refurbished monitors?

[mbetea]

question about refurbished monitors. are they safe? meaning that, will it function/perform 100% like a new monitor just that is has be fixed already and only a 30day warranty? or will there be some kind of flaw or defect you'll have to live with?

[insert philosophical statement here]

 

[Arrow]

It really depends on how lucky you are. The quality tests for refurbished monitors are often if not always lower than that of new monitors. I've heard of some people who have bought refurbished monitors that seem brand new, but I've also heard of some whom have monitors that have some slight defects.

Rob
Please visit <b><A HREF="http://www.ncix.com/canada/about.php?affiliateid=319048" target="_new">http://www.ncix.com/canada/about.php?affiliateid=319048</A></b>

 

[AMD_cErTiFiEd]

Havent had a problem yet.
My company sells 20" dell/hp w/trinitron tubes. I have had 2 come back out of almost 65 in the past month. If the refurb company/house performs the proper testing associated with refurbishing instead of just cleaning it and labelling it, They tend to be just as good as new

Blame the newbies not the technology

 

[mbetea]

thanks guys. it's for another comp i was going to throw together. and was just going to get another viewsonic pf775, seeing as i have 2 on this comp and i really like them. but i can pick a refurbed up for $100 less. i guess i'll try it. thanks again.

[insert philosophical statement here]

 

[labdog]

you cant refurbish too many used CRT.
after an "huge" time of mtbf (mean time between failure), the phosphor layer is damaged & you cant do anything against this.


<i>if <b>you know</b> <font color=white>you don't know<font color=black>, the way could be more easy ...

 

[compuhan]

Well, you probably don't want to get a really old model with fading phosphors (do they fade just sitting around??). Current model refurbs, probably won't have decayed phosphors (unless used for a very long period of time prior to refurb, in which case it should not be sold!), but have some other defect repaired. If a relatively current model is really fixed/tested then it should be good as new. I personnally don't trust refurbs simply because I have no way of knowing it's really fixed/tested, even if they offered the same warranty. I'd never ever buy an "as is" refurb.

Quality is better than name brand, even regarding beloved AMD.

 

[labdog]

in a more simply manner, i never buy old monitors more than 5 years old because its generally crap even for an "huge" 21" one.
moreover i repeat that the electronics, in particular the cathode ray tube have suffered & its impossible to refurbish it.
dont forget that a cathode ray tube is a very precise electronics mecanism system which works with 3 beams of electrons with a refresh of around 30-140Khz(hor) x 50-180Hz(vert) plus a heat clearing which is not at all negligible.
also, imo, its the most electronics part which needs a refection.

the other point is that the shadow mask or the aperture grill has also suffered because of its phosphors made of.
for what do you think screen savers are useful to?


<i>if <b>you know</b> <font color=white>you don't know<font color=black>, the way could be more easy ...

 

[labdog]

how old are they & what is their MTBF?


<i>if <b>you know</b> <font color=white>you don't know<font color=black>, the way could be more easy ...<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Labdog on 05/05/02 07:05 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[mbetea]

the place that i'll buy it from seems pretty thorough in their testing. they also offer a 1 yr warranty on it for only $20. so i would think that's a sign that they will stand by any monitors they sell. they show and specify 2 different types they sell, as is and refurbished. it says their refurbished monitors are put through and must pass the same tests that are done to new factory models.
check em out <A HREF="http://www.monitoronsale.com/" target="_new">here</A>

[insert philosophical statement here]

 

[compuhan]

you don't seem read my statements. i'd never get a refurb. don't know the details of a monitor's workings, so i can't say if a repair will result in same quality, but can't imagine unless there is something special about a making the tube from scratch versus rebuilding one. i'm guessing that it probably costs more to really fix or rebuild one damaged crt than to simply replace it, thus the refurbs are not really fixed and may simply just tweaked for quick resell. Again, just a guess -- not a monitor expert. Then, you have to consider what failed in the original unit? there are other parts of monitor besides the crt. if you knew what failed and had some monitor know how, you could assess the refurbs value. labdog's opinion is that the crt is usually damaged, which seems reasonable as it is what shows the image and whether it is defective.

the other point is that you should never buy a refurb that has been used for a long time since it's phosphors may be used. no one has commented about old unused phosphors though (do phosphors age without excitation?), but then again you have only the sales person's words to go on. if it's a very recent model, it's chance of it's phosphor wear is probably less, since it has only been in the market for so many months, but the exact date of sale and return may not be known to you.

though not an expert, common sense warns we about refurbs. you may be lucky and pay next to nothing, but it may be that is the ante for a good gamble.

simpy becuase there many unknowns (i doubt the sales person knows the precise technical detail of the failing and fix or even cares) i'd steer clear from refurbs.

