refurbished acceptable as a present?

timmygcsc2308

timmygcsc2308

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looking to get my girlfriend a dSLR for her birthday next month. I'd settled on a Sony a330 then saw I could get an a450 for £313.
However looking on ebay I can get a Canon 1000D for £292:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CANON-EOS-REB...Cameras_DigitalCameras_JN&hash=item45f4686fb8

it's refurbished by Canon so it's (surely) going to be in good nick (but there is the chance of cosmetic blemishes I guess..)...but I dunno if I'd feel a bit cheap buying a refurbished product and it'd be opened and thought of like errr...why is it in a brown box?
What do you guys think?
 
You can get refurbished 450's for less than £350 if you keep your eyes peeled, prob a better bet than a 1000 from what i've read before.

Personally I'd rather have a better camera than one thats brand new but some people like to be the first to own something, i guess you know which of those catagories your good lady falls into?
 
depends on how your gf will feel, personally if I was getting a better camera refurd than new, especially if it came with a one year warranty, I'd have no issue with that.

I'm not saying the canon is better than the sony by the way, no idea.

Al
 
1, You use Canon so you could share lenses with each other.
2, Brown box's are used to keep refub' unit's apart from new stock I would say.
If it was me I would go for the Canon and I'm sure your girlfriend will enjoy it..:-)
 
Buying manufacturer refurbished isn't really a problem tbh. But are you aware that the what you're looking at there is the Rebel XS, which is the American branding for the 1000D?

You might be better off seeing what the official Canon Outlet has to offer on Ebay :)
 
ah I don't have my 40D no more..must update :$
umm...hmm well I can also get a Nikon D3000 for £300 (budget is kinda limited at £300 - the A450 is stretching it). She did kinda hint about wanting a Nikon but the D3000 is basic compared to the 1000D and A450 especially, and out of the 3 I think the A450 is most feature packed for a complete novice (which she is) and it's brand new. hmmm umming and arrring now :(
 
Refurbished present= tight git


Unless you can persuade her it's a better camera for the money you'll probably suffer for it, not now, but 6 months down the line :lol:
 
Take it out of the box and wrap it all up in a big red bow and cellophane.

Job done! :D
 
Jessops are selling off there 330's off with an 18-55 at a very reasonable £299 if that is of any use.
 
I got a "refurbed by Canon" 1000D, and it was faulty when it arrived. I sent it back and got a replacement, which worked fine for five months, then went knackered again. It was out of warranty by this time (only came with a brief retailer warranty), so I paid £150 for it to be repaired. Seems to be working now. I would never buy a refurbed one again, after that experience. :(
 
timmygcsc2308 said:
ah I don't have my 40D no more..must update :$
umm...hmm well I can also get a Nikon D3000 for £300 (budget is kinda limited at £300 - the A450 is stretching it). She did kinda hint about wanting a Nikon but the D3000 is basic compared to the 1000D and A450 especially, and out of the 3 I think the A450 is most feature packed for a complete novice (which she is) and it's brand new. hmmm umming and arrring now :(
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I have to say, if she'd rather a Nikon (sensible woman :D) then a basic nikon is better than a higher range canon/sony tbh.

And features aren't everything.

I'd either go for a new D3000 or a used older model (think for that money you could pos get a D80? D70 at least)


Pssssst, http://www.apertureuk.com/nikon_auto_focus.html - d80 for £290, mint..

But if she'll be upset if you get a used, save yourself and buy new :D
 
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thanks for all the advice guys

andrewc said:
I know if someone gave me a refurb I'd be very grateful. Other people may not think so. Which does your GF fall into? If she's a keeper, lock her into the same system as you.
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LOL well actually I've got a D40 on a promise from another member on here which I'll be buying in a couple of weeks sooo..Nikon may be sensible ;)

-halli- said:
Take it out of the box and wrap it all up in a big red bow and cellophane.

Job done! :D
Click to expand...

I actually thought about buying her a bag too and giving it to her in a nice lowepro bag but having two presents is more showy than one :p

Greybeard said:
Jessops are selling off there 330's off with an 18-55 at a very reasonable £299 if that is of any use.
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yea I've actually got one of these on reserve and I'm still considering it.

I'm going to call Argos Clearance tomorrow because they were hawking off new D60's on their ebay site for £270 which would be an absolute perfect present at the right price but the listing ended, 163 were available but only 50 sold :shrug: so I'm going to ask if they still have any and can I get one. If I can, job done.

If not...I've got the choice of The a330 for £300 or I can get the D3000 with non-VR lens for £315 (brother in law can get me 10% argos discount)..in which case its a toss up between more features of the Sony at a lower price or doing as littlemonster says and taking her hints and getting the Nikon but having less features (though tbh I doubt she'll use half of them) lol
 
If shes hinted at nikon then go for a nikon.

I doubt the feature set on the 3000 will be a problem, theres still scope to grow into it then later she can upgrade if she wishes.
Also remember the 3000 has good feature descriptions and usage tips built in, very handy for the beginner
There's a good deal here on the 3000, free camera rucksack and not a bad price + excellent service.

http://www.cameraworld.co.uk/ViewProdDetails.asp?prod_code=PON09H000002&Prod_name=Nikon+D3000+%26+18-55mm+VR+with+FREE+Backpack&CAT_CODE=5&SUBCAT_CODE=51
 
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oh wow ok thanks ian that is a good price..I was going to spend about £15 on a bag anyway so getting one for free is great. Cheers :thumbs:
 
GrittyShaker said:
I got a "refurbed by Canon" 1000D, and it was faulty when it arrived.
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Recently I had the same experience with a refurb'd 50D body from the Canon Ebay outlet - out of the box it had a fault that basic testing showed up, and IMO should have been caught during the refurb. I went for a refund, which took about three weeks.

To be fair to them the condition of the body, box and all the extra bits were either like new or was new.

Dave
 
I bought my daughter a refurbished point and shoot from Digital Depot for Christmas as an extra for sticking in her handbag so she has a camera with her on those occasions when she wouldn't take her DSLR. If it had not been in a white box nobody would have known. It really depends on the company. I'd rather have the model above and a white box :shrug:
 
Surely its the thought that counts? Id be well chuffed if mission control bought me anything camera wise used or new.
 
'Refurbished' only comes with a short warranty, presumably because it is used and there is no guarantee that the previous owner has treated it with as much care as some of us would.

I have the D3000 and I'm really pleased with it as it's not too complex to use (I found it pretty simple to operate when I got it which says plenty). If you're still completely clueless then you can use the 'Guide' mode to help you understand what everything does :)
 
thanks for advices again guys, I went in to Jessops today and played with the 1000D, D3000 and the Sony a330.
Firstly I hate the 1000D, bleurgh.

I was quite impressed with the Sony tbh, I thought it was a bit uncomfortable to hold yes but it was pretty slick and I really liked the bright LCD screen. The liveview is great and very quick to activate and works well

The Nikon at first I was a bit hmm but I've decided to go for it, it has no liveview but if she has LV she'll only get into the (bad) habit of using it. It feels better made and better to hold (we have pretty much the same size hands - I have very small hands), looks better and at the end of the day she hinted on a Nikon. What I also realllly liked about the D3000 is the graphical representation of the aperture size on the 'shooting screen' as oppose to the black and white text of the Sony, it's a very nice touch that impressed me and will make explaining hole sizes (oo err :nuts:) easier.

P.S. > Euden! I sold you my D40 aggggeees ago! I assume you've moved on since then..did it treat you well though?
 
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