hmmm Apple just took away my 8-month-old unibody macbook (swapped for a new 13" mbp). You could be buying a heavily used, 8-month-old 2Ghz MacBook if you go refurb.
You think it's still good as new?![]()
If I understand correctly, there is a potential issue in laptops not having
every pixel work in its display, and some number (<5?) is considered
"acceptable". So if you receive a refurb that has a few bad pixels, you may
need to deal with that. Not sure what the return policy is on refurbs . . .
I do like the concept of someone actually going through it by hand to make sure it is up to spec. Are the refurbs shipped from the US or do they go back to China for repair?
That is correct. I bought a BNIB HP Pavillion laptop that arrived with a stuck pixel. Called customer support and they told me anything 5 or less was "acceptable". I don't think so.Needless to say, it was sent back to the seller. I have never had a problem with Apple screens though.
I do like the concept of someone actually going through it by hand to make sure it is up to spec. Are the refurbs shipped from the US or do they go back to China for repair?
I just purchased a Mac Mini new because I couldn't get it with 4mb of ram. I didn't want to open the case and do it my self. It cost me about $150 more to buy new and get the 4mb of ram instead of the 2mb that are in the ones on the Refurbished side.
I agree refurbs are a great value...but in my experience the quality is not the same.
I buy all the computer for my family. In the last 5 years I have bought 10 new Macs and 6 refurbs. All of the new Macs were great. 4 of the 6 refurbs were also great. But 2 of the 6 refurbs were horrible. One was a white MacBook, it had many trips to the Apple Store and six times needed to be sent in to Apple hardware service before Apple finally replaced it.
The second was an iMac that needed hardware repairs twice the first week, after which I sent it back to Apple for a refund.
In every case Apple stood by the refurbs and finally replaced the losers, so I have no problem with Apple. But while the refurbs are a good deal and you may get a great one, you also may get one of the losers, they definitely are not the same quality as the new Macs.
I know it's a crapshoot and your mileage may vary, but a lot of times refurbs will come with more ram then they are sold as. If a customer ordered a machine with upgraded RAM and returned it, guess who benefits? You!
I lucked out this way with my mini. Was so happy that I took the chance.
But most of the time, you don't get a clunker.
I don't know why everybody doesn't buy refurb. ...