Refurb MBA w/3 year AppleCare for $1300... Yes/No?

[coupdetat]

My school is having a special sale on some refurbs... should I do it? I've been looking for a replacement for my Powerbook 12" for a long time now. The footprint of the MBA is still bigger than I'd like, but one major plus for the MBA is that the screen is so much nicer than the dim PB screen. I could use the PB as a "base station" for drive sharing, wireless internet sharing (since I live in a dorm and don't have a router), stuff like that.

I basically need an ultraportable that will run for a decent amount of time on battery. 4+ hours for light usage from the MBA is okay, but not stellar. I've also been considering the Vaio TZ (6-7 hours) and the older Vaio TX (9+ hours), and the Lenovo X200 (9+ hours)

The biggest selling points for me are the sexiness, and the OSX-ness. I have lots of apps that are OSX only and have no Windows counterparts, like Pages/Keynote and OmniOutliner.

[iwuzbord]

well, since you are on a mac based forum :D, and you seem to already want to go for the mba, i say do it. 3 yr apple care is 250 for a new mba. and this mba is already 500 bucks cheaper.
a computer is a computer, refurb or not. as long as it works!


YES is my answer.
or more like, why havent you done it already? (hehe:D)

[gooddeal]

$1300 for the Air w/ Applecare is a good price. You can use it a year or 2 and you can still sell it for around this price.

[dmw007]

Sounds like a good deal to me, go for the $1300 refurbished MacBook Air coupdetat. :)

[Bobjob186]

HECK YA YOU SHOULD DO IT, you could easily sell it for $1500 on craigslist as soon as you took it home.

[Cheffy Dave]

Sounds like a good deal to me, go for the $1300 refurbished MacBook Air coupdetat. :)

ah that'd be coup de etat :rolleyes: and I'd go for it too,

[glitch44]

ah that'd be coup de etat :rolleyes: and I'd go for it too,

if you want to kick it picky style, it's technically "coup d'état" :)

as long as it doesn't have core shutdown issues, it seems like a really good deal.

[kalex]

HECK YA YOU SHOULD DO IT, you could easily sell it for $1500 on craigslist as soon as you took it home.

Doubt it. they seem to be selling for around 1100 - 1250

[dudup]

No. I would wait a little and grab one of the upcoming new MBs by that price.

At least until Apple fixes the damn core shutdown/kernel_task issues.

[Max Your Macs]

Sounds like an awesome deal! I just looked around at prices as I'm about to list my 1.6 for sale online and wanted to see what the market is doing and they all look to be in the $1,200 - $1,400 range with no mention of 3 year Applecare.

[gooddeal]

Doubt it. they seem to be selling for around 1100 - 1250

...show me where you can get an Air w/ 3 years warranty for $1100 and don't try to show a rare occasion when people can get at that price.

[Bobjob186]

Doubt it. they seem to be selling for around 1100 - 1250

maybe on macrumors used ones go for 1100-1250 without applecare, to say you could get a new/refurb air with applecare from craigslist for 1100-1250 is absurd. I guarantee I could sell my macbook air for $1400 on craigslist today.

[mattniles007]

That sounds like a good deal to me I love my MBA

[mkrishnan]

if you want to kick it picky style, it's technically "coup d'état" :)

True, but coupdetat is the OP's screenname... :p

It seems like quite a good deal to me... FWIW.

[kalex]

maybe on macrumors used ones go for 1100-1250 without applecare, to say you could get a new/refurb air with applecare from craigslist for 1100-1250 is absurd. I guarantee I could sell my macbook air for $1400 on craigslist today.


I didn't say new/refurb. I got air on craigslist with super drive, box, all acessories, etc $1100 with no apple care but still under warranty. Add apple care for around $125-$150 and there you go

Not to pick any fights but i doubt you get $1400 for your air on craigslist. U can post it for $1400 but it doesn't mean it will sell at that price

[gooddeal]

I think it's more difficult to sell on craigslist than on ebay, IMO. People who try to buy stuffs on craigslist don't want to spend much money.

[kalex]

Thats very true. But ebay has its own downsides starting with draconian fees that you pay to Paypal/Ebay. Main issue is stolen accounts and credit cards. With craigslist its a little better as you don't loose 10% to fees/shipping and you deal with cash.

