Has anyone ever purchased a refurbished item from Apple.com???

[laravia18]

I wanted to buy a MacBook Pro but as you all may know they are very costly. Recently I was checking out the Apple website and I saw the one I wanted in the Refurbished section. I was wondering if anyone can contest to the quality of those items. It will be my first time owning an Apple computer, but I have used several over the years. Since the switch over to Intel it has inspired me to purchase one because now I can use two operating systems at once. I really have my eye on this computer, but I am skeptical because it's refurbished. Please ease my worries if you can!

[xfiftyfour]

Have yet to buy a refurb computer, but I did buy a refurb iPod (5G 60gb). Got an awesome deal, and it came to me like new.. no scratches, no problems, no smudges.. I wouldn't have known a difference between a new one and the refurb if it weren't for the different box.

I've only heard good things about refurbs from Apple. It's nice that they come with the standard one year warranty just like a new machine, so if any problems DO arise, you're still taken care of. Problems, though, are actually less likely, because the machines have gone through a second QC, and if there were any issues, they've been taken care of. Also, I've heard of a lot of people getting "extras" unexpectedly.. ie: more RAM, a bigger HD, a faster processor..etc. That's just the luck of the draw, but still.

[applemacdude]

they are not really scratched if at all (if it was originally apple just replaces the shell), and comes with everything that would otherwise come with a new unit, although it comes in a brown box instead of a nicer white looking one. but basically it a great deal, although very rarely someone gets a lemon, but apple will replace it if you get one

[cecildk9999]

as far as I've heard, refurbished computers can run the range from simply being returned items to those with defects that have been fixed. I would have considered one for my last purchase if it hadn't been for my.edu discount :D

[autolist4u]

Apple refurbished computers are the best deal going. They are considerably cheaper than those on the used market and are fully waranted. It's a win-win.

[McGarvels]

I actually bought a 20" iMac Core 2 Duo through the refurbished section on Apple's website and it is AMAZING. The machine works flawlessly. It's beautiful and understanding and caring. lol. Also, I was one of the lucky individuals who got extras for free (including a 256MB graphics card upgrade AND a 2.33GHz processor upgrade). All in all, I say go for a refurbished machine, I saved over 600 dollars (with all the extras included)

[aquajet]

I purchased a refurbished 15" MBP Core Duo from Apple.com a few weeks ago. I can't say the deal was flawless, but Apple did fix the issues in a timely manner:

1. The Apple Remote wasn't included in the box when I received it. I called AppleCare the day I received the computer and less than 24 hours later, the DHL man was at my door with another package.

2. The computer shipped with 533mhz DDR2 RAM. The MBP is supposed to have 667mhz DDR2 RAM. I took it to my local Genius Bar and they swapped out the RAM. Took about 45 minutes of my time.

Plus, there were some minor cosmetic blemishes around the trackpad. Hardly noticeable, however.

On the other hand, my MBP did arrive with a bit of a surprise: a 7200 rpm drive instead of the advertised 5400 rpm. And the battery was new, with zero cycles as reported by coconut battery.

Were these minor inconveniences worth the $1000 discount? Well, yeah. :D

[pianodude123]

haha...refurbished....

It should say something like BMW does to make it sound like it is better quality...

"Get your certified pre-owned 3 Series today for low APR..."

haha....ya...theyre fine...

unless you get the defective ones..... :eek: :eek:

[ducksrfr]

i recently bought a refurb PB G4 15'' from Apple, and it's perfect. the specs online said it would come with 512 MB of RAM and a 80 GB hard drive, but when it arrived i received a pleasant surpise with 1 GB of RAM and 100 GB hard drive.

i would have gone for a refurb mbp, but most of the apps i work with still aren't universal, so this is pretty much a stop gap for me until leopard, cs3 and ms office come out.

[mick4394]

I have a refurbished Macbook and a refurb 5G iPod. Both arrived in like new cosmetic and working condition. I highly recommend Apple refurbs. As long as their refurbs are of this quality, I'll never purchase a new Mac.

[mick4394]

i recently bought a refurb PB G4 15'' from Apple, and it's perfect. the specs online said it would come with 512 MB of RAM and a 80 GB hard drive, but when it arrived i received a pleasant surpise with 1 GB of RAM and 100 GB hard drive.

i would have gone for a refurb mbp, but most of the apps i work with still aren't universal, so this is pretty much a stop gap for me until leopard, cs3 and ms office come out.

I had a similar situation. My Macbook was supposed to have a 60 gig, but arrived with an 80 gig.

[failsafe1]

I purchased an original G5 1.6 years ago and it has been flawless ever sense. I always recommend refurbed items without hesitation. I considered getting a Macbook Pro refurbed but decided to go with a new unit simply because of performance upgrades not quality issues.

