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TimothyB

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 20, 2008
795
91
Bay Area
So, I'm considering this local deal:

Apple® - Open Box - MacBook Pro® with Retina Display - 15.4" Display - 16GB Memory - 512GB Flash Storage

  • Condition: Excellent (Like new, no scratches or dents)
  • Price: $2,069

How's that price? Apple has the same config refurbished for about $100 more. I suppose I can haggle with Best Buy for maybe 10% more, considering this model is now going on clearance to make way for new ones.

If they don't budge, is it still a hot deal at this price?

I can't really avoid taxes from any other retailer, being in California. For Best Buy, I plan to trade in my old Galaxy Note 1 for a $100 gift-card to put towards this. Plus, using the rewards card for points, $2k should net me a $40 certificate later. I may also opt to use their 18month no-interest, since I already have their card and can make large payments to pay off early.

I plan to use this as my main computer When not on the go, it will be connected to a 30" Dell. Software: Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop/Illustrator), Modo (3D modeling and Rendering) and ZBrush (3D Sculpting)

It will replace a 2009 Dell Mini-Tower with an i7-920. That CPU still holds strong today, and the system has seen a few upgrades, ram, SSD, Radeon HD 7770. So it performs great and could last 2 more years. I'm doing more freelance work, so being chained to my desk is not desirable, so having the same machine go portable will be very convenient.

The new rMBP won't be leaps and bounds faster over the i7 920, but should have decent performance boost and last 3 years, plus with the added experience of using OS X over Windows 7.
 

TimothyB

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 20, 2008
795
91
Bay Area
http://www.macmall.com/p/Apple-MacB...&hq_e=el&hq_m=2322859&hq_l=12&hq_v=cc9041ad7d

But this version is quad core i7 8 GB of RAM and only 256 GB of RAM. I would watch the AppleInsider price guide http://appleinsider.com/mac_price_guide/#. This price seems high too me especially for a open box product.

I didn't think it was too high if it was just a simple return it perfect condition. I mean, Apple is charging $100 more for a refurbished version of the same model, $2169. Plus, it's really important to have 16gb of memory for the graphics software I use.

I'm typing on the Macbook Pro right now. Picked it up a few hours ago, but not with a few surprises.

Their system kept pulling it up more expensive until they finally found it in the back. Then I noticed, it wasn't excellent condition as advertised. Found some minor marks on the lid. The bottom has severe scratches in a small square area in the center, like it was attached to something the size of the trackpad. Some grime around the ports. The screen and inside are pristine condition at least.

I constantly question if this was a display model, but they said those already sold. And I ask how could someone buy this and do this much stuff to during the 15 day return period, unless it happened in storage after returned.

So I asked what can be done about the $2069 price considering the condition issues. They asked me what would be a fair price I might consider. I hesitated, and asked for 1800. Even at that price I wasn't sure. They guy said he'd check a few things to see if he could do that. He came back and offered $1669, lower than what I asked him. He said he felt sorry for the wait to trade in my phone, plus the wait to figure out and find this laptop that's in worse condition than advertised. So he basically offered me something I couldn't refuse. I'd say $400 more off for scratches was worth it.

So at that point I couldn't really pass it up for just flaws that are hidden on the bottom.

Now that I have it home, I checked the specs. It matched, Early 2013 2.7ghz 16gb 512gb system. It showing a high 30 power cycles. Checking the serial on Apple's look up shows no registered purchase, as it's asking to provide the purchase date. Hopefully that means I have the full warranty.

Now I'm going to give it a work out to see if everything is functioning during the 15 day return period.
 

rovitotv

macrumors member
Dec 17, 2009
65
0
At $1669 I would say take it and run. Especially with the specs 2.7ghz 16gb 512gb system. Good luck and enjoy the computer, I really like mine.
 

Squilly

macrumors 68020
Nov 17, 2012
2,260
4
PA
That's a helluva find and an incredible price for a maxed spec rMBP. Good choice OP.
 

martinm0

macrumors 6502a
Feb 27, 2010
568
25
That's a great price. I picked up the same machine open box at Best Buy in March for $2000 flat. It was open box for something like $2360, then they had it with an extra 10% off. I went in and offered $2k, which they declined, but told me to come back at the end of the week and if they still had it, ask again. I did exactly that and walked out with it for $2k plus tax. This one was in mint condition with no issues, other than the box having the giant Best Buy Open Box sticker on it.
 

TimothyB

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 20, 2008
795
91
Bay Area
Yep, when he came back with $1669, it was really one of those moments where you wanted to say "Shut up and take my money!"

martinm0: Sounds like you got a great deal for pristine condition, and amazing for back in March.

For me, it really had to be that low to consider due to the scratches on the bottom, no box, only the loose charger. Anyone would have trouble spending near $2k on something like that. Supposedly this was also Geeksquad certified. Which means it had gone through a checklist and such. Some how that doesn't hold much water without the original box resealed with their seal of approval.

Also, some of the experience of buying a new machine was obviously lost. Especially that moment after you paid and see it simply slipped into the standard blue bag, doubled . So no open box experience and such.

I'll have to take a photo of the odd marks on the bottom.

So far I'm liking it. Only had about 40 minutes to mess with it. Going to have to look at some guides so I don't miss any useful shortcuts and features.

The multi-touch track pad already makes it a joy to use compared to a normal laptop when you don't have a mouse. I switched to a normal laptop for a moment, an old HP Elitebook, good machine, but suddenly felt ancient using its touchpad.

OS performance seems good. Scrolling in browsers isn't always silky smooth, some jitter now and then. I'll have to consider updating to Mavericks soon, but I need to make sure the software I use has no issues.

Photoshop CC also performs good, and already shows an improvement over my old i7 920 system. When testing a few filters between the systems, in a rush I didn't notice the test image I created on the rMBP was 1900*1900 inches instead of pixels. Took about 2 seconds to create instead of instant. Not bad for creating a 136,800*136,800 document that Photoshop estimated the image size at 52.3G. I can't get my work 2006 Mac Pro to create such a document without the start-up disk reporting full, which has 55gb free on its SSD, and 11gb system ram ( some used for Parallels though).
 
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