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2010 refurbished i7 2.93 vs 2011 refurbished i7 3.4

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penduboy

macrumors member
Original poster
May 9, 2011
65
0
Hi I am looking at following two refurbished iMacs

1. 2010 i7 2.93Ghz for $1569
2. 2011 i7 3.4Ghz for $1869

Do you think it is worth to spend another 300 to get 2011 model or should I save $300 and simply buy last year model. Choice is hard, please help.

I will be mainly using this machine for Photoshop, aperture, after effects and few other media applications.

Also, I heard that refurbished iMacs are as good as new?

Thanks, Pendu
 
mackage said:
Count on getting a yellow tinted screen if you buy a refurb.
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what is the guarantee that you will not get this on new one :) I have returned 2 new one with yellow screen issue and hard drive noise. I thought I will better try my luck with a refurbished.

Could someone confirm about yellow screen and issues with their 2011 refurbished imacs.
 
penduboy said:
what is the guarantee that you will not get this on new one :) I have returned 2 new one with yellow screen issue and hard drive noise. I thought I will better try my luck with a refurbished.

Could someone confirm about yellow screen and issues with their 2011 refurbished imacs.
Click to expand...

It's common sense. People are returning yellow tinted iMac daily which are turned right around and sold as refurbs. They are NOT being fixed. There is no fix. I have had two refurbs with horribly yellow tinted screens.
 
penduboy said:
Could someone confirm about yellow screen and issues with their 2011 refurbished imacs.
Click to expand...

will let you know as soon as i received mine. I hope i dont get one of those, if i do, i will drive straight to Cupertino and try to resolve it somehow.
 
mackage said:
It's common sense. People are returning yellow tinted iMac daily which are turned right around and sold as refurbs. They are NOT being fixed. There is no fix. I have had two refurbs with horribly yellow tinted screens.
Click to expand...

If I get yellow screen, I can simply call Apple to arrange pickup. I am taking my chances, we will see. But I can tell you one thing that the first 2010 refurbished I ordered was not yellow screen but had hard drive issues.
 
mackage said:
It's common sense. People are returning yellow tinted iMac daily which are turned right around and sold as refurbs. They are NOT being fixed. There is no fix. I have had two refurbs with horribly yellow tinted screens.
Click to expand...

Why are you giving someone false info? You know this as a fact? Their manufacturing process? Just because you got a few bad ones does not mean they are all bad.

Yeah they just get a returned one and package it back up and sell it again, okay.:rolleyes:

Refurbs are usually better than new because they get checked over and anything that is broken gets replaced.

New ones coming off the line get checked in 'batches'. They will check so many out of a batch of 100 or so for example.

I just got a refurb 2.93 and the screen is perfect, the refurb I just got a 2.93 has the SSD i7 27. My refurb is perfect in every way. No blemishes, dead pixels, stuck pixels nothing. The keys on the keyboard is crisp and the mouse is not loose as in some new ones. It is for all intents and purposes one of the most perfect imacs I have received and I own 16 of them.

Get the SSD 2.93 i7. It is faster overall then the 2011 3.4 because of the SSD. If not go with the 3.4 if you are not going to go with the SSD.

And I am not the only one. Do a search on that model refurb to see what I mean. Don't listen to nonsense as in this thread.

In contrast I also got a 27 2011 model with SSD and the screen is piss yellow.

And if the current 2011 yellow screen thread isn't enough proof for you I dont know what is.
 
iamthedudeman said:
Why are you giving someone false info? You know this as a fact? Their manufacturing process? Just because you got a few bad ones does not mean they are all bad.

Yeah they just get a returned one and package it back up and sell it again, okay.:rolleyes:

Refurbs are usually better than new because they get checked over and anything that is broken gets replaced.

New ones coming off the line get checked in 'batches'. They will check so many out of a batch of 100 or so for example.