Quality is better than name brand, even regarding beloved AMD.

 

[GoSharks]

I can’t speak for other companies but most of my refurbs are not broken monitors at all. They are trade show units, customer evaluation or refused shipments. IN fact many manufacturers are no longer even fixing broken monitors due to the cost. Since most containers that leave the U.S. headed for Asia are empty, it is cheaper to fill a container with broken monitors and send them back to the factory for parts.

Jim Witkowski
Chief Hardware Engineer
Cornerstone / Monitorsdirect.com

<A HREF="http://www.monitorsdirect.com" target="_new">MonitorsDirect.com</A>

 

[labdog]

<i>monologue face of monologue generates obviously a soliloquy's explanation...
- Lab thougth of the day -</i>


<i>if <b>you know</b> <font color=white>you don't know<font color=black>, the way could be more easy ...

 

[compuhan]

sorry, couldn't help it. others beside you see the post anyways.

Quality is better than name brand, even regarding beloved AMD.

 

[RainbowRunner]

I bought a refurbished 21' Nanao Eixo FlexScan E76D monitor a few days ago, it's huge, heavy(~36kg) and have 5 BNC connectors at the back plus 1 maintenance port. I haven't fully tested the monitor yet, er... how and where do I start(brightness, contrast, discoloration test and stuffs)?

As far as I concern, I'm happy with it although the max. res. is just 1280x1024@85Hz and with other resolution setting i can only get 60/70/75Hz( from 1280x1024 and beyond ~2000x2000).

How do I connect my Playstation 2 console and PC to the monitor using BNC connector(I want a superb image quality in both platforms)? I'm unable to find any Playstation 2 AV cables to the BNC connector, but there's a D-Sub(HD-15) to BNC converter. I've found the solution by connecting Playstation 2 AV cable to the D-Sub to BNC converter(basically like this; PS2 Av cable->D-Sub->BNC). Is it worth? How's the image quality?

Btw, i heard a static sound(something like switching on and off all the time) at the rear of the monitor if I put my ear closely. Is it OK if I ignore it?

Please advise me, thanks in advance.

 

[Teq]

The thing you have to watch out for is what is meant by "Refurbished"...

In many cases refurbished is just a nice way of saying "Used" and nothing at all has been done to test, clean or adjust the monitor. They bring them in the back door, wipe the dirt of the cases and send them straight out the front door. Most often they don't even slow down on the way through. I've even seen the Refub tag put on monitors that haven't even been turned on.

Obviously that isn't what you want...

A properly refurbished monitor will have consiserable work done to it. It will be disassembled, cleaned, gone through with test equipment, inspected for bad parts or connections and then re-adjusted to factory spec. or better.

When refurbished <i>correctly</i> a monitor that's been sent back for warranty exchange and is worked on by a good technician can actually give you better than factory display. This is because the factory has a production schedule, usually in the order of one every couple of minutes and the production adjustments are done very hurridly or with jigs. But, when a good technician goes into a monitor he's going to spend some time on it --usually an hour or two-- and really set it up carefully (afterall they don't want it coming back again) so you get the benefit of his careful work.

NEC does this all the time. They take their warranty returns, tune them right up, and sell them at about 2/3 normal price. I've actually seen their refurbs beside brand new ones and sometimes the refurb has the better display.

So what should you look for?

1) You want "Factory Refurbished" because they get the TLC and often are sold with the same warranty as new ones.

2) You want current or just discontinued models, no more than a year old, and each monitor does have a "date of manufacture" on the case label.

3) At least 50% of maker's warranty... <i>by the maker</i>

4) Reasonable pricing, about 2/3 or 3/4 of brand new.


What should you avoid?

Everything else... because it's just a used monitor.






--->It ain't better if it don't work<---

 

[alltaken]

well i returned a BRAND NEW (ok used for a week or so) monitor.

what happens to that???

do they refurbish it or what??
19" flatscreen crt 1920x1440 max or 1600x1200@85Hz

do they throw it away or refurbish it or do they just sell it as a second hand monitor.

 

[Teq]

Most companies will open it up, fix whatever problems it has, check it over and then sell it as a refurb.

I can't vouch for the laws anywhere else, but in Canada it would be illgal to sell it as a new monitor. It would also be downright silly to scrap a perfectly good monitor over minor problems...



--->It ain't better if it don't work<---