'Refurbished' hardware. Is it any good?

I've been looking at some online shops and they seem to be selling computers pretty cheap albeit without monitors.

Anyone know if refurbished items are any good. I once bought a refurbished camera and still have it, though can't afford film now. ;)

It just depends.... Some are items that were opened and shipped back.

Some are items where the user screwed them up and luckily got their money back.

I'd buy a refurb from Dell but not Craigslist;)

I've bought 2 refurbished monitors, both LG, approx 6 months old from a local PC shop and I've had no problems at all. They both came with 6 month warranties covered by the store so that easily covered them not working out of the box.

Like Steve suggests craigslist etc might not be the best bet but if you can buy something used/refurbished from a legit company with some kind of reasonable return policy it could be a good deal. My monitors for eg, were almost half price of new ones.

Also most online companies have a comments section to see what other buyers have to say about the product.

I've saved a good bunch of money buying refurbished items, mostly from Tiger Direct. Digital Camera, GPS, laptops and some other odd items. I have a Gateway several years old and it still runs with no problems. I'm writing this on a 17" Acer I've had for almost 2 years and again no problems. When I need a relatively expensive item I first shop for a refurb. If I can't find what I want I then compare retail prices.

Thanks for the replies. :D