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Scottsdale

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Original poster
Sep 19, 2008
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283
U.S.A.
Just noticed for $1549 the new 2.13 GHz/SSD rev C MBA refurbished!

What an incredible deal over new with HDD... this should make everyone buy SSD and skip HDD forever...
 

jdechko

macrumors 601
Jul 1, 2004
4,230
325
That's an incredible price! It makes sense that it wouldn't be much more than the Rev B 1.86/128, as it's only a 300MHz speed bump. Makes the decisions harder for a lot of people wanting an air.
 

Scottsdale

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Sep 19, 2008
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That's an incredible price! It makes sense that it wouldn't be much more than the Rev B 1.86/128, as it's only a 300MHz speed bump. Makes the decisions harder for a lot of people wanting an air.

I think would be worth it for slightly larger/better battery, better GPU performance, the network/USB adapter, and CPU performance gains.

I think that all buyers who would consider the 1.86/HDD new rev C for $1499 should completely abandon that thought and go with the rev C with 2.13/SSD for $50 more refurbished!
 

jdechko

macrumors 601
Jul 1, 2004
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325
At $30, I think the inclusion of the network adapter is negligible, and of limited use to me. Regarding the clock speeds, if Apple doesn't issue a fix for the thermal management on the Rev C, and it performs slower than, or at the same speed as, the 1.86, there is even less of a difference.

That leaves battery life and graphics performance (and I've heard nothing regarding the latter), but one also has to consider the screens on the Revision C vs Rev B. If I had a better chance of a non-defective screen, I might be tempted to go with the refurbished Revision B over the Revision C. But then, I've weighted each of the factors here. Others might come to a different conclusion.

In any case, I'm not in a position to buy yet, but this throws another loop in there.
 

GeekGirl*

macrumors 65816
Feb 26, 2009
1,215
0
Buffalo, NY
At $30, I think the inclusion of the network adapter is negligible, and of limited use to me. Regarding the clock speeds, if Apple doesn't issue a fix for the thermal management on the Rev C, and it performs slower than, or at the same speed as, the 1.86, there is even less of a difference.

That leaves battery life and graphics performance (and I've heard nothing regarding the latter), but one also has to consider the screens on the Revision C vs Rev B. If I had a better chance of a non-defective screen, I might be tempted to go with the refurbished Revision B over the Revision C. But then, I've weighted each of the factors here. Others might come to a different conclusion.

In any case, I'm not in a position to buy yet, but this throws another loop in there.
Wait for D, however i think C will be the last.
 

tupelo3

macrumors member
Jul 17, 2009
33
0
Im sitting here with my refurb Rev B, $1449 that i ordered literally three days or so ago, lol.

Anyway, i love it so i cant be all that disappointed :).
 

bossxii

macrumors 68000
Nov 9, 2008
1,754
0
Kansas City
I think would be worth it for slightly larger/better battery, better GPU performance, the network/USB adapter, and CPU performance gains.

I think that all buyers who would consider the 1.86/HDD new rev C for $1499 should completely abandon that thought and go with the rev C with 2.13/SSD for $50 more refurbished!

I've talked about the MBA so much a lady at my work is hell bent on buying on. I told her the Rev B is a great machine but for $100 bucks difference seems like the C would make sense. How much better is the battery? any estimate on how much time your getting on the C? Also the GPU, it is the same 9400m did they just "un" restrict it a bit more?

Good catch, I was just looking at an email she sent me today asking a few questions and I was looking on the boards and seen this thread, nice catch on the refurbs! She will be happy to save the $250 with this and get the latest one.
 

bossxii

macrumors 68000
Nov 9, 2008
1,754
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Kansas City
I'm going to save the $100 for 270Mhz......

I agree at first, but then looking at the fact Apple claims the battery life is better and the 9400m has been unthrottled (if that's a word) a bit more in the C who knows. If the only diff is the CPU, then absolutely would recommend the Rev B
 

Scottsdale

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If one already has a B, there is no reason to upgrade. However, for $100 more, I still recommend the rev C.

I am getting much better battery life, at least an extra 30 minutes. I have even got five hours out of it with the display turned down. I do believe the differences are worth it... GPU at 6x original vs. 4x rev B. 1/2 hour increase in battery for C. 270 MHz in CPU performance (forget BS that it's not as powerful as that's all it is). Throw in a network adapter/USB, and it's definitely worth $100 over the rev B.

It's absolutely positively the route to go over the rev C HDD version new!!!

Good luck everyone.
 

GeekGirl*

macrumors 65816
Feb 26, 2009
1,215
0
Buffalo, NY
If one already has a B, there is no reason to upgrade. However, for $100 more, I still recommend the rev C.

