Most every manufacturer offers factory refurbished products and for a variety
of reasons, many of which are not related to an item's ability to function properly.
Factory refurbished items can be returns at retail but also include new items
that have been re-received in most cases for minor reasons including: missing
manuals, torn cartons, duplicate purchase, etc. Such items may have never even
made it off the shelf at the store.
When an electronic product is returned to the factory for any reason it is inspected, restored to original specification (if needed), tested and repackaged for resale. Such items are no longer sold as new, but as factory refurbished. These items are often 20% - 50% less than identical factory new models.
Are Refurbished items as good as new?
Most often we find Refurbished products are indistinguishable from their factory
new counterparts. Though some items may have cosmetic blemishes, scratches,
refurbished products are often better than new as they undergo more rigorous
inspection and testing than new products. The defect rate of refurbished items
is far lower than that of items sold as new. Additional testing, new packaging
and a lower price!