Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

New Vs Refurb MBP 2.53

C

cake90036

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 7, 2008
143
0
Hey I saw and Im sure most of you have the new 15inch macbook pros for 1699. The refurbished models, which are better, more hdd, ram and a better graphics card are 1449 on apple. I was wondering is it smart to buy a refurbished product. ---I know that I'm saving 250 off the bat and getting a better computer, but in the long run of things, would I run into things breaking down sooner than a brand new computer would?

Also is anyone else thinking that this line of mbps is just a layover for an even better line of mbps coming up in december?
 
i asked this in my apple store a few weeks back when buying my 13" mb 2.4.

I ended up changing it twice for single dead pixels and have since changed it again for a 13" 2.53 mbp (as it was launched within 28 days of my buying the 2.4)

The reason i didn't buy the refurb is because the Mrs used her HE discount.

My point being (excuse the waffle), if i'd not had the HE discount available to me, the refurb would certainly have appealed given the often TINY issues these computers are returned for.

Mine were both due to single dead pixels, others are returned for cosmetic issues, often without having ever been used beyond initial setup.

Sure you may end up with one thats had a little more use, or hardware problems but they come with the same warranty so i'd sure have a punt.!

Regards
CR
 
captain-rossco said:
i asked this in my apple store a few weeks back when buying my 13" mb 2.4.

I ended up changing it twice for single dead pixels and have since changed it again for a 13" 2.53 mbp (as it was launched within 28 days of my buying the 2.4)

The reason i didn't buy the refurb is because the Mrs used her HE discount.

My point being (excuse the waffle), if i'd not had the HE discount available to me, the refurb would certainly have appealed given the often TINY issues these computers are returned for.

Mine were both due to single dead pixels, others are returned for cosmetic issues, often without having ever been used beyond initial setup.

Sure you may end up with one thats had a little more use, or hardware problems but they come with the same warranty so i'd sure have a punt.!

Regards
CR
Click to expand...

What is an HE discount and how much was it?
 
Hi there,

Higher education discount, the 13" macbook 2.4 was discounted from £1125 to £967.
The 3 years applecare was reduced from £195 to £47.

We went in with my girlfriend's student card and came out with 2 macbooks, 3 year apple care for both computers and 2 free ipod touches (with rebate).

The new 13" mbp 2.53 works out at £988, the apple care will be reduced to £47.

The ipod touch rebate is also applicable to this package.

Regards
CR
 
Well I think most would tell you that if you need a computer now then it's great time to buy.

I just recently got a refurbished MBP 2.53 from apple and I am extremely happy with my purchase. It was practically brand new when I received it. Prior to my purchase I was deciding between the mid 2009 2.53 vs 2008 2.53 15" and here are some of the pros for each model:

Mid 09
+longer lasting battery
+supports upto 8GB ram
+"better" screen
+Newer so it will likely hold stronger resale value

Late 08
+$250 in saving
+discrete graphic card
+user replaceable battery

You will have to decide what is most important criteria for you. In my case, the saving and discrete card were most important so I decided on the refurbished model.

Good luck on your purchase as you can't go wrong with either choice!
 
captain-rossco said:
Hi there,

Higher education discount, the 13" macbook 2.4 was discounted from £1125 to £967.
The 3 years applecare was reduced from £195 to £47.

We went in with my girlfriend's student card and came out with 2 macbooks, 3 year apple care for both computers and 2 free ipod touches (with rebate).

The new 13" mbp 2.53 works out at £988, the apple care will be reduced to £47.

The ipod touch rebate is also applicable to this package.

Regards
CR
Click to expand...

Hi CR,

How did you get such a massive Student Discount? The online HE store shows only around a £90 discount on the 13" 2.5 MBP to £1079, yet you say it can be reduced to £958 which is a £190 reduction.

Also, did you get the free iPods AND the student discount? I thought they were separate offers?

P.S. Did you buy the lot from the Cabot Circus Apple Store??

Cheers,

BMJT
 
No worries, just found the answers sfter some lengthy searching on here,

But the Cabot Circus question remains :)

Cheers.
 
I think that discount is standard (there being varying levels of student discount).

Yes the ipod rebate was in addition to that offer.

Regards
CR

p.s - yes it all came from cabot circus (where, for the record, the staff are unbelievably helpful, they can't do enough).
 