[mattniles007]

I didn't say new/refurb. I got air on craigslist with super drive, box, all acessories, etc $1100 with no apple care but still under warranty. Add apple care for around $125-$150 and there you go

Not to pick any fights but i doubt you get $1400 for your air on craigslist. U can post it for $1400 but it doesn't mean it will sell at that price

1100 with superdrive is a good deal no doubt. I dont see that kind of deal around where I live, then again it isnt a very large populous.

[kalex]

I'm in NYC so craigslist here is large and full of scams :)
sometimes u get good deals. the one I got was listed for $1400, I offered $1100 and person decided to accept it.

[SFStateStudent]

It's a great deal. Also, AppleCare for students is not $250, but $183 for the MBA. I just purchased it with my MBA in August '08...:cool:

[Bobjob186]

I didn't say new/refurb. I got air on craigslist with super drive, box, all acessories, etc $1100 with no apple care but still under warranty. Add apple care for around $125-$150 and there you go

Not to pick any fights but i doubt you get $1400 for your air on craigslist. U can post it for $1400 but it doesn't mean it will sell at that price

where can you get applecare for the macbook/macbook air for $125? retails for $250, education discount will put you at $183. What city do you live in, I need to start buying stuff on your craigslist.

And yes I can post it for $1400, or I can post it for $2800, but I said that I can sell it for $1400, not what I can post it for.

[gooddeal]

where can you get applecare for the macbook/macbook air for $125? retails for $250, education discount will put you at $183. What city do you live in, I need to start buying stuff on your craigslist.

This guy keeps posting price that is almost impossible to get. You can ignore him.

[kalex]

Ebay for one has them. At one point there was a flood of applecare being sold in compusa (which was going out of business) I picked mine up on craigslist for $105.

I just did a scan on ebay and there few of them sold below $150 mark.

Just search for it or ignore it :)

[kalex]

This guy keeps posting price that is almost impossible to get. You can ignore him.

I'm not posting impossible prices. I due my research and bidding and haggling and end up getting my prices. you always have an option of going to apple store and paying full retail if you are not up to searching and getting deals for your self. Everything is possible if you put your mind to it :)

[gooddeal]

Ebay for one has them. At one point there was a flood of applecare being sold in compusa (which was going out of business) I picked mine up on craigslist for $105.

I just did a scan on ebay and there few of them sold below $150 mark.

Just search for it or ignore it :)

Well, if I have a time machine, I would go and buy it at compusa.

150 mark? Most of them are at 150$ + shipping (may be 1 or 2 are below $150). $150 + shipping <> $105.

You cannot post a price that you can get on a rare occasion. Yeah, I got a 32" LCD TV from Microcenter 2 years ago during black friday for $370 but I wouldn't go around and tell people to try to get a 32" LCD TV for $370 b/c it's almost impossible to get it even today (This TV was priced around $600 two years ago).

[Bobjob186]

I'm not posting impossible prices. I due my research and bidding and haggling and end up getting my prices. you always have an option of going to apple store and paying full retail if you are not up to searching and getting deals for your self. Everything is possible if you put your mind to it :)

I sold my macbook air for $1550 last night...doesn't have applecare either. So much for I doubt you can sell your Macbook for $1400 huh?

[Heavenkittykat]

I'm not posting impossible prices. I due my research and bidding and haggling and end up getting my prices. you always have an option of going to apple store and paying full retail if you are not up to searching and getting deals for your self. Everything is possible if you put your mind to it :)

please find me an MB/MBA applecare for $125 like what you've stated:p

[coupdetat]

Okay... this topic is getting out of hand.

On a less obnoxious and childish note, I got my MBA today and I LOVE it :D I'm blown away at how awful my PB screen looks in comparison to the MBA, and also how great the backlit keyboard looks. Plus, I'm starting to see the point of the MBA. It's not meant to be an ultraportable for frequent flyer types, but for carrying back and forth from work/library and getting real work done.

Oh, and the black keyboard is starting to grow on me. It looks pretty awful at first.

[SFStateStudent]

Congrats on the MBA purchase. It's great at the airport and it's definitely ultraportable for someone that flies 15-20 times a year like me...:cool:

[coupdetat]

My eyes are FRYING from looking at the screen on full brightness!

Okay, more comments. They keyboard is annoying and will take some getting used to. The combination of flat keys and big spaces between each makes it hard to hit keys, especially when I'm working on engineering homework and not touch-typing.

