Refurb phone? help!

[dalvik]

I have a Captivate which I paid FULL price for (500$) 17 months ago.....this phone is really ***** me off......it has a mind of its own....its making me nuts. AT & T is offering a refurb of the white skyrocket...(love that phone) but I don't want to have someone else's trouble..(kind of like a used car) I have always had NEW phones, what is the general thoughts about a refurb phone. Pros..and cons...thanks:-\

Well I have a refurb phone right now.. it looks perfectly new no single scratch on it or any problems whatsowver... however my previous refurb phone had a very tiny white spot on the screen. I called ATT and they exchanged it.

 

[buffee]

I have a Captivate which I paid FULL price for (500$) 17 months ago.....this phone is really ***** me off......it has a mind of its own....its making me nuts. AT & T is offering a refurb of the white skyrocket...(love that phone) but I don't want to have someone else's trouble..(kind of like a used car) I have always had NEW phones, what is the general thoughts about a refurb phone. Pros..and cons...thanks:-\

 

[patrick533]

Electronics Engineer/Manufacturing Professional for 3 decades give or take. I was summoned by a head hunter once to an Asian manufacturing plant for a possible job. I stood at the end of their production line and watched a bunch of guys with stopwatches making this line as efficient as possible, this includes quality inspections and testing.

One thing I have learned with quality and testing, you don't rush it or your field failures go through the roof!

Enter a refurb, this equipment went out and was used for a while, failed (NO surprise there!), went back and more then likely was worked over by a tech here in the states/Canada/ the EU that took his time found the problem and did a proper alignment of the phone in a less rushed environment and fixed everything else he could find wrong with it too!

The life of most electronics components is at least 100,000 hours of service, minimum. Comparing that to a used car is a bad comparison(no disrespect intended). I will take a piece of refurbished Asian manufactured equipment to a new one any day!

My Wife has the original Capitivate, I cheaped out and purchased that phone at least 2 years ago if not 3, for me, it was REFURBISHED when I bought it, she made the mistake of selecting a Palm phone instead of a Android and after using mine for a while one weekend on a trip, she kind decided it was hers, now that phone has 2+ years on it and is just being replaced because I got a Skyrocket, so it must be better then the Capitivate because I have one(she got her new Skyrocket yesterday). The only problem I can see with her refurbished Capitivate, it needs a new battery and is 3G only. Still works perfect, now your thinking a Chick has been cruising this phone for 2 1/2 years so it has had and easy life. That Chick is A Deputy Sheriff in Southern California, her equipment takes a butt whoopin, I know because I maintain her stuff!(her sidearm looks like it has been through 3 wars)

I work more in a suit and tie environment, My Skyrocket failed after 6 months, no data transfer, never been dropped, always in a holster on my belt, never left in the car to bake, no reason for it to fail caused by me. I just got my refurb a month ago, it actually sounds better then the brand new on.(I actually take a good old fashioned RAZR when "field work" is required on my part, I have a drawer full of 2G and 3G RAZRs)

If the equipment is getting up there in age, stay far away from refurbs, the 100,000 hour rule applies, a year or two old, ENJOY! It proabally wont fail again for a long while! But there are always exceptions to EVERY rule, a lemon is usually just that, but rare in Electronics.

Enjoy your replacement, me thinks you will find it every bit as good as a new one!

 

[jontalk]

Anyone else here that bought a new Skyrocket and had it fail 6 mos later? Just curious since I still think the Skyrocket is a viable option along with the GS3. Thanks.

 

[dalvik]

Jontalk, I'm on my third phone right now and none of them ever failed on me. I stupidly bricked my first one which worked like a clockwork and the exchange had a very tiny white spot on the screen which was hard to see but I exchanged it anyway and this third one works perfectly too. Also, I was specifically researching online the failure rate of skyrocket and it looks like it is very rare with this phone.... I'm very pleased with it and ICS makes it even better

 

[patrick533]

Anyone else here that bought a new Skyrocket and had it fail 6 mos later? Just curious since I still think the Skyrocket is a viable option along with the GS3. Thanks.

You will have a certain failure rate with any electronics device, that is where the refurbs come from! It is called MTBF!

The reason I bought my Wife a Skyrocket is because I think it is a GREAT phone, in her case it is an officer safety issue if it fails and she is in a radio dead zone. But being AT&T is selling refurbed SR's right now, I do have to say I considered buying her one, but this is our 3rd or 4th phone with Samsung, 3 High-Def TV's and 2 Blu-Ray players with only one failure(My Skyrocket). Next week they will be selling refurbed Iphones!

Good luck trying to find a phone that is not made is Asia under the overseers with stopwatches(Including the Iphone), just a sign of the times and a certain failure rate is acceptable to them!

Buy a Skyrocket, it is a GREAT little phone, don't worry about the MTBF rate, that is for the analysts.