Apple Refurbs

[bnemesis]

Hello hello!
I am planning to not only buy my first prebuilt machine
this coming income tax season, but Im going to make the switch and go for an Apple.
I have narrowed the decision down to these three choices.
1) An Ibook, 14" (to get a faster cpu) fully loaded.
2) A refurb Rev B 12" PBook w/ superdrive
3) A refurb 15" PBook.

My wife is getting a mini dv cam, and I may want to do a little dvd burning so, the 12" pbook or an Ibook with and exernal Firewire drive would be able to be bought. However, if I get the 15" PBook, I would have to wait on the DVD burning.

Has anyone ever bought a refurb Powerbook before? And If so, has anyone bought the 15" (I really love that thing). Do the refurbs have the magic glowing keyboard option?

 

[Makosuke]

I've bought (for others) both a refurb 12" Powerbook and an older-gen iBook; both turned out mostly fine, although I just found out the PB has a slightly funky CDR drive, which should be covered under warranty. Others have had worse experiences, but I don't generally see the issue, particularly if you're going to get AppleCare, which is a good idea on a laptop anyway.

As for the glowing keyboard, I'd guess the description of the item would say something if it has that feature, but it's hard to say for sure. If the refurb is a previous-generation15" (you can tell by the processor speed) then it's not going to have that, of course.

Personally, I'd probably go for the 15", unless I' wanted the extra portability, in which case I'd get a 12" iBook (the 14" iBooks really seem like a waste unless you have really poor eyesight, since even with the slightly faster CPU their bigger screens don't have any more resolution).

 

[cubist]

iDVD will only work with the internal SuperDrive, so the 12" super might be the way to go. Do you have a monitor you can use when you're at home?

 

[bnemesis]

I have a monitor that I can use when at my desk. Is iDVD that big of a deal?
Are there any other decent basic DVD packages out there?

Can you purchase Applecare within the year warranty for refurbs, or do you have to include it with your order from apple?

 

[bubbamac]

Go for the 15" PowerBook. The square screen on the 12" just doesn't give you enough room to have multiple apps open side by side (look at one while working on the other).

I had a 12" iBook before my 15" PowerBook, and it's a completely different computing experience, just from the screen real estate standpoint.

The only reason you'd want to get a 12" is if you were concerned about durability, i.e., bending the screen while it's in a case/backpack. In that case, go for the iBook, which is notably tougher.