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Tofray

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 7, 2011
107
1
Hi, I just made a Craigslist deal to buy a 2011 27" iMac (i7/3.4/16GB/6970) that also comes with an owner installed 160GB OCZ SSD for $1600. It's getting 450 read/write speeds, is in like-new condition, and has AppleCare warranty for 2 years. I have a few questions:

1) Is this a good price?
2) I want to reinstall the OS myself, but the optical drive was replaced by the SSD, so how will I do this? I don't know (yet) if it originally came with Lion or Mountain Lion. I don't mind buying a new Mountain Lion license, if needed, but will I be able to even get that far without the previous owner's AppleID?
3) Is there any reason to ask for the computer serial number in advance?
4) Is there anything wrong with a OCZ manufactured SSD? I seem to recall that there was an SSD manufacturer that consistently had problems.
5) Is there anything else I should know/do before buying this? The seller has been excellent with communication, has invited me to his residence to test the machine, and appears totally legit.

Thanks for any help!
 

leman

macrumors Core
Oct 14, 2008
19,153
18,920
Well, just a quick warning: if the current owner has replaced the stock drive, the warranty is most likely void.

Apple Warranty, section 'WHAT IS NOT COVERED BY THIS WARRANTY?' point (g)
 

monkeybagel

macrumors 65816
Jul 24, 2011
1,139
61
United States
Hi, I just made a Craigslist deal to buy a 2011 27" iMac (i7/3.4/16GB/6970) that also comes with an owner installed 160GB OCZ SSD for $1600. It's getting 450 read/write speeds, is in like-new condition, and has AppleCare warranty for 2 years. I have a few questions:

1) Is this a good price?
2) I want to reinstall the OS myself, but the optical drive was replaced by the SSD, so how will I do this? I don't know (yet) if it originally came with Lion or Mountain Lion. I don't mind buying a new Mountain Lion license, if needed, but will I be able to even get that far without the previous owner's AppleID?
3) Is there any reason to ask for the computer serial number in advance?
4) Is there anything wrong with a OCZ manufactured SSD? I seem to recall that there was an SSD manufacturer that consistently had problems.
5) Is there anything else I should know/do before buying this? The seller has been excellent with communication, has invited me to his residence to test the machine, and appears totally legit.

Thanks for any help!

I personally wouldn't touch it if it didn't have the SuperDrive built in. These machines are not easy to work on, and there is no telling what was done when it was apart.
 

tom vilsack

macrumors 68000
Nov 20, 2010
1,880
63
ladner cdn
1. NEVER go to someones home,always meet in public! He/she knows your bringing $1600...you would be a target that's way to easy to rob,or who knows inside some home you don't know...stay away!!!

2.Even in public that warrenty would be toast with optical drive replaced with ssd.

3.For that kinda money i would buy a 2012 new Imac.

4.Read #1 again!
 

Tofray

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 7, 2011
107
1
I appreciate the advice guys. I was definitely leery of going to his house, and planned to bring a couple buddies with me. Also, I am an NRA member :D If I did do the deal tho, maybe I should ask him to meet me at the Apple Store. If he was a scammer, he definitely wouldn't meet me there.

Outside of the safety issue, I am more worried about the hardware...I've read many posts of people replacing the optical drive with an SSD and watched the install video for it. I'm understanding that it may void the warranty, but I assumed this was a very normal upgrade and shouldn't cause too much alarm.

Maybe I'm better off being safe, and dropping the extra grand.:(
 

JoshMKB24

macrumors 6502a
Jan 5, 2013
520
44
Midwest
Why would you need to drop an extra grand? I looked at your original post and forgive me if I missed something, but if you dropped an extra 200 you could get yourself a new 27" iMac. I'd always prefer new over used myself, but thats just me. If its a 2011 its probably coming out of warranty anyways unless he got Apple care? I don't know exactly how the warranties transfer when being sold, but I wouldn't worry about that too much. Like I said, the extra 200 or so for a new one would be worth it to me, especially since you are spending so much to begin with. Good luck :)
 

Tofray

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 7, 2011
107
1
To get a comparable 2012 model, I would have to upgrade to a fusion drive and upgrade to i7....with tax, it's just over $2600. The SSD is a must, but it wouldn't make sense to drop that kind of money and not upgrade the vid card too, which would bring it up to $2900'ish.
 

Soul2Squeeze

macrumors newbie
Nov 20, 2012
5
0
Warranty is Void

I wouldn't touch it. The Apple Care is void and Apple will refuse warranty service or repair. I just bought an iMac about a month ago and had this issue. (2011 27" iMac with 3TB HDD).

If the warranty is not important to you, I'd still have someone look at it before buying. If possible, meet the seller at your local Genius Bar and have it looked at before dropping $1600.
 

lali

macrumors regular
Oct 14, 2007
165
28
Tofray
I always find that the most appealing (scams?) on these sites always show a maxed-out iMac. It is never a base model.

It has been my experience anyways. Tried to buy a maxed out 2011 iMac on three different occasions and they always wanted some kind of funky payment process (escrow). I never went ahead with it
 

Tofray

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 7, 2011
107
1
Thanks for all the advice guys...I asked him a few pointed questions to see if he was scamming me, and lo & behold, he isn't returning my emails or texts now. I guess it was too good to be true, and will just have to bite the bullet and buy a new iMac...oh well, sounds like it'll be worth it.

Thanks again!
 
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