Amazon is now selling refurbished Kindle Fire tablets for $169. These devices have been thoroughly tested, upgraded to the latest firmware version, come with the same power adapter cable and carry the same 1-year warranty as brand new Kindle Fire tablets.
Why now? Amazon isn’t saying, but it could be that glitches in the original firmware that was installed on all the first Fires to ship in November of ’11 prompted a lot of post-holiday returns.
The firmware has since been updated, and users who hung in there long enough to get the update (or purchased their Fires after the update release) are no longer complaining.
Whatever the case may be, Amazon’s stock of Fire returns can be your gain if you’re looking to get a Fire at a discount.
What is your personal opinion on buying a refurbished Fire?
Purchasing a refurbished Fire is pretty much a zero-risk proposition. The refurb’d Fires come with the same 1-year warranty as brand new Fires, and carry the same money-back guarantee as any product sold and fulfilled through Amazon. If you order a refurb model and find it’s not up to snuff, you can always return it for a full refund. That doesn’t seem likely however, since all refurb’d models have been inspected, tested and cleaned prior to ship.