[timnosenzo]

Apple refurbished computers are the best deal going. They are considerably cheaper than those on the used market and are fully waranted. It's a win-win.
Agree 100%. I bought a refurb eMac 2 years ago, got it for a steal, and it still works and looks great to this day!

[tjcampbell]

I used to be a big fan of the refurbished products until I got two DOA's in a row and I discovered that "apple care" and refurbished store "apple care" are NOT THE SAME!!!
If your computer arrives DOA you will have to:
Arrange a time for a courier to pick it up.
Wait for apple to recieve the computer.
Wait an additional 5-7 business days for your refund to be processed.
At this point the funds are returned to your credit card and you may make another purchase from them.
If you bought it from the regular part of the store and it arrived DOA they would send out another computer right away and when you recieve it, you send back the DOA one. No fussing around, waiting about ten days for you to get your money back and then waiting another ten to go through the entire ordering process again.
Apple really boned me on my MBP and I will NEVER buy refurb again. When I got my money back I went to the apple store and managed to get my hands on a "refreshed" MBP. This just means the box was opened. It's perfect and I still saved a decent chunk. Plus refreshed comes with real apple care, not the half-assed refurbished apple dont care. x Tom

[mocman]

Well I have had nothing but GREAT DEALS with the refurb products. A matter of fact I am selling the Powermac dual 1.8 this weekend that I purchased 3 yrs ago on refurb and will upgrade to the powermac 2.66 that I have been keeping a eye on. Hope that helps.........

[FFTT]

As long as you are looking at a late model refurb and especially a current model refurb, it's hard to go wrong.

If you are entitled to the education discount, you won't be saving that much
buying a refurb, but if you only qualify for full pop retail, then
refurbs are a great deal.

My daughter's iBook arrive in pristine condition, not a scratch and we
were fortunate to receive an upgraded HD free.

You end up with what ever the previous customer ordered, so sometimes
you do benefit from a well equipped BTO at no extra cost.

There's no guarantee that you'll get anything but a stock system,
but it's nice when you luck out with some extra refurb candy.

[tjcampbell]

Wow, you guys have had better luck than me!
But PLEASE do beware and remember that the one consistent problem with the refurb store is that they DO NOT give the same applecare as a new product.

Cheers, tom

[IJ Reilly]

Wow, you guys have had better luck than me!
But PLEASE do beware and remember that the one consistent problem with the refurb store is that they DO NOT give the same applecare as a new product.

Not sure where you get this. Refurbished and new Apple products are covered by the exact same warranty.

http://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/hardware.html

[cantthinkofone]

I used to be a big fan of the refurbished products until I got two DOA's in a row and I discovered that "apple care" and refurbished store "apple care" are NOT THE SAME!!!
If your computer arrives DOA you will have to:
Arrange a time for a courier to pick it up.
Wait for apple to recieve the computer.
Wait an additional 5-7 business days for your refund to be processed.
At this point the funds are returned to your credit card and you may make another purchase from them.
If you bought it from the regular part of the store and it arrived DOA they would send out another computer right away and when you recieve it, you send back the DOA one. No fussing around, waiting about ten days for you to get your money back and then waiting another ten to go through the entire ordering process again.
Apple really boned me on my MBP and I will NEVER buy refurb again. When I got my money back I went to the apple store and managed to get my hands on a "refreshed" MBP. This just means the box was opened. It's perfect and I still saved a decent chunk. Plus refreshed comes with real apple care, not the half-assed refurbished apple dont care. x Tom

i bought a 3rd gen ipod 15G from the refurb site two years ago. stopped working after 3 months. filled out a forum on apple.com at 5pm. got a box the next day around 10am. pre-addressed and pre-paid with DHL over night. had a new ipod two days later.

[rstorm]

To date I have purchased many computers and iPods. I have yet to have a problem with any of them. Even if I did they are still covered under the std warranty!

[Cybergypsy]

I also wanted to buy another refurb, bought a 24' IMAC came with extra ram, upgraded video, amd Hard drive,,,,,I do get a Ed. discount, but would by another refurb in a heart beat.

[Jay42]

I bought my PowerBook refurbished, another positive experience.

Some people say that the refurbs are better since a tech has already looked at it and its less likely to have problems.

[Jimmieboy]

Bought my 512mb iPod shuffle from the refurb store. Came with an arbband as well for only 69AUD! Great deal considering the new shuffle wasn't released then. Couldn't tell the difference between the refurb and a new one except for the packaging. Haven't had any problems with it. Enjoy your refurb!

