Refurbished Mac Mini

[Ben P.]

I am thinking of buying a refurbished Mac Mini Server from Apple, does anyone have any experience with a refurbished Mac Mini.

Thanks

[GGJstudios]

Apple refurbished products are considered by most to be a very good deal.

• Apple Certified Refurbished Products are only available from the Apple Refurb Store and are not sold by any 3rd party or local Apple stores
• Educational discounts do not apply to refurb products.
• Refurb products come with the same warranty as new products, and qualify for AppleCare
• Refurb products have a changed serial number that identifies them as refurbished
• Refurb products come with whatever OS version and software they originally shipped with as new
• Refurb products come with the same items in the box as new products, only the box is a plain one, not the new box.
• A refurb product could have some cosmetic signs of prior use, but rarely do
• A refurb Mac may have some cycles on the battery, but not a significant enough amount to affect usable life
• The refurb store inventory changes frequently, sometimes several times a day, and doesn't have any direct relation to upcoming product releases. What's available in the refurb store is determined by what has been returned to Apple.
• If you're looking for a particular item, refurb.me can alert you when it becomes available.

[philipma1957]

yes i have had many refurbished products from the apple refurb store.. It is a good way to buy



link to refurb store

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac

[rw3]

Both philipma1957 and myself have probably purchased 200+ Refurbished Mac Mini's combined...

I've only ever had one go bad. The logic board failed and was replaced during a Genius Bar appt. In and out in 20 minutes.

[Aries326]

I got mine last week. Works fine. I love it! Next upgrade will be a SSD drive.

[BrianMayFan123]

I bought a refurbished base Mac Mini 2011 just after Christmas and don't regret it one bit.
Cosmetically brand new. Functions are spot on.
And I saved £100
The only difference I can see is that it came in a much plainer box!

[Ben P.]

Great, Thanks so much!

[tshrimp]

Not sure if this is a good deal, or if it is older then what you are looking for. But this deal is only good today and until they run out. $459.95 + $3.99 Shipping for MB463LL/A or MB139LL/A

http://www.midnightbox.com/

I hope it is ok to post this kind of thing on these forums. If not let me know and I will delete.

[dmk1974]

Originally Posted by Aries326

I got mine last week. Works fine. I love it! Next upgrade will be a SSD drive.

I got a Mac Mini last week and promptly installed an SSD drive as well. Man the machine is fast! Check out my other thread...I have a speed test comparison before and after the SSD upgrade.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1357046

[tshrimp]

Originally Posted by dmk1974

I got a Mac Mini last week and promptly installed an SSD drive as well. Man the machine is fast! Check out my other thread...I have a speed test comparison before and after the SSD upgrade.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1357046

Great improvement. Where did you get your SATA cable from? I found one, but for $40 which was too high IMO. The Mini begs for an SSD, so feel I must oblige.

Edit:

Did you replace your existing drive, or add an SSD and keep your 500GB for data, etc?

One more question. Anywhere the SATA cable can be purchased at a brick and mortar store?

[dmk1974]

Originally Posted by tshrimp

Great improvement. Where did you get your SATA cable from? I found one, but for $40 which was too high IMO. The Mini begs for an SSD, so feel I must oblige.

Edit:

Did you replace your existing drive, or add an SSD and keep your 500GB for data, etc?

One more question. Anywhere the SATA cable can be purchased at a brick and mortar store?

I actually did a replacement, not as a second internal drive. I would like to maybe do that down the road if I make this my main server computer in my house, but at the moment a Dell with a 1TB HDD hold all of our family music, videos, and photos and so on.

[Bluedog54]

Originally Posted by Ben P.

I am thinking of buying a refurbished Mac Mini Server from Apple, does anyone have any experience with a refurbished Mac Mini.

Thanks

Purchased a Mid-2011 refurb Mac Mini Server last week with 256 GB SSD and 750 GB HD from Apple. I upgraded the 4GB RAM to 8GB 1600 RAM. SO far very pleased. Am in the process of running Migration Assistant to drag photos and files from my MBP to the mini. The SSD is definitely the way to go... very fast in every way

[klover]

I just received a refurbished 2010 model last week (I wanted the DVD drive/320M) and it is flawless.

