Refurbished N7 2013 32gb

[martyh]

Hello, Forum,

I've been searching for a good deal on a new 32gb Nexus 7 2013 version. Unfortunately, I'm not finding any *good* deals, the best so far being $252 (plus tax) on Amazon.

However, an eBay seller has 32gb N7's for sale, priced at $186 (not sure if tax will be added or not). That's an excellent price, but I'm VERY leary about purchasing a refurb unit, which is essentially buying someone else's problem. The guarantee is only 90 days.

The last time I bought any electronics refurbed was a desktop PC, and about six months later the hard drive failed on me.  Warranty was also 90 days.

Any thoughts on and/or experiences with refurbed N7s would be most welcome.

Cheers,
- martyh

[Babyfacemagee]

Hi martyh,  Yes, I mention that 32GB refurbished unit inside the first post on the front page of the forum.  I would actually recommend getting it and here's why.  While it is a refurbished unit the key detail here is that it is MANUFACTURER REFURBISHED.  That means that ASUS itself has reconditioned the unit, that it has gone through a thorough series of tests to ensure that everything is up to spec and working well and anything that needs to be replaced or fixed is before it's given a stamp of approval.   In the experience of myself and many others on the forum these are 'like new' units when you receive them.  They also come with a 90 day warranty from ASUS itself...so in case you don't like it when you get it you can get a replacement.  There are some other vendors which list as 'seller refurbished' which I'd be more leery of but since this is Manufacturer Refurbished I think you'll be happy with it.  Another thing you might consider is buying it with a credit card that has purchase protection.  Many of these cards will double the warranty automatically or even give you a year's coverage.   Here's the link to the listing on Ebay.

You can also buy a BRAND NEW 16GB Nexus 7 which comes with a full year warranty from ASUS if you're ok with a little less memory for only $149 from Group On which I posted about here.

[martyh]

Thanks, Babyfacemagee, for the lengthy response.  (BTW, I did a search for "refurb" on the N7 2013 forum but came up zip; maybe I didn't search correctly, or....)

Anyhow, I've been checking out that eBay listing for the 32gb device and I think I'm going to go for it, based on your recommendation. My first gen N7 is, I think, simply worn out given how much I used it over the past 2 yrs. I've done a couple factory resets, and just use it for email and news reader mostly, no custom launcher, no icon packs, no widgets, and it still remains dog slow. Time for a new one, me thinks. Plus, I want 5.0.1 Lollipop and I'm still waiting for it on both my original N7 and Moto G2. I suspect the 2013 N7 will get updated fairly quickly.

Cheers, and thanks  again.
- martyh

[martyh]

Ordered one of the refurbed 2013 N7's yesterday; scheduled to arrive by Monday. Will keep you all posted. BTW, shipping was free and I was not charged any sales tax, either.

Interestingly enough, after the purchase, I received an email from the seller, DrivenGPS, with a phone number and email addy for direct contact should I have any issues, need help, etc.

Lastly, yesterday before dinnertime, the eBay add for these N7s showed "1,700 sold." I just checked and it now reads "1,758 sold."  Guess they have a lot of these units.

Cheers,
- martyh

[martyh]

Hello, All --

It's been a month since I posted here and ordered the refurbed 2013 32gb N7, so I thought it was time for the update.

I purchased the N7 for $174.99; about a week later the price went up to $184.99 -- and just checking I see the price is now at $179.99, with free shipping.

My N7 arrived in just a few days; packaged in a generic brown box, but with inserts so that the device and attachments (an AC adapter and USB cable) were securely packed.

The N7 itself is flawless: screen, case, everything looks absolutely brand new. Booted up immediately (and a *lot* faster than my original N7) to an update to KitKat 4.4.3. Shortly after the update was installed the N7 received another update for KitKat 4.4.4. And that's where the N7 currently resides; still waiting on the Lollipop update (but I just read that 5.0.2 is supposedly going out to Nexus 7 2013s and Nexus 10s now).

I use the N7 literally every day, sometimes on for hours at a time in the evening while I'm watching TV (multi-tasking, as they say), and it's working just fine.

I'm very pleased and would recommend this refurbed unit, which are still available as I noted above, if anyone has been fence-sitting trying to decide.

I also see that the eBay site shows that 2,129 units have been sold so far. I'm trying to remember, but when I purchased mine I think the number was at 1,880, if I recall correctly. There is no indication as to how many are still available, so I guess the offer could end at any time.

Cheers,
- martyh

[martyh]

P.S. Just noticed the Refurbished 32gb N7 2013 sale on eBay ends in a bit over 21 hours.