Hello all and I want to say thanks to everyone that comments in the buying advice forum as you are all so nice and I've learned a lot . On with the question though! I'm looking at buying the 2.8GHz iMac within the month, I'm planning on waiting until the 15th just because it would be crazy for me to risk buying and there being the slightest chance of an upgrade popping up at MacWorld. So my question is does the US Apple store online ever sell refurbished 24-inch 2.8GHz iMacs? I've never seen them there but I know that they at least sell them in the UK because I've seen them on that site. If they do in fact sell them does anyone know the cost? I'm just trying to plan out because I'm super excited to be buying my first after having been on PC's for so long (darn you computer science degree ). If they don't sell them then can anyone recommend another site to buy that model on since it'll most likely work out to be less than at apple due to taxes?
are you in the uk or the us if your in the uk may be able to provide you with a link that may help ,lou
They don't specifically exclude models from the refurb offerings; items are only listed there as available. I would guess that there's a high probability that a few 2.8 GHz iMacs will be listed there shortly after MWSF (assuming there's an update). Expect discounts in the neighborhood of 15%.
I've been looking for a refurbished 2.8GHz iMac on the US Apple store for the past few months and I haven't seen one on there. Maybe they get bought the second they get put up, I don't know.
Check early in the morning and frequently. I've heard of people finding a Mac they want and then coming back to the site to find that it's gone.
have a try on this link , it should give you the 15% , but for a brand new one i picked it up on another forum https://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/UkEdIndividualCustom?qprm=78186
Hmm thats just a link to the Higher Education store its not a secret. You need to be in higher education to buy at those prices though.
Sorry that I wasn't so clear all. I'm in the US looking for a US iMac. I only referenced the UK store because I've found a link for refurbished 2.8GHz models on that store but not the US store. As for checking in the store in the mornings, I've actually just started to do that this past week. I heard somewhere that apple updates the refurb store at around 1a.m. PST and I'm in the central time zone so it should be about 3a.m. for me. I get up at 5:15a.m. and have been checking that link right away
If the iMac doesn't get an update at MacWorld, I'll be checking the refurb store for the 2.8 GHz iMac at 4:00 am (I'm on the eastern time zone) every morning!!!
1. The imac since it just was refreshed, or redone, will not have an upgrade at MacWorld. I could be wrong, but it is to soon. 2. Go to dealmac.com and see if other sellers have discounts. 3. Amazon.com has been doing $150.00 or so off on most Macs, so check them out. I have the 2.8 24" and love it! You will be very happy with it.
Thanks for all the comments to everyone. I'm just really excited to finally be switching. This is actually the first thing that I'm getting with money from my new job (less than 2 months) as a software engineer. I know that I'll have enough by the end of the month for just about anything that I want in an iMac, but I also know that I should get the most for my $ and if I get a refurb then I can buy a great external enclosure to be used with timemachine DesignerOnMac I'll look into dealmac for sure and I'll keep checking Amazon to see if they've restocked (last I saw they were selling from a third party).
i didnt say it was a secret, its just a way to save a little money and if you check the link it gives you access to the store, and usually unless your on an ed campus you cant usually get access, 15% is a pretty good deal better than nothing
If you are really trying to save money why get the 2.8 GHz processor. If you don't need the 2.8 get the 2.4. If you don't need the extra 4 inches then get the 20. Depends what you are used to and what you can handle. Is $300 worth 3 inches of space? As for the difference between the 2.8 and 2.4 processors, a bigger HDD, and a GB of RAM is it really worth $500 to you? The processor is a $250 option above the 2.4 GHz processor. The RAM is a lovely overpriced $150 option and the HDD is a $100 option for you. Why not try amazon to get $100 off, free shipping, no taxes, and the 24" model and add your own 1 GB chip. Total price: $1729. Price at the apple store for the base model is $1799 plus 107.94 tax coming to $1906.94 not including what the RAM upgrade would cost. The 2.8 GHz model is not available on amazon right now.
Whoa, speak of the devil, I'm looking at the Refurb section of Apple's site now, this is the first time I've EVER seen the 2.8 ghz 24' iMac, and I've been looking every couple days for the last month or so. With 2 GB ram and a 500 GB HD, it's currently priced at $1949. I thought they were never going to offer it!
I saw that apple indeed did have it up on their site before coming to work this morning. If only it were the 16th instead of the 3rd of January, then I'd buy it in a hear beat. As for the person that asked why I'm going all out but trying to save a little money well I've heard on here that the 24 inch screen uses a better screen type than the 20 inch screens. As for the processor I know that I'm going to be converting video for my iPod and I know that will help that out as well as help me make the computer last a little longer. The only other part of that makes me want that model is extra 180 GB of storage space on the hard drive. You need to understand that I'm coming from a PC with 5 hard drives in the tower with well over 1TB of storage. I even took 500 GB out of that when I had to send a drive in to Seagate. So yes my needs are there for the upgrade but I figure with any model I'd be looking to save a little
There is an iMac 2.8GHz Extreme on the US Apple refurb store right now!!! http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nplm=FB322LL/A
I just wanted to let anyone who's still reading this thread know that I caved in and ordered my iMac this evening when I got home from work. I've just been longing for a Mac for so long and this deal is just too good. Thanks for all of the help though, I can't get over how nice this entire community is. P.S. I know how to use google but I'm wondering if anyone has some great pointers for a switcher?
Take the time to play around with the OS and to learn about it. Just make sure you backup so you don't screw something up though. Congratulations on the purchase. It's going to be a blazing computer.