Doug McGarrett wrote:
It is frequently possible in the US to get good deals on laptops that have been refurbished. These are usually "new" machines that had out-of-the-box failures, and been returned to the factory for repair and replacement. US law does not permit these to be put back into the "new equipment" market, so they are sold as "factory refurbished," or words to that effect. What you get is a new machine that has been very carefully repaired and tested, so that they don't get it back again! And it's probably not more than 6 to 9 months into the release cycle.
A couple of years ago, I bought a "refurbished" ThinkPad from IBM. Apparently, the original purchaser didn't even remove it from the box, before he returned it. I was able to buy it for $400 off the new price.