2011 15 inch MacBook pro ????

Yes it is the most recent model prior to the June 2012 refresh. It's starting price was the same as the current base line 15" Macbook Pro.

 

Although dated, still a killer machine too.

 

Great computer, i have never regretted getting it.

I would say to go for it since you cant beat that price!

 

I would jump on that in a heart beat. I have an early 2011 2.0 ghz model and love it. Especially after the SSD and ram upgrade

 

Too add to the others, I bought a 2012 MBA 13" back in June. I have been running out of space lately on my 256GB SSD, so I sold it yesterday and ordered the late 2011 15" model from the refurb store. Pretty much the same model you're looking at, except I elected to go with the HR AG screen.

Apple sells a quality product in their refurb store. I have a Mac Mini and a ATV2 from there that work flawlessly.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook_Pro#Technical_specifications_2

 

No....it was this one.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0NL2LL/A

 

You really need to learn to read rather than skim.

store.apple.com/us/product/FD318LL/A

Do you recall Apple ever having sold a 15" of the current generation new for $1600? It started at $1800 when it went on sale in October. The prior model with the closest specs (marginally faster cpu with the same base clock, slightly slower gpu) was $2200 when it was released in February 2011. If you wanted that performance one year ago it was $2200. Today it's $1359 in the refurbished section. While they like to make things feel dated, the mac mini and imac machines that are currently on sale today pull from the same 2011 hardware generation as they have yet to be updated. This shouldn't really surprise anyone.

 

I have an early 2011 MBP 2.2 ghz i7. I am thinking about SSD upgrade. Would you recommend it? and how much did you pay for it?

 

It's a great machine!! I bought it 3-4 weeks ago and am loving it. I had the 2012 cMBP as well - and I don't notice much difference in processing power but gaming wise, I had to tune down a few options. If you are willing to spend $300 more then you will get a new processor and a video card along with a faster usb port.

 

Yes, do it. 14 second boot up is amazing. Cost me 350 for 512GB crucial M4. Took me 20 minutes to install myself.

 

Check out Microcenter

Somebody already posted on this, but I just picked up a late-2011 MBP
MD385LL/A for $1599+ tax.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0395764

Specs:
2.5ghz
4gb RAM
750GB 7200RPM
HI-RES ANTIGLARE
6770 1gb radeon/3000 Intel

 

Yes definately! That is the single best upgrade one can do for their computer.

 

I just bought a late 2011 15" refurb for $1359 because school is starting and I didn't have enough for a new 15" and I didn't want a 13". I'm replacing my 2010 MacBook Air because it was struggling with CS6 and iPhoto. I was thinking about selling my 27" cinema display so I would have enough for the retinabook pro but I know I would miss all that screen space. This computer should be great for the next year while I save up for the second generation retinabook, that screen is amazing!

 

Oh wow. I ordered the 2.2 500GB 5400 HR AG with 512 VRAM for $1439 from Apple refurb on Friday. For $160 more I can get the beefier/faster HDD, bump on the processor, and video ram.

Thanks for the heads up. Heading to the closest Microcenter to me, which is about an hour away to pick one up.

 

That is an incredible deal. I would pick one up in a heartbeat if I didn't need to save every penny for my upcoming undergraduate studies.

My early 2011 15" 2.0 is still doing well. Only problems are that my Corsair 16 GB RAM upgrade might be unstable, and that 256 MB 6490M is pretty much good for nothing when it comes to gaming, especially on Windows (which I won't be doing often, granted).