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mep42

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 4, 2008
59
0
There are some pretty good deals on refurbs, has anyone bought them before? What was the experience like, pro's con's, what's the condition of the computer?

Thanks

mark
 
Refurbs are considered better than new because of the extra quality control.
The only con is they come in a white box instead of the normal box ;)
 
Buying refurb is the best thing you could do. It's cheaper and higher quality.

The only con is it comes in a boring box. Mine was brown.

You may want to be home when the delivery guy comes, because the box says "Apple Certified Reconditioned" really big on the side. Same thing for Dell, except is says Dell.
 
I've had a few Apple refurbs. One was my current MacBook Pro. Its just as good as a new one in every way. If you're worried about cosmetic damage, you really shouldn't. Both it and my old Mac Mini were flawless as is my sister's MacBook Pro which was a refurb.
 
I really don't think its worth it for me because a new one is only 100 more, and I am just going to sell the free ipod touch for a very conservative $150 at least.
 
I really don't think its worth it for me because a new one is only 100 more, and I am just going to sell the free ipod touch for a very conservative $150 at least.

Yea, especially if you're not getting the 17", the battery life is to die for.:)
 
I've had no problems with refurb's. No cosmetic issues whatsoever. I'd recommend them to anyone unless you can get new through a student or ADC discount.
 
I've bough 2 refurb'd iMacs . . .

There are some pretty good deals on refurbs, has anyone bought them before? What was the experience like, pro's con's, what's the condition of the computer?

Thanks

mark

. . . a 20" G5 and current 24" Intel 3.06GHz. The only thing missing is the
pretty box. ;^) I had a power supply failure on the G5 (it was a known
problem when new) at about 2 years old, and it was fixed under AppleCare,
as was the internal HD at about 2.5 years. The newer Intel iMac had a flaky
Airport card, which was replaced at about 3 months. Other than that, both
systems run all the time, with only a few hours sleep at night, and an
occasional shut down if I'm gone for more than 24 hours.

As some have noted in other threads, you may even get newer things or
more memory or a bigger disk. For example, with my new Intel iMac, I got
iLife '09 (even though it was a refurb'd 2008) and the full alu keyboard
(even though new ones get the smaller one, I think).

If I'm in the market for a system, I often wait until the 2nd upgrade - the
newer iMac I got for about $600 under its original list price.

I'd do it again . . .

Mugwumper
 
Yes, I usually buy them, and prefer them.

There are some other recent threads on this in apple hardware buying advice tips and discussion, here are a couple links

[thread]752673[/thread]

[thread]750349[/thread]
 
I am going to buy my first refurb here soon (not first mac though) and I'm looking forward to a good experience.

And with the free ipod promo, I think $150 for resale is an accurate guess, not a "low" one... considering the market is flooded with them right now, and even if you wait, it will get devalued by the new ones coming out. That's the one reason why I'm going with the refurb 13" MBP instead of buying new with the free ipod and student discount. After paying extra taxes on the purchases and going through the hassle of selling the touch just to make back a little bit isn't worth it to me.
 
Yes I have, but not through apple, after the release of vista and how badly it turned out , I was eager to switch to mac so I flicked through my telephone directory, knowing that my budget wouldn't stretch to the prices of the apple store. After a while I found a great little business in the near by area, so I called what I was looking for and he did just that. He was very approachable and knew everything I wanted. It was a great price, by the way it was a 1ghz g4 powerbook. As I see it that is the way to go if you are on a budget or prefer private sales. He is well known as he has bought, fettled if needed and resold for over 20 years and only works with mac. Here is his company name.

ABC Raw Paw, best to search on google but that is the way I would reccomend
 
I've bought four Macs refurbished, and I've found they ship that day, and arrive two days later. You need to be certain what model it is you want, though. During upgrade crossover times, there are a few versions to be had.
 
great to buy refurb, if I were not going to study my post-grad a receive a 17% discount then I would definitely be buying my 17" MBP as a refurb :)
 
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