But, beware of "open-box" items. I had an old Philips CD burner/player that I was using to burn only. It was in need of cleaning under the service agreement from Good Guys. They lost my unit in transit and said they would replace it with a newer model. The newer model SUCKED and when I took it in for a refund I saw my old unit (which had subsequently been "found") on the shelf marked "open-box" item. It was nearly two years old at the time. Know this may not relate to higher-end gear but, all the same, be sure to ask many questions and get answers to your satisfaction before buying.
"Refurbished"?
I guess we all know what a "new" component is, what a "demo" component is and what a "used" component is. We can quibble on the "box opened just for inspection" representation as somewhat fudging the concept of "new" and feel much better thinking that an unopened box really means it certifies the product within as really, really "new". My question then is : what is actually a "refurbished" product? Is it the same as a "B" product? Is there anything actually done to the unit to qualify it as "refurbished" aside from taking off the fingerprints and packing it neatly in the original shipping materials? Does a component returned by a consumer for some malfunction that is then repaired qualify as "refurbished". Is "refurbished" a cleaned up demo sent back to the manufacturer when a line or specific product in a line is passed over by the buying public or being replaced by a manufacturer to be liquidated by a central agent?. In short, are we, yet again, dealing with fuzzy definitions? Oh BTW what would the range of % discount be on demo units and refurbished units, if one accepts all the problems with generalizations?