I got my refurb 15"/2.53/4gb/512vram/320hdd for $1349 with free over night shipping. Great computer, express card slot, and user replaceable battery.

I'll take that over the new 15"/2.66ghz/SD card for $1999 any day of the week.
 
Mezzanine224 said:
I got my refurb 15"/2.53/4gb/512vram/320hdd for $1349 with free over night shipping. Great computer, express card slot, and user replaceable battery.

I'll take that over the new 15"/2.66ghz/SD card for $1999 any day of the week.
Click to expand...

1349 or 1449?
 
Bought the Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.8GHz for $1699

I have always preferred to buy Apple's Refurbished products, its like buying a 2009 year car from the dealer when the 2010 models arrive.

At $600 savings, I get the express card slot, plenty of RAM- 4GB memory (I wouldn't pay for more RAM even if I could), the screen is practically the same when I compared the new and old side-by-side at the apple store (hands down even better once I use hardware to create a custom calibrated profile) and the option to use a replaceable battery is still a good option in my mind.

This model was $2399 when it launched only 4 months ago (feb 2009). Best buy I could have made. Thank you Apple!!

Pick one up while they last:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0G02LL/A?mco=MjE0NjE5MA
Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo $1699
15.4-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display
4GB memory
320GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in iSight camera
Illuminated keyboard
NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics processor; and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory; Total Graphics Memory 512MB GDDR3
 
Okay I appreciate the concerns with the savings but I'm talking more about the hardware perspective. Are the components in the refurbished mbp prone to break or mess up easier than a brand new one? That's really my only concern. I dont want to buy a 1500 dollar computer and then have it break down a couple years later because if thats the case I'd rather buy a new one. Also, I know that each machine is different but I am wondering for those who purchased the refurb mbp... has anyone had problems with either there older macbook pros or more specifically the 2.53 mbp that I was tlaking about earlier in this thread.

THANKS!!!
 
Get the old one. The new 2.53 has lower specs all around and is even more expensive! The only advantage the new 2.53 has is battery life.

The refurbs are basically new laptops. Everything broken has been completely replaced/fixed and tested. Very few people have problems with them out of the box. Go w/ the refurb. :)
 
Unprocessed1 said:
Get the old one. The new 2.53 has lower specs all around and is even more expensive! The only advantage the new 2.53 has is battery life.
Click to expand...

I know that I just don't want to buy a refurb and have it break down sooner than a new one would. That's what I'm trying to figure out with people if they had problems with their refurb and those that have new ones if they have problems. Thanks though!
 
They come with the same warranty to be honest and the apple refurbs are well known to be very good. If you think about it, they are made in the U.S.! They get taken apart, refurbed, then returned to original manufacture specs. I purchased the same 2.53 MBP you're asking about and to be honest, other then the box it came in, there is no way you can tell the difference. I love this computer.

The hardware in the older one is better. More cache and better vid card was enough for me. The new one can go up to 8gb of ram, but the ram is stupid expensive right now and will probably be that way for a while.

The new one gives you a sd card slot and the battery at the expense of cache and the superior vid card, at a nice savings.

Get the refurb.
 
ryanide said:
I have always preferred to buy Apple's Refurbished products, its like buying a 2009 year car from the dealer when the 2010 models arrive.

At $600 savings, I get the express card slot, plenty of RAM- 4GB memory (I wouldn't pay for more RAM even if I could), the screen is practically the same when I compared the new and old side-by-side at the apple store (hands down even better once I use hardware to create a custom calibrated profile) and the option to use a replaceable battery is still a good option in my mind.

This model was $2399 when it launched only 4 months ago (feb 2009). Best buy I could have made. Thank you Apple!!

Pick one up while they last:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0G02LL/A?mco=MjE0NjE5MA
Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo $1699
15.4-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display
4GB memory
320GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in iSight camera
Illuminated keyboard
NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics processor; and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory; Total Graphics Memory 512MB GDDR3
Click to expand...

I was thinking of picking one of these up. Only thing is that I want a 7200rpm hard drive not a 5400rpm. Any ideas how easy it would be to replace the drive (if possible) and how much it would cost? Since it doesn't look like apple offers that upgrade with the refurbs.
 
Similar Boat here cake.

