I'm pretty happy with Apple's refurbishment process

I'm personally more of an Android guy these days, but I do own a few Apple products. (I'm a seriously old-school Apple guy, though - my first computer was an Apple IIc, and I still own a IIgs.) I just recently had to buy an iPad for use in a point-of-sale system for the store I own. Since it's not really for me, I just wanted the cheapest iPad I could get without being ridiculous about it and going first-gen on Ebay - I mean the thing's gotta actually work.

I ended up buying a refurbished iPad 3 from the Apple store. This is Apple's bastard child iPad that was only on the market for a few months - but perversely, it's also probably the best deal in a used one. I was quite pleased when I opened the box! Unlike the "refurbished" Motorola Xoom I bought that was literally just the tablet and power cord flopping around in a plain brown box, with clear wear marks and even fingerprints on the tablet itself, there is literally no way to tell that this iPad isn't new.

Everything's wrapped the same way new ones are, and I do think the outer shell and glass are new. (I'd read this before but didn't quite believe it.) This is what "refurbished" is supposed to mean, and did mean back when I sold electronics for a living in the 90's. It's supposed to mean "fixed up to be like new again", not simply "used". I'm not a big modern-day Apple fan in general, but props to them for being old-school on this one thing and putting in the effort that the term "refurbished" really requires.

The only indication that this isn't a new iPad is the "Apple Certified Refurbished" engraving in the box, which I'm convinced is there to stop people from buying these and reselling them as new. You could, otherwise.

Pardon the dust - that's all my dust, not Apple's.

I paid $299 for this 16GB iPad 3 with a retina display, which is only a little more (and in some cases less) than Ebay sellers are asking. At the moment it's on sale even further at $269, which kind of pisses me off, actually, but whatever. It came preinstalled with iOS 7.1 and it runs a lot better than I expected, given what I've seen on my wife's iPad Air. The Air is noticeably lighter but actually feels slower. I think it has an even higher-res screen and the CPU just isn't quite up for it.

I still like my Sony Xperia Tablet Z better. But I highly recommend buying refurbished products direct from Apple, if that's what you're after anyway.