The case is pristine; no scratches, dents, scuffs, etc. Apple logo plastic is perfect. Ports on back are also in perfect shape (no insertion marks, scratches, etc.).

Opened it up and the inside is clean and minty.

Hard to imagine a new model could have looked any better.

[radiohed]

My mini server was a refurb and it was just like new but just came in a plain white box. I upgraded the ram to 8gb and have had no issues at all. Buying from Apple's refurb store is a great way to save some cash!

[Bunyak]

I see that some refurbished Minis in the Apple store are advertised as "discounted" while others are not. Are only the base models discounted? It seems that way right now.

Am I wasting my time if I wait for a BTO 2.7Ghz i7 Mini to be discounted?

[minik]

I bought a refurbished Mac mini server (mid-2010) before and it's great.

Quite a few Mac mini models, including the Refurbished Mac mini 2.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i7.

[philipma1957]

Originally Posted by Bunyak

I see that some refurbished Minis in the Apple store are advertised as "discounted" while others are not. Are only the base models discounted? It seems that way right now.

Am I wasting my time if I wait for a BTO 2.7Ghz i7 Mini to be discounted?

no in fact it is discounted but only a fool would buy it. compare the refurb to the new one see below.


1149 vs 1059 is a bad discount

instead buy this

http://www.macmall.com/p/Apple-Deskt...33~pdp.giecbig



then add your own ram



http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231342


40 bucks


keep the drive inside alone and read this thread


http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1317577



and this thread


http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1280118 I use these to boot with.

[Bunyak]

Originally Posted by philipma1957

no in fact it is discounted but only a fool would buy it. compare the refurb to the new one see below.


1149 vs 1059 is a bad discount

Thanks for confirming my suspicion! I just started to watch refurb prices recently. I'll think about the Macmall option.

Are you implying that the BTO dual-core i7 Mini will not be discounted by a larger amount? Have you ever seen a refurb dual-core i7 with 4GB RAM and a basic HDD?

[philipma1957]

Originally Posted by Bunyak

Thanks for confirming my suspicion! I just started to watch refurb prices recently. I'll think about the Macmall option.

Are you implying that the BTO dual-core i7 Mini will not be discounted by a larger amount? Have you ever seen a refurb dual-core i7 with 4GB RAM and a basic HDD?

yes but rarely. if you are in usa apple will make you pay tax in just about every state. macmall may not tax in your state




http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...mini_with.html



this is a decent seller. I have used them. they don't tax except for NY and free shipping.


also offer dirt cheap apple care plan. sent to NJ no sales tax free shipping price is 894 add my 8gb ram 930 .


add apple care 52 = 982 very hard to beat that price

[minik]

Originally Posted by philipma1957

yes but rarely. if you are in usa apple will make you pay tax in just about every state. macmall may not tax in your state




http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...mini_with.html



this is a decent seller. I have used them. they don't tax except for NY and free shipping.


also offer dirt cheap apple care plan. sent to NJ no sales tax free shipping price is 894 add my 8gb ram 930 .


add apple care 52 = 982 very hard to beat that price

www.bhphotovideo.com is pretty reliable overall. Thanks for the tips.

[lali]

Heads up!

refurbished mac mini inventory has been updated

François

[paulrbeers]

Originally Posted by lali

Heads up!

refurbished mac mini inventory has been updated

François

Refurb.me - let's you set an email notification. If we all use this no one has to post every 2 days that new inventory is in....

[lali]

Originally Posted by paulrbeers

Refurb.me - let's you set an email notification. If we all use this no one has to post every 2 days that new inventory is in....

Wow... I thought I was being helpful... but anyways thanks for this link
François

[n0cus]

Originally Posted by lali

Wow... I thought I was being helpful... but anyways thanks for this link
François

Don't doubt yourself lali, you are helpful. Paulrbeers is always like that.

[paulrbeers]

Originally Posted by lali

Wow... I thought I was being helpful... but anyways thanks for this link
François

Do a search and you will see that about every 2 days someone posts about having refurbs in the store. They come and go. I get that you are trying to be helpful, and I'm being helpful by saving you and everyone else the trouble of posting this stuff.

Besides, by the time you make this post, half the inventory is gone.... Especially for mini's.