I am getting much better battery life, at least an extra 30 minutes. I have even got five hours out of it with the display turned down. I do believe the differences are worth it... GPU at 6x original vs. 4x rev B. 1/2 hour increase in battery for C. 270 MHz in CPU performance (forget BS that it's not as powerful as that's all it is). Throw in a network adapter/USB, and it's definitely worth $100 over the rev B.

It's absolutely positively the route to go over the rev C HDD version new!!!

Good luck everyone.
I will keep my A IF and when a real update comes out.
 

Veinticinco

macrumors 65816
Feb 25, 2009
1,469
1,428
Europe
Before everyone gets their panties wet at this news and the even lower cost of an SSD/MBA, is anyone actually asking WHY?

Personally I think it's extremely early to be selling out refurbs after what, 6 weeks of the rev.C being released. As before pre-WWDC when may of us were speculating about refurbs and inventory, it's either one of two things...

EITHER an increasing mountain of returns (probably due to either crappy display issues or buyer's remorse re. the MBP 13") which may who knows eventually lead to mothballing the product line effectively immediately;

OR there's a much-needed rev.D to be released after the summer break (i.e. September) with 4GB RAM onboard, 256GB SSD, improved (nearer 7-hr) battery tech, maybe the SD card slot, but definitely a fix to the display issues that have been plaguing the MBA for 10 months;

Either way, it's not good news if you're a current MBA owner. Since I rejected the B for display issues, and wasn't wowed or reassured about the C, I'm really hoping it's the latter.

Interesting though that the rev.C refurbs are only as yet in the US not in Europe. In contrast, the rev.B refurbs showed up here about 6 weeks earlier than the US - note that was still well over 3 months post-release double the rev.C refurb timeline. Not sure of the relevance of that but still. After all, we still don't have the 24" ACD in the refurb store yet.
 

jdechko

macrumors 601
Jul 1, 2004
4,230
325
Veinticinco, 4-6 weeks is pretty typical for a new machine to show up in the refurbished section. Apple needs to build up sufficient inventory in order to post it. It's also why a machine could be on there for a few weeks, suddenly drop off, and not return for a few more weeks. I'm sure some of them had/have defects that may (or may not) have been corrected. Just think about all of the people like Scottsdale who went through 3 or 4 Air's until they finally got one with which they were satisfied.

Also, if you look at other current-gen and 1-gen-out machines, the discount seems to be anywhere between 14-18% off the original prices. Trying to draw conclusions about the sales based on refurbished machines is not practical. I'm even pretty sure I saw refurbished 13" MBP's a few weeks ago.
 

Scottsdale

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Sep 19, 2008
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Veinticinco, 4-6 weeks is pretty typical for a new machine to show up in the refurbished section. Apple needs to build up sufficient inventory in order to post it. It's also why a machine could be on there for a few weeks, suddenly drop off, and not return for a few more weeks. I'm sure some of them had/have defects that may (or may not) have been corrected. Just think about all of the people like Scottsdale who went through 3 or 4 Air's until they finally got one with which they were satisfied.

Also, if you look at other current-gen and 1-gen-out machines, the discount seems to be anywhere between 14-18% off the original prices. Trying to draw conclusions about the sales based on refurbished machines is not practical. I'm even pretty sure I saw refurbished 13" MBP's a few weeks ago.

I gladly welcome a new MBA even after just paying a full price $1799 for a brand new rev C.

Also, I did return several, one of which was DOA - not a bad display.

Oddly enough, my experiments have left my MBA without lines??? I don't know why, and I couldn't duplicate it. Mine were very weird, and they are, as far as I can tell, completely gone!

I do not think the new MBAs were in really fast, but rather very normal time. The rev Bs took forever. I don't believe Apple is fixing the displays. It all comes down to if you know they are there and if they bother you. For the untrained eye, or someone who doesn't get real close to the display, or a minor afflicted display, the MBA's display is really very nice. It's only probably ten percent of buyers who even know the lines exist. It really looks like we are all being picky, unless it's a badly affected unit.

The 24" LED ACD has been refurbished for a LONNNGGGGG time. It just went down in price by another $100 a month or so ago though. Just have to select displays in the refurbished section to find them. Also, the 30" ACD dropped to $1299!!! Although, I don't care how much smaller it is, the 24" LED backlit ACD is the perfect companion for the MBA!

