased.
Please give me the heads up on which would be the best.

iPhone 3G is the only way to go if you are wanting a fancy pants phone.

Have you heard anything about Google's Android? Or Instinct?

Also, I don't exactly know if I NEED a fancy pants phone.

I am just beginning my phone search, any helpful insight would be appreciated.

Better help might be available if you post a list of what you need and what you want.

DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was wrong

Becca and I got 3g iphone's for Christmas and I am amazed at how wrong I was.

My new years resolution is to listen to Richard more often.