I had never heard the term "refurbished LCD TV" until the other day when a good friend of mine invited me over to see the one he'd just had delivered. I mean, I knew what refurbished was, or at least I thought I did. But in the case of LCD TVs, I was way off base. What my friend Daniel told me was an eye-opening revelation, and by the time you finish reading this, I think you’ll agree.

When I got to his house, the TV was still in the factory box. It looked brand new. (Turns out he wanted to do more than just show me, he needed help setting it up, too.) Now, this was not just a TV-stand size set. He had a huge 52-inch Toshiba LCD TV. So as we started unpacking it, I asked him if he’d gotten a bonus at work or something. I knew these televisions weren’t cheap.

He told me it wasn't a new set, he'd found a great deal on a refurbished LCD TV and was able to get it for almost half the manufacturer's retail price. He said buying a 'refurb' saved him nearly $2000! Danny's a sharp guy, and he had obviously done his homework before deciding to purchase a refurbished set. In fact, here's the site he said helped him the most -- click here to check it out. What he told me was nothing short of amazing.

Refurbished LCD TVs are out there available to anyone who knows where to look for them. And they don't look like they're 'used' or victims of a scratch and dent sale. His set appeared to be factory-new, and I gave it a thorough inspection! "So what gives?" I asked him. "How come it doesn’t look used?"

I learned, partly from Danny’s explanation and partly from my own research, (remember, be sure and visit here ) that refurbished LCD sets are TVs that, for a number of different reasons, can't be sold as 'new.' Yes, sometimes it's been in someone's home, but was returned within the first 30 days. Maybe it didn't fit right and they needed a larger or smaller set. Maybe a spouse pitched a fit and insisted on the return after the box was opened. Even if it was never unpacked or removed, if the box is opened, the set can’t be sold as new. It becomes a refurb.

Now, if you look online for refurbished LCD TVs, you're gonna find over 2 million results. I quickly discovered that not all refurbs are created equal. The ones you want to look for are sold through factory-authorized refurbishers. These will come with a manufacturer's warranty, usually about 90 days or less. It should offer the same coverage as a new one, just for a shorter period of time. (A new warranty is typically good for a year.) So how do you find out if you're looking at a factory-authorized refurbisher?

The short answer is to go here . This is the site Danny recommended to me, and it’s the only one I’ll recommend to anybody. Otherwise you’ll need to do your own digging and even then it may be hard to know for sure.

Refurbished LCD TVs can be a great way to go if you want to save a ton of money on a name brand set. It requires a little more research on your part, but the savings you'll realize are well worth the time spent.