I LOVE the tiny power adapter. I can't believe how big my PB G4 adapter looks in comparison.

The lack of connectivity is proving to be annoying, because I have a Firewire external drive. I'll have to buy a USB external drive at some point.

Oh, any my PB is proving to be an amazing MBA companion! I live in a dorm, so I have the PB set up to share internet and printer. Once I reformat my Firewire disk to be HFS, I'll be able to share that as well. So basically I can just connect my MBA to my PB through Airport and immediately have internet, printer, and an external drive. So the only cord I will need is the power cord. Ports? Who needs ports? Awesome :D

[avigalante]

Glad that you're content with your purchase.

In response to this - I recently purchased a brand-new, sealed MacBook Air (1.6GHz/80GB) with 3-yr AppleCare for $1350 (via Craigslist).

My first thought - 'there's no way this is possible; this is most-definitely obtained by illegal means'. However, quite the contrary -- the Air is not stolen and comes with a legitimate receipt from the Apple Store in SoHo -- as an upstart graphic design firm went under due to underlying economic turbulence.

Do you think I managed a steal? I'm certainly interested in people's comments.

[gooddeal]

Glad that you're content with your purchase.

In response to this - I recently purchased a brand-new, sealed MacBook Air (1.6GHz/80GB) with AppleCare for $1350 (via Craigslist).

My first thought - 'there's no way this is possible; this is most-definitely obtained by illegal means'. However, quite the contrary -- the Air is not stolen and comes with a legitimate receipt from the Apple Store in SoHo -- as an upstart graphic design firm went under due to underlying economic turbulence.

Do you think I managed a steal? I'm certainly interested in people's comments.

It's a really good price if you cannot get the education discount with free ipod touch. However, if they bought this a long time ago, you might not have that much warranty left.

[avigalante]

It's a really good price if you cannot get the education discount with free ipod touch. However, if they bought this a long time ago, you might not have that much warranty left.

Apologies in not specifying earlier, but I meant 3-yr AppleCare (as opposed to the standard 1-yr AppleCare).

EDIT: My original post has been edited to reflect this change

[gooddeal]

Apologies in not specifying earlier, but I meant 3-yr AppleCare (as opposed to the standard 1-yr AppleCare).

EDIT: My original post has been edited to reflect this change

It's a smoking deal w/ Applecare.;)

[dcMobile]

Yeah I saw that ad; thought they were asking more originally. Nothing beats NYC's craigslist--I bought a pristine barely-used machine for $1350; buying AppleCare today from a guy for $150, possibly a SuperDrive for $50 way up in Washington Heights...

So $1550 via NYC's craigslist buys $2150 worth of retail...

I plan to flip it on, say, October 13th...? Fresh install, a few added bonuses installed... with the AppleCare and accessories I should be able to pull in a $200 profit for my next MBA...

EDIT: but not before I get the thing replaced (since it's warped). So make that profit... hmm.. $350.

[jojo13]

man its a great deal imo

[StingerT125]

Sounds like a good dealt to me. I have just started looking into getting a new laptop and see all the rumors about a possible update in OCt. I think I will at least wait until then and then decide what I am going to get.

[alphaod]

@OP: Sounds like a terrific deal!

ah that'd be coup de etat :rolleyes: and I'd go for it too,

if you want to kick it picky style, it's technically "coup d'état" :)

as long as it doesn't have core shutdown issues, it seems like a really good deal.

True, but coupdetat is the OP's screenname... :p

It seems like quite a good deal to me... FWIW.

ROFL @ you 3.

EDIT:

Okay... this topic is getting out of hand.

On a less obnoxious and childish note, I got my MBA today and I LOVE it :D I'm blown away at how awful my PB screen looks in comparison to the MBA, and also how great the backlit keyboard looks. Plus, I'm starting to see the point of the MBA. It's not meant to be an ultraportable for frequent flyer types, but for carrying back and forth from work/library and getting real work done.

Oh, and the black keyboard is starting to grow on me. It looks pretty awful at first.

Oh I see my post is too late…

Congratulations on the new computer!

[SFStateStudent]

Do you think I managed a steal? I'm certainly interested in people's comments...

