[tramahound]

does anybody have any experience with refurb ipods through apple? i just bought a 10 gig dock connector for $180 after taxes. thought it was a good deal, but now I'm worried I'm going to get it today and it'll be all scratched up and obviously used looking. do they replace the outer casing generally? it's covered for a year though so i may just sell it and trade up to a new 20 giger...any thoughts?
Thanks

[GORDYmac]

Nope. Should be fine. Most refurbs, I think, failed QA at some point in the process, or arrived DOA or otherwise defective at retail outlets, and were returned immediately. Therefore, they really aren't used long enough to show wear.

I bought an iPod (iBook and Quicksilver 933 too) refurb way back when, and it looked perfect. Actually, it came in the same packaging that the retail iPods do.

I'd only buy refurbs now. The way I see it, Apple has two chances to make the refurbs perfect, where the others only got one shot. So...they're better...right?

[SupahCoolX]

I got a refurb 20GB a few months ago. It arrived in perfect, like-new condition (but in a plain brown box instead of the stylish cube-shaped retail box.. oh well). It's worked perfectly.

Also, GORDY- I think refurbs are OK since they've been "fixed" and gone through QA again. However, there's always the chance that they cleared up the symptom without curing the underlying disease, so to speak. They come with a full 1-year warranty, and AppleCare is available, so I wouldn't worry about it. No more risky than buying a new machine, IMO.

[wataru]

I just got a refurbished 30GB iPod. It was picture perfect, although it did come in an ugly brown box.

[mrtew]

I got a G3 40gig refurb at the Apple store here that was on the sale rack with the demos. It looked just like a new one including the box with the cello cover still on the pod and no scratches at all (new case I'd think). And it works fine, and I got it for $299.