[puckhead193]

i purchased a 2gen nano from the apple store... it was fine some scratchs but it was all good but the battery was weak. So i went to apple (just got back) and they gave me a brand new in new packaging nano.. :D

[jaw04005]

I purchased a refurbished AirPort Express, and my experience was mixed. It took two weeks for the express to ship, and another week for it to be delivered. The express came in damaged brown box. After opening, I noticed that the device had black pen markings all over it. However, the unit functions fine.

[failsafe1]

Forgot to mention after the original G5 refurb I picked up a 512 shuffle, airport express and airport extreme card all in great shape. If there were refurbed Macbook Pro 2.33 models I would be all over them.

[FFTT]

I've seen C2D MBP's listed but they go real fast.

You just have to watch the listings every day until you see the model
you're looking for then buy online or call 1-800-MyApple and grab it.

[carman63]

My 24" iMac is a refurb, and as others have mentioned I got a free 'extra' in the form of an upgraded video card :) It was already $200 under the education discount price, and aside from a plain brown box it looks/runs like new.

Had they had C2D MBs on the refurb site I would've bought mine there :)

[discoforce]

Another happy refurb purchaser here. I can also attest that the warranty worked just like buying new. The times I needed warranty service, the system worked just like buying new, and the fact that it was a refurb was never even brought up.

You can always get a lemon, refurb or new. Differences: The box and refurbs are cheaper.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend buying refurbished.

EDIT: Also this could happen to you... (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=257760)

[backsidetailsli]

refurbished is the bomb. its as new as a new product exept it isnt. if they didnt say it was refurbished they could sell it for full price cause noone would know the difference

[Stadsport]

I hate to hijack a topic but I thought it was an appropriate question.
I've been waiting on a refund check from my old laptop for a while, I just heard I'll be getting it by the end of the week. I was going to get a refurbed Black Core Duo MacBook, but on Sunday they were no longer on the online Apple store.
Does anyone know if they'll get any in? I ran by my local Apple store (its like 30 seconds away) and they said they don't sell refurbs in store, but refreshes and floor models. Though, I think the guy thought I was talking about C2Ds.

[aquajet]

Does anyone know if they'll get any in?

You have to keep your eye out; check everyday, sometimes a couple times a day. Be prepared to buy the second a machine you're interested in pops up. Otherwise, someone else will buy it.

[Stadsport]

You have to keep your eye out; check everyday, sometimes a couple times a day. Be prepared to buy the second a machine you're interested in pops up. Otherwise, someone else will buy it.
Damn, I hope none show up for a week then. If I add one to my cart and save the cart will it get sold out from under me, so to speak?

[buffalo]

I was looking at getting a refurb midrange MB, but I'm going to wait until after MWSF after reading the reports of a 12" MBP.

[laravia18]

I needed a confirmation and looks like I got one! The one I wanted is gone but I can't get one till the end of January anyways so I can wait till the right one comes along. I just wanted to know before I invest money and end up dissapointed. Thank you all very much and you can continue to reply if you have any experiences!!!:D

And it's ok to hi-jack my thread!

[liquidsgi]

Hi,
I have bought both an Ipod and an Ibook refurbished from Apple.com. The Ibook G4 was an awesome deal as I got an extra 256 MB ram for free. I have not had 1 min problem with the IBook. I have had it for almost 2 years now. In September, I bought a refurb 60 gig Video Ipod. It is also a great product. I have not had any trouble with this product either. I did buy the extended warranties with both products-- but I have not had to use it.
--Liquidsgi

[macg4]

I noticed that the device had black pen markings all over it. However, the unit functions fine.
as long as it works

[chameleon]

I also wanted to buy another refurb, bought a 24' IMAC came with extra ram, upgraded video, amd Hard drive,,,,,I do get a Ed. discount, but would by another refurb in a heart beat.
I'm curious -- why did you get the refurb when you get an EDU discount?

[neoelectronaut]

I really wish Apple would carry old Refurb iPods.

[Stadsport]

I'm curious -- why did you get the refurb when you get an EDU discount?

Educational discounts are only like $100 off, when refurbs can be as high as $500 off.

[spork183]

Have bought a couple computers (emac and imac ambient light) and a couple of ipods from the refurb store. Warranty is the same. I always get the applecare to extend the warranty to 3 years (Always buy the applecare w/educator discount). Never had a problem. Everything looked brand new and came with all parts, manuals, disks, etc.

I'd have no reservations whatsoever about buying the refurb.

[goodtimes5]

I would've thought my refurb MBP was new if I hadn't bought it refurbished. Good as new, $500 cheaper. Win-win.

[Stadsport]

Well, looks like they got some in today. I added one to my cart and saved it, hopefully I'll be able to order it by the time my check comes.