Definitely a great deal, since AppleCare via EDU discount is $183 plus tax. Plus tax on the MBA, SuperDrive, iPod Touch, at 8.75% is negated in your pricing...:eek:

[riz78612]

Anyone else thinking of buying Apple macbook Air or macs i reckon should wait at least till 0ct 14th (rumour says it there will be a new macbook).

Then all the prices of old macs will go down even further then what it is now.

$1300 maybe a good deal for a mac now. Wait till oct 14th. When most people try selling the mac airs for the new Macbooks. I reckon prices will be even cheaper then that. Even at the $1000 mark.

[gooddeal]

Anyone else thinking of buying Apple macbook Air or macs i reckon should wait at least till 0ct 14th (rumour says it there will be a new macbook).

Then all the prices of old macs will go down even further then what it is now.

$1300 maybe a good deal for a mac now. Wait till oct 14th. When most people try selling the mac airs for the new Macbooks. I reckon prices will be even cheaper then that. Even at the $1000 mark.

$1000? No, that's not going to happen. You even need luck to get the Air at $1300.

[riz78612]

Here is your proof of prices going down on a weekly basis for the MBA and will see a drasticlly price decrease after Oct 14th.

Yes Macbooks less then $1300 no luck..there are people getting them..

gooddeal
macrumors member


Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: PA Quote:
Originally Posted by mBurns
I'd purchase your Air on eBay. I'm seeing 1.6 Ghz Airs going for $1100 consistently and just saw an 1.8 Ghz go for $1500.

Well, I just search on ebay. Out of 35 completed listings:

1 sold for $1025 + 30 shipping but it only comes w/ AC adapter

1 sold for $755 + $ shipping but it has bad screen.

2 sold around $1200 + shipping

Most sold around $1300 and up

1.6 v. 1.8. I cannot tell you if the 1.8 is better than 1.6 but I have 1.6 and it's working fine for me. I don't think you need the 1.8 for the things you do.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=574767

[riz78612]

lucky to get Macbook for $1300

here is your proof..on Oct 14th....it is widly avaible even cheaper..if you use discount...

get while you can..

my prediction was RIGHT?

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=580957

[gooddeal]

lucky to get Macbook for $1300

here is your proof..on Oct 14th....it is widly avaible even cheaper..if you use discount...

get while you can..

my prediction was RIGHT?

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=580957

Well, you said you probably can get this for 1K. $13500 for a refurbished or used Air is an o.k deal. The deal from original post is better b/c it comes w/ Applecare.

[riz78612]

i did say prices will go down to about $1000 mark.

If the apple store are selling them for about $1350, surely people will soon be selling on ebay,amazon for less, more like the $1000 mark, and already few weeks ago people were selling at that price.

You also said you will be lucky to get a MBA for $1300 mark. But iv just showed you it is easy purchase for that price.

Anyway good news is...the price is going down, so its affordable.

Im thinking of getting one, definte the SSD version as its much faster, but dont know if i should get the old or new.

Old which be cheaper and save good chunk of money.
New MBA will have the graphics chip.

ummmmhhh

[gooddeal]

Im thinking of getting one, definte the SSD version as its much faster, but dont know if i should get the old or new.

I might be wrong but I believe I read somewhere that the SSD version is only a little faster than a HD version.

[riz78612]

SSD- solid state drive is actually 250 times faster then the HD version.

I know it seems too much, but belive it is, and its totally awesome.

Read reviews about it on youtube etc.

[coupdetat]

Well.. here's an interesting update.

I got a smoking hot deal on a floor demo Sony Vaio TZ and I'm really amazed by this thing. It's not as "useable" as the MBA... much smaller screen and slightly smaller keyboard. However, it's got a 6-7 hour battery and actually fits inside a small messenger bag. That's my biggest sticking point with the MBA--footprint is too large.

On the downside, the TZ gets hotter and feels flimsier than the rock-solid MBA.

Vista isn't as bad as I remember it, but I'm having some trouble adjusting. The biggest issues are with the strange way Vista does wireless networking--there are way too many windows to do such a simple task. It's MUCH nicer with OSX where all we have to do is click the icon in the menu bar.

The biggest draw for me to the TZ are battery life, and the ability to carry around campus everywhere. With the MBA, I have to choose whether to bring a laptop with me or not. With the TZ, I never have to do that.

Anyways, I may wind up selling my MBA for a low price. I'm not sure if this is appropriate to post here, but is anyone interested in a super cheap, super minty condition, Applecare'd MBA?