2nd hand iMac, probably hardware UUID issue, buy or not?

[Serafijn]

Hi guys,

Have been following MacRumors for a while now and decided to get a refurbished / 2nd hand iMac. I do need some advice since I am not sure about the specs and it is a 2nd hand device.

I'm in the Netherlands and so far no signs of refurb iMac's 27" in the online Apple store. (Haven't checked the actual store yet, though.)

I did come across a 2nd hand iMac, which seems alright, except for one thing, the hardware UUID.

The specs are as follows:

Processor 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5
Memory 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Graphics AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512 MB
Serial Number ......
Software Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 (11G63).

Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac12,2
Processor Name: Intel Core i5
Processor Speed: 2.7 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Boot ROM Version: IM121.0047.B1E
SMC Version (system): 1.72f5
Serial Number (system): .......
Hardware UUID: E68C80EB-7FF5-5190-A163-899D9B88DD9B

I'm especially concerned about the hard disk (hardware UUID???) since it isn't mentioned what hdd it has. I have read that there are some problems with HDD drives recently. Can anyone tell me what this is about and if this applies to this iMac?

Also, the guy is asking EU 1.200,-- for iMac (incl. keyboard, mouse, documentation etc) is this reasonable for an iMac purchased in April 2012?

Note: I blanked out the serial numbers, if it's necessary I'll post them.

Thanks in advance!

 

[peskaa]

That is not the HD. To find out what make/model/serial number is of the HD you need to go to the Serial ATA panel of System Information and it will be in there.

UDID is simply a unique identifier for the machine.

 

[Yamcha]

Certain Seagate drives sold from October 2009 and July 2011 have known to have a firmware bug causing them to fail. And because of that Apple is offering free hard drive replacement till April 12, 2013..

But to know If your eligible you will have to ask for the iMacs serial number, when you get the serial you can check If the Mac is eligible for free replacement from the link below:

iMac 1TB Seagate Hard Drive Replacement Program Link

 

[Serafijn]

Thanks so far!

I checked the serial number and this iMac is not eligable for replacing the HDD.

Since I do not own the machine yet, I'll probably go by and check in person to see what is up with the hard drive.

Is it possible to take out the HDD? Don't want to end up with an EU 1.200 iMac without hard drive...

 

[peskaa]

Thanks so far!

I checked the serial number and this iMac is not eligable for replacing the HDD.

Since I do not own the machine yet, I'll probably go by and check in person to see what is up with the hard drive.

Is it possible to take out the HDD? Don't want to end up with an EU 1.200 iMac without hard drive...

Yes, removing the HD is possible. iFixit.com have guides.