There are some fantastic deals to be had in "refurbished" computers or other electronic equipment.

Refurbished -- sometimes called "refurbs" -- has become a catchall term these days. It now seems to mean any product that's been returned to the manufacturer after it's been sold once to a retailer.

Note; not necessarily "returned by a consumer" but just sold once to a retailer.

Oh sure; refurbished can actually mean "refurbished" -- i.e., returned to the factory and fixed & cleaned up. But, these days, at least as often as not it means simply that the device was sold once and then returned to the manufacturer. That might simply mean that it was overstocked at a big-box store like Wal-Mart or mis-ordered by an end-user. In either case it was simply returned unopened.

These days, consumer liability issues being what they are, a reputable manufacturer won't want to try to resell the product as "brand new". Instead they'll sell it as refurbished "like-new" and complete with warranty and complete packaging. Cool!

Even if they were "returned for repair", the refurbished deals are still as good as new when they go back on sale. Maybe even better if you go by the "pre-disastered" strategy of consumerism. That means that somebody else worked out the kinks and shook out the bugs for you.

Lately I've been finding some fantastic deals on refurbs at eBay, Overstock.com and especially at TigerDirect.com.

The best refurb deals are not at the manufacturers sites -- though many do have sections where they sell refurbs. The best deals seems to be at places like TigerDirect.com where they seem to be making bulk deals with the manufacturers. That's my guess at what's happening anyway. You can find these deals hidden away for fantastic computers at prices that are sometimes half or better of what you'd expect to pay at a big-box discount. Full warranty, full software package, complete documentation and accessory hardware. The whole deal!

So; here's the thing. If you're shopping around for a computer -- desktop or laptop or handheld -- or a stereo or an MP3 player (including all iPod models) or even a flat screen TV (HDTV or ... whatever), be sure to take a look at refurbs! That's where the good deals are.

It works!