Finally, I think that maybe we will see another rev C MBA that will be the "high-end" version. The current high-end will become the low end. The new high-end will come with the same CPU, better GPU, 256 GB SSD, and 4 GB RAM. Unfortunately though, it will probably come close to the $2200 $2500 price range! Or, it could be a true rev D, and we may see other additions... 3G, glass trackpad, black aluminum, OLED display, and etc etc etc!!! And yes, I really believe EITHER could happen this Summer/Fall! I believe we do see "another" MBA BEFORE ARRANDALE!
 

Veinticinco

macrumors 65816
Feb 25, 2009
1,469
1,428
Europe
I gladly welcome a new MBA even after just paying a full price $1799 for a brand new rev C.

Also, I did return several, one of which was DOA - not a bad display.

Oddly enough, my experiments have left my MBA without lines??? I don't know why, and I couldn't duplicate it. Mine were very weird, and they are, as far as I can tell, completely gone!

I do not think the new MBAs were in really fast, but rather very normal time. The rev Bs took forever. I don't believe Apple is fixing the displays. It all comes down to if you know they are there and if they bother you. For the untrained eye, or someone who doesn't get real close to the display, or a minor afflicted display, the MBA's display is really very nice. It's only probably ten percent of buyers who even know the lines exist. It really looks like we are all being picky, unless it's a badly affected unit.

The 24" LED ACD has been refurbished for a LONNNGGGGG time. It just went down in price by another $100 a month or so ago though. Just have to select displays in the refurbished section to find them. Also, the 30" ACD dropped to $1299!!! Although, I don't care how much smaller it is, the 24" LED backlit ACD is the perfect companion for the MBA!

Finally, I think that maybe we will see another rev C MBA that will be the "high-end" version. The current high-end will become the low end. The new high-end will come with the same CPU, better GPU, 256 GB SSD, and 4 GB RAM. Unfortunately though, it will probably come close to the $2200 $2500 price range! Or, it could be a true rev D, and we may see other additions... 3G, glass trackpad, black aluminum, OLED display, and etc etc etc!!! And yes, I really believe EITHER could happen this Summer/Fall! I believe we do see "another" MBA BEFORE ARRANDALE!
Yep they're not going to fix the refurbs displays, instead just palming them off onto hopefully less picky buyers. Another reason I'm not even tempted to pick one up despite the price.

I was just surprised how long the rev.Bs took over there in the US since here in Europe we had B refurbs in February - still a good 3 months post-launch though which is why I suggested 4-6 weeks was unnaturally fast. But I'm not au fait with refurbs to be able to comment further.

Lucky you on the 24" ACDs - there's been no sightings in any European refurb stores to my knowledge. About €500 right, crap I'd snap one up at that price.

And yes, I also agree and hope that there'll be a Sept/Oct update on the MBA - nothing fancy like OLED, but I'll be happy with 'just' a perfect display, 4GB RAM, 256GB SSD, and better battery tech. I'm also warming to the idea of an MBP-like SD card slot even though I know it requires a bit of room internally, not ideal on the already clam-tight MBA. But still, call it a hunch.
 

jdechko

macrumors 601
Jul 1, 2004
4,230
325
It really looks like we are all being picky

That's one downside of spending so much time here on MacRumors. We are all made very aware of any minor flaw so much that we are paranoid. I'm not discounting those who have genuine problems, but I'm probably guilty of worrying about any little defect that might not even effect me. The MBP had the Moo, and the audio hum, and the bottom 1/3 yellowing, and the 8600M meltdown. The iPhone 3G had the cracks and the yellow/blue screens, and the Air has the lines issue. I'm sure that's not all of the major issues since July 2004 (when I joined MR). With the exception of the 8600M, none of the issues that I know of are officially acknowledged by Apple, which means that we're all probably overly protective of our computers. My only experience with them is the pictures and stories here on MR, but it's had me paranoid.

Then I realized that I probably wouldn't have these problems or if I did, I wouldn't notice them. I even spent time looking for the lines at the Apple store. I didn't see them. Maybe my poor eyesight is a blessing in this case. :D
 

macdaddy01

macrumors member
Jul 1, 2007
38
1
Cali
The latest 13" 2.26GHz Mac Book Pros are available in the refurbished store for $999 now :eek:. Linky. I didn't know that these had problems like the Macbook Air. :rolleyes:
 

aaquib

macrumors 65816
Sep 11, 2007
1,496
1
Toronto, Canada
The latest 13" 2.26GHz Mac Book Pros are available in the refurbished store for $999 now :eek:. Linky. I didn't know that these had problems like the Macbook Air. :rolleyes:

Refurbs come up for every Mac. I really can't see why one wouldn't purchase a refurb. Whether its the $999 MBP, $1549 MBA, or any other Mac, they are a remarkable value.
 
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