New or Refurb

[gpzere]

I'm looking at picking up a Macbook at the end of Jan/beginning of Feb. I'm either looking at getting a 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo with 512MB Ram, 60GB harddrive and ComboDrive for $1249 Canadian and then buying more a gig of ram. Recently I've been looking at the Refurbished Macbooks. There is a 2.0GHz Core Duo with 512GB of RAM, 80GB HD, SuperDrive and it's black even, all for $1129 Canadian. Now that's tempting me away from the New Core 2 Duo.

My question is, would the refurb disappoint me performance-wise. This will be my main computer, I'll be watching videos and surfing the internet mostly, with some photoshop thrown in there. I'd like to play around with some mild video editing most likely using iMovie. I'd like to be able to play some games, mostly Unreal Tournament(the first one), so nothing demanding. I have a dedicated computer for gaming. Any input would be very helpful.

 

[lord patton]

Well, I just bought a MacBook CD 1.8 refurb for my wife. I too saw the black 2.0, and was tempted to get that.

In the end, I got the cheaper MacBook ($800 US v. $1000 US for the blackBook) because I wanted the savings to upgrade the ram. As it turns out, the MacBook came with a refurb bonus... it had a gig instead of 512!!!

Anyway, part of my decision was based on knowing my wife wasn't going to do anything hardcore on it, so CD2 and a faster clock speed wasn't a big deal.

If you're concerned about the performance, you should check out MacWorld's reviews. Most of the measurements show a 10-20% improvement. Is that worth the cash? That's up to you.

 

[mBurns]

I'd go with the refurb if you don't care about having the "latest and greatest". Overall, it's a much better value and in normal use, you won't see a huge difference between the Core Duo and Core 2 Duo. I think something you shouldn't pass up is that the refurb has a Superdrive. It may be worthwhile if you get heavily into the iLife suite.

 

[trainguy77]

It may be worth going with the refurb then getting a gig of ram.

 

[rstorm]

Refurb....comes with the same warranty. Save yourself some money!😉

 

[Mac'Mo]

if money is no problem, get new - i personally buy new but i just have a stigma for second hand stuff

 

[aj98]

I'm looking at picking up a Macbook at the end of Jan/beginning of Feb. I'm either looking at getting a 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo with 512MB Ram, 60GB harddrive and ComboDrive for $1249 Canadian and then buying more a gig of ram. Recently I've been looking at the Refurbished Macbooks. There is a 2.0GHz Core Duo with 512GB of RAM, 80GB HD, SuperDrive and it's black even, all for $1129 Canadian. Now that's tempting me away from the New Core 2 Duo.

My question is, would the refurb disappoint me performance-wise.

I've bought several items from the refurb section. Never had a problem with any of them.

Whether or not it is disappointing will be relative to what you have now and what you are used to at work. Obviously, if its faster, then no you won't be. If it's slower, then yea, you probably will be.

Rule of thumb: buy the fastest and best equipped machine you can comfortably afford.

 

[gpzere]

Just an update: I decided to go refurb anyways. I got the 2.0GHz core duo, 512MB ram, 60GB HD and SuperDrive. Total came to $1029 Canadian, which is $420 cheaper than when it was sold as new. The extra money is being used for buying 2GBs of RAM and a 300GB external hard drive. Anyways, we'll see how well the refurb works out in a week or so.

 

[phungy]

Just an update: I decided to go refurb anyways. I got the 2.0GHz core duo, 512MB ram, 60GB HD and SuperDrive. Total came to $1029 Canadian, which is $420 cheaper than when it was sold as new. The extra money is being used for buying 2GBs of RAM and a 300GB external hard drive. Anyways, we'll see how well the refurb works out in a week or so.

That's money well spent! I should have went to my local Apple Stores and see if they had any refreshed MBs...