OP here, I did buy a refurbished Dell Optiplex last week.

FYI - skip eBay. Skip Craig's list. Skip anything that doesn't provide a same as new, or better-than-new warranty from a "real" company, not an end user. Again - tkoeducation.com is a company that specializes in the sale of professionally refurbished Dell Optiplex (the kind that America's businesses entrust to run their businesses).

Also, by buying from a legit company who deals in off-lease refurbished computers, aside from the warranty, you'll be more assured of getting legal software as well.

with a better than new, 5yr warranty, brand new keyboards and mice, how can you beat TKOEDucation.com?

I've bought several on Ebay. Look for vendors that have a "store" setup on Ebay, with a return guarantee (many have something like a 90-day return guarantee, in case it is DOA) and have a good clean rating (I like seeing a positive feedback of at least 5000). There are many good refurb dealers of computers there. I've gotten some great deals computer equipment in just your type of situation.

You can also get some good deals at Dell's outlet store on refurbed computers. I've gotten a couple from there that I've used as media centers: http://www.dell.com/outlet/

Thanks, these are exactly what I was thinking of!

Not sure where you are but this place is by the Trader Joes on Rt 7 near Tysons: http://pcretro.com/pages/computer-warehouse.

Never been in there but I see it all the time. It looks like it's a chain, too.

http://www.microcenter.com/

There's one in Rockville and another in NoVA. You can shop online and then go pick it up at the store. It's how I got my laptop. I haven't been back to Best Buy since I found them.

Our home PC recently crashed and we are looking to replace it. Due to having work laptops/smartphones, we really only use the home PC for Internet browsing and bill paying. As such, we don't want to spend a ton of money on a new desktop. Monitor, mouse and keyboard all work fine still so we are just looking for a decent refurbished tower. Anyone know where to find these? Best Buy did not sell refurbs.