I had it all laid out, at least I thought I did. I was going to pick up a mini to replace my desktop (dell inspiron 530), and bump the RAM and HD. I have dual LCD (VGA) monitors, webcam, keyboard, etc. Simple enough and an inexpensive solution. I was also going to add a refurb macbook (this was right before the WWDC), but wanted to see if anything was going to happen to the unibody line up. Of course it did, and made my decision that much harder.

So, I thought I would still get the mini and add the 13" MBP. Very similar specs and I could just double my HD and RAM order. I went to the Apple store and tried out the 13" just to see what all the fuss was about. It's a nice machine and I was going to pull the trigger.

I went back to the refurb store and saw the very same 15" MBP 2.53 that you are talking about. I started running some numbers. I could buy the brand new 13" MBP and bump the HD and RAM for a price that is about $100.00 less then this 15" MBP refurb. I would actually be happy with the stock 320gb HD and 4gb of RAM and wouldn't upgrade it, at least not now.

Today, I went back to the Apple store just to mess around with the 15" MBPs and I have to say the extra real estate is nice. I am a professional, but not a graphic designer, photographer or musician. I'm in the medical field and I see patients out in the community and I have several offices that I travel to several times a week, so the portability is a must. I have a netbook, but quite frankly I can't sit there and really work on documents and spreadsheets without a lot of scrolling and headache looking at the smaller screen (fun little machine though for tinkering).

The graphics card for me is also a nice feature. I have a Canon HG10 so I do some HD editing a few times a month. Now, I think the mini (maxed out) would be just fine for this, but it would be nice to have a machine that may be portable and capable of occasional editing as well. Besides, I use portable offices (co-working so to speak) and if I have to sit there for hours looking at a screen I sure would like to have that 15". I also do presentations in small groups and this might also be nice to not have to hook up the MBP to a big screen just to show 3-5 people a power point.

I have scoured You Tube for videos of these fine people showing off their refurbs and these forums have a lot of folks that swear by them. I feel that these MBPs are "new." I need reliability as I am sure you do as well.

There is a WD scorpio blue HD and 4gb of RAM on their way from newegg as that is how set I was on the mini and the 13" MBP. I'm still going to get that mini. Sure the 15" MBP refurb could be my desktop, but heck I'm going to need a USB hub to go along with the mini as it is and I don't need the hassle of plugging and unplugging all of the time. This all may be a little too much info for what you were asking, but I can tell you I have also pounded my head against the wall on what to do.

Bottom line, that 15" refurb is a flippin deal. Wasn't that model like $2,000 just a short while ago? At $1449, with a 1 year warranty, Apple tech actually looking over and swapping out parts 1:1 workmanship, and you can add the Apple Care...I say jump brother.
 
Zman5225 said:
Now that's a sweet deal!
Click to expand...

It was. I just looked and Apple isn't selling these anymore in the refurb store. Glad I got mine when I did.

Also, I checked the serial number on mine, and there's a good chance this was even a brand new computer, not a refurb. At least according to the Apple rep I spoke to. Makes it even a better deal.
 
Easy to upgrade HD!

Empr said:
I was thinking of picking one of these up. Only thing is that I want a 7200rpm hard drive not a 5400rpm. Any ideas how easy it would be to replace the drive (if possible) and how much it would cost? Since it doesn't look like apple offers that upgrade with the refurbs.
Click to expand...

The hard drive is exposed when you remove the bottom cover to change the battery (no screws, just open the bottom latch). There are 2 screws that hold the HD in and 4 alignment screws that you have to move from the old to the new drive. You can get fast high capacity drives pretty cheap ($100-$150??) and the swap will take you a few minutes.

I would suggest using a program like CarbonCopy cloner to copy your existing drive to the new one(if you already have programs and stuff installed on it), otherwise just plan to do a full restore/reinstall - which is easy with the DVDs provided with the computer.

The Refurbished Macs from Apple as good as new. There are absolutely no cosmetic scratches! Everything comes wrapped as new, but not in the regular retail packaging (so no pretty pictures on the box). I've had a referb Mac Pro for 3 1/2 years now with no problems whatsoever.

The only downside to buying referb is that you have to get them while you can, because once they are gone you never know when you'll have a chance to buy that model you want again...

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac?mco=MTE3NjY
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back