More specs all the way. What's the downside to refurb (same warranty, better specs, less money)? Or go with a third party like Amazon or MacMall...
Hi,
Yea I agree, with the refurbished from the new I'll get more hdd space and better monitor. Then buy the 4gb memory at crucial.
The first iMac i got from the store took about 10 mins to boot for the first time, and shortly developed a loud electric buzzing sound from behind the screen... Needless to say, i took it back the next day.
Some nucklehead technician will have 'repaired' it and someone thought they were getting a bargain. For goodness sake, that computer is a nightmare. Faulty as hell. Wouldn't go NEAR it if you paid me.!\!!
Sorry for that, what apple computer did you buy from the store? imac?
Personally I would avoid Apples mouse altogether. Since you want Wireless I would propose getting this
MS Bluetooth mouse, if you want one with less features and a sleeker look then this
Logitech V470 should work great.
I just do not like the design of Apple's mouse. Physically I find them uncomfortable and I do not like the touch sensitivity requiring the lifting of the left finger to right click.
Personally though I would recommend a wired keyboard and mouse. Much more responsive, reliable and cheaper in my opinion.
I have friends who've used the mouse and they seem to like it, I don't think I would have any problem with the feel of it. If I buy the refurbished I'll have both wireless and wired keyboard and mouse, because I was planning on buying a wireless keyboard and mouse with the refurbished.
For what it's worth: I bought a refurb 24" iMac earlier this year and it's been flawless, both in appearance (no sign that it had ever been touched by other human hands) and in performance. Couldn't be happier. I think you'll hear the same from lots of other folks here. It's because of research in the forums here that I had the confidence to go refurb in the first place.
Thanks for the feedback. That helps me aswell.
I would go refurb. More bang for the buck and you're covered by the same AppleCare warranty.
Thanks for that, I am probably by the end of this day will buy the refurbished.
Aside from the plain brown box the refurbs come in they are generally indistinguishable from new machines and are an excellent deal. At any rate they have the exact same one year limited warranty as new machines with the option to add an additional 2 years under Applecare so there is no risk anyway.
Another vote for the refurb.
Thank you, I'm glad you can get the apple care or I would be lost ):
I bought a refurb Mac Mini- good as new, though the power brick had some light scratches on it and none of the usual sticky plastic protection on it. I more recently bought a refurb iMac and you just couldn't tell it apart from a brand new one.
I'm after a MacPro soon and if I can find a better deal on a higher spec by buying refurb, thats the way I will go. (I don't really think I need an 8core beast if I'm currently managing to use Logic Studio on my 2.2 Core Duo MBP!)
HTH
Good luck, I hope you get the specs you want. Thanks for your feedback!
Refurb sucks, it defeats the purpose. Right now the penryn imac 2.4 is 1049 compared to brand new with education discount is 1149, wireless mouse and keyboard are 20 and 30 when you buy new, they are 70 and 80 when you buy a refurb, so it's a 100 difference which makes up for the 100 difference in price of the imac, so they're the same price, go for new. The same is true for the 2.66 imac.
Also the one you referenced to is last generation imac 2.4 for 1099 which would be more expensive then the penryn one, just because the video card is 256 instead of 128, if you use intense games or graphic design that matters, but otherwise it doesn't.
I would go with new just because it's the same price as a refurb, depending on if you get educational discount if not i would look into refurb and maybe not get wireless keyboard and mouse, then they are a good deal, especially the 24" ones.
Well, I'm actually saving money although the refurbished imac will cost about $47 more then the new, I'm getting more hdd and better monitor. So if I get the refurbished imac $1,247 altogether after I buy the 4gb memory and wireless mouse and keyboard. I know your logic on the monitor if I don't do games things like that, but I'll be playing games rarely and be doing alot of video editing. But I'd rather have a better monitor for this kind of money.
Thanks for your feedback I'm very thankful everyone is replying.
If you are $100 shy of enough money for a new one a refurb makes complete sense. I've bought refurb from Apple and it was perfect. No issues at all and used it for years.
I just spent over $2k on a new iMac, but seriously considered a refurb to save money. In the end the idea of finally owning the mythical 3Ghz iMac won over and I had the money.
I agree, I'm glad it worked out for you. Well see the imac that I was going to buy is the cheapest one you can get, then I was going to just upgrade the memory to 4gb on crucial and get wireless mouse and keyboard. I can also get the educational discount so I got about $50 discount on that one. So the price came out to be $1,199.00 for the new imac with like 250 gb and less power in the monitor. So then I looked at the refurbished and I saw I could get (for less money) get 1,400 worth of specs for 1,099 so then I just added the money that I'll be spending on the side of the wireless mouse & keyboard and it came out to be 1,247.00 so for $47 more I'm getting better monitor and wireless keyboard and 4gb memory.
Refurbs don't "suck". Some of the deals aren't deals because they base the discounted price off the original MSRP of the item. You just need to have some sense and do your research before you hit the buy button!
Thanks for that feedback, if some of it was pointed to me.
I have bought several items from Apple refurb. 2 of them were faulty and had to go back the rest worked well for ages.
I'm sorry for that, what was wrong with the 2 parts?
There is nothing wrong with buying refurbished machines from Apple. Apple does have at least one store in Alabama, so they'll have to charge state taxes (appears to be 4%), so you'd have to take that into account (and any shipping charges). The third parties (Amazon, MacMall, ...) won't charge you sales tax, and some offer free shipping, so take that into consideration. The configurations do vary slightly -- the Amazon one comes with 250GB HDD, for instance.
Another source of RAM is OtherWorldComputing/MacSales.
Oh ok thank you. I haven't thought about shipping, and taxes yet. I'll look into the other providers as well thank you.
Apple store online sales tax charges are not based on location of their stores. It's Apple's policy on internet sales to charge state sales tax.
http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/salespolicies.html#topic-12
It's optional for businesses that do not have a B&M location in the state. I think Apple knows that sooner or later it's going to be required and could create legal issues for uncollected taxes if a state brings suit.
http://www.nolo.com/article.cfm/obj...9-FECA-4AF7-A0E454029D2AEA58/111/277/167/ART/
Every time I make a purchase from Apple online I get hit for sales tax. Apple has no stores in my state South Carolina. The closest Apple store to me is Charlotte, NC. The good news is they are planning on opening an Apple store here next year.
That's good new that they are opening a store, I hope the taxes won't eat me up.
