buy a new or refurbished powerbook?

[lorenzo]

Ah help.

I have the option of buying a refurbished PowerBook G4 1.33GHz/ 256MB/ 60GB/ SuperDrive/ AP Extreme Card/ E/ 12-inch/ Aluminum - Apple Certified computer. I would upgrade with 512 for a gran total of 768 of Ram. My grand total for this will be $1449 without tax.

OR

i can forget the superdrive and a little less RAM and go with the current 12 inch Powerbook which is 1.5 ghz / 512MB/ 80GB/ ComboDrive/ AP Extreme Card/ E/ 12-inch/ Aluminum - Apple Certified computer. I would get this for a grand total of $1499 without tax.

Instinct tells me to go with the refurbished because it would in the end have more ram and a superdrive... but part of me isnt sure as to weather or not the 80gb and the 1.5 is better then the 1.3 and 60gb while sacrificing some RAM and a superdrive.

Please help! anyone.

 

[dorqiekat]

I have the 1.33 and standard ram, and I'm fine with it. It could use more ram, definitely but I'm not dying because of it. What I do regret about this pb is that it doesn't have superdrive. I couldn't afford the superdrive but wish that I have it every time. So, it depends on what you want and what you're going to do with the pb. If you're going to be doing some ram heavy stuff, then go with the refurbished and save some extra money and get giddy with the superdrive. If you want the extra 1.5 speed, 20 gig, and whatever upgrades there is, then get the new one.

 

[7254278]

Go refurb it's cheaper and just as good!

 

[wide]

I'd go for the faster model -- don't forget, you get bluetooth, a faster hd, trackpad scrolling, higher resell value (certainly more than the 50 dollar difference between the two computers you are contemplating), and the sudden motion sensor. you get a little less RAM but I think you'll be more pleased with the slightly more expensive 1.5 GHz PowerBook

 

[JzzTrump22]

I would go for the 1.5 Just because you gets extra standard features.

 

[erickg]

Personally, I'd go for secret option number 3. A refurbished powerbook without Superdrive and buy a third-party external DVD burner (which will burn dual-layer DVDs and have burning speeds up to 16x). The powerbook with memory, etc. should be about $200 less than the system you mentioned w/ superdrive and you should be able to get a decent external DVD burner for around $120 (i.e. http://www.newegg.com/app/viewprodu...0&CMP=OTC-Froogle&description=N82E16827187030). I personally have the one on the link and it works great with my iBook. I used a program called Patchburn to make the drive fully supported under OS X and it works perfectly with iLife 05 and iTunes.

Hope this helps!

 

[eleveneastgate]

Refurb

I purchased a refurb from Apple, and saved some money.

Check this link

 

[uncle]

I don't know about refurb Laptops but my experience with 2.5 G5's hasn't been great. if I'd known then ......

My advise would be to go for the new mac then at least you can opt for replacment rather than repair or refund!!

http://g5support.com/group/viewtopic.php?t=3654

I speak as I find so to be fair this experience may just be my bad luck I still say buyer beware.

 

[dorqiekat]

I'd go for the faster model -- don't forget, you get bluetooth, a faster hd, trackpad scrolling, higher resell value (certainly more than the 50 dollar difference between the two computers you are contemplating), and the sudden motion sensor. you get a little less RAM but I think you'll be more pleased with the slightly more expensive 1.5 GHz PowerBook

you get bluetooth with the refurb model as well.

 

[Jdm_rsx]

are you from usa?
i'd def find someone that goes to a college/university near by and have them buy you a new one

its about 1456 with the college discount

BRAND NEW powerbook 12" REV D

if ur from hawaii id be glad to help you out!

 

[lorenzo]

I would go for the 1.5 Just because you gets extra standard features.

what are these extra standard features you're talking about?

 

[lorenzo]

I'd go for the faster model -- don't forget, you get bluetooth, a faster hd, trackpad scrolling, higher resell value (certainly more than the 50 dollar difference between the two computers you are contemplating), and the sudden motion sensor. you get a little less RAM but I think you'll be more pleased with the slightly more expensive 1.5 GHz PowerBook

okay, but is the hard drive difference in speed that noticable? the previous powerbook does not have trackpad scrolling? the think is, im trying to figure out which one is tops... without resell value. because one has the superdrive, is it better then the combo drive model, even though its slightly slower, but would have more RAM.

ahh, i hate this whole process of finding the best deal. ha.

 

[mkrishnan]

what are these extra standard features you're talking about?

The latest upgrade added the scrolling trackpad (can get software to enable this on an older PBook or iBook), the hd drop protection, BT 2.0, maybe a couple other things. There's a thread about it somewhere here.

EDIT: Here is the thread.