I just got a refurb 2.93 and the screen is perfect, the refurb I just got a 2.93 has the SSD i7 27. My refurb is perfect in every way. No blemishes, dead pixels, stuck pixels nothing. The keys on the keyboard is crisp and the mouse is not loose as in some new ones. It is for all intents and purposes one of the most perfect imacs I have received and I own 16 of them.

Get the SSD 2.93 i7. It is faster overall then the 2011 3.4 because of the SSD. If not go with the 3.4 if you are not going to go with the SSD.

And I am not the only one. Do a search on that model refurb to see what I mean. Don't listen to nonsense as in this thread.

In contrast I also got a 27 2011 model with SSD and the screen is piss yellow.

And if the current 2011 yellow screen thread isn't enough proof for you I dont know what is.
Click to expand...

as a buyer of more then 65 refurbs and 30 new macs since 2006. the fff'd machines are less then 4% . I got 3 duds 2 were refurbs and 1 was new.

Most purchases were mac minis some mac book pros ,mac pros ,iMacs.

No need to fear new or refurb both have a good return policy. Forums will always be worse then the real numbers.

Why is that go out and drop 2k on a bad machine. What will many do they will look for net answers so forums attract people with problems.
 
coolspot18 said:
snip... but Sandy Bridge is 10 - 20% faster than the 2010 CPU.
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True, but I like being able to use the 27" as a monitor for any displayport capable system. They took that away with the 2011 model. I'd get the 2010 for that alone (of course I just want to use that beautiful Mac display with my Alienware displayport equipped M17x-R3).

Cheers,
 
I just got option #1 two weeks ago. The unit is perfect. The screen has a minor discoloration at the bottom 1/4 of the screen but not enough for me to return it.

I saw yesterday that May 2011 i7 refurbished are now on sale. I still think the July 2010 i7 is a better buy. Thunderbolt is nice but is too new and expensive and I can't justify it. I simply don't do anything to take advantage of it. FW800 is fast enough for me.
 
Thanks everyone for their input and special thanks to the people talking about their personal experiences buying refurbished iMacs. Now I can buy my refurb iMac with confidence. I am leaning towards 2011 3.4 coz of sandy bridge and thunderbolt. I know there is no immediate benefit of having thunderbolt now but down the road in year or two it will make more sense.

Also since ivy bridge is coming in 2012, 2010 model will feel very old at that time, I guess it is worth the extra 300 bucks.

Also, do we need to pay for Lion or we will get it free even with refurbished purchase. It will be a free upgrade to new purchases but what about refurbished?


Thanks again, Pendu
 
Last edited:
I recently ordered the '11 i7 3.4 refurb, and am waiting for it to show up. I also looked at the '10 2.93 and decided the extra $300 was worth it for the upgraded CPU, GPU, and Thunderbolt. In my opinion, the future potential of Thunderbolt could eliminate the biggest problem that everyone has with their aging iMac - upgradeability. Going forward, Thunderbolt peripherals could (should) include external SSD boot drives, external GPU's, etc.
 
penduboy said:
Also since ivy bridge is coming in 2012, 2010 model will feel very old at that time, I guess it is worth the extra 300 bucks.



Thanks again, Pendu
Click to expand...

Is my understanding that all i5, i7 are Sandy Bridge.
 
As other people mentioned

2010 - No SB
2011 - SB

Any idea if we are getting Lion free with refurbished iMacs or do we have to pay to upgrade? It is not clear on Apple website, which is saying "all qualifying macs" :confused:
 
with the 2011 iMac, you can potentially get a 7680x1440 desktop, most you can get with a 2010 iMac is 5120x1440. Imagine how sweet that will be, a 2011 iMac in the middle with TWO cinema displays attached to it, one on each side!
 
bniu said:
with the 2011 iMac, you can potentially get a 7680x1440 desktop, most you can get with a 2010 iMac is 5120x1440. Imagine how sweet that will be, a 2011 iMac in the middle with TWO cinema displays attached to it, one on each side!
Click to expand...

One on each side being awesome applies to other things as well.
 
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