New vs. Refurb

[Tramp]

I was very excited today to be ordering my first Mac. In the middle of the order, something happened. My order timed-out, and when I refreshed it, my pretty little refurbished laptop was gone! (2.0 Ghz MacBook in white, by the way.)

OH NO! Gasp, shock, horror!

So yeah, someone bought it before me. Annoyed, I looked around a bit more and began to wonder...

Should I get a refurbished computer, or a new one? The new ones are well... new. But apparently there is not a huge difference between the new and the used ones.

So really it comes down to what they come with. 60GB, 512MB, or 80GB and 1GB? There's a $300 price difference, which is a big deal to me since I'm starting college in two months.

Opinions?

Also, does anyone have experience with running Sims 2 on the MacBook? It's pretty much the only game I'd probably play, but I'd be really bummed out if it didn't work so well on there.

 

[phungy]

512KB? Man that's going to be slow! JK, knew what you meant.

I would go with the new one since the CD have had heat issues and I have not read/heard any heat issues with the C2D. Granted its about $300 more, APP is different with new and refurbished Macs (read on this forum).

 

[ChrisA]

I
So really it comes down to what they come with. 60GB, 512MB, or 80GB and 1GB? There's a $300 price difference, which is a big deal to me since I'm starting college in two months.

If money is a big issue you can live with a 60GB disk but you will want to upgrade the RAM. Buy the 60GB/512MB system then buy a 1GB upgrade from a third party and install it yourself. Later, in a year, you can upgrade the disk. It is user serviceable and 160GB drives will cost under $100 next year. You can put the 60Gb in an fire wire external enclosure.

 

[Tramp]

Wait what.

CD and CD2?

I know about the heating issues to some degree (Oh, Apple and your bukkake-coolant), but uhm... newer models? No bukkake coolant?

That would be nice.

When did they start making the new models?

 

[Blowtoes]

I was going to buy the same one. I am probably buying the 1.83 GHz one. I would go with refurbished if money is the issue (Which it sort of is in my case) or if you really want the new then go ahead and buy it.

 

[Tramp]

Hey, Blowtoes - the lady I talked to at Mac said there would be more of the 2.0 Ghz model in a few days so if I were you, I would hold out - it's only like $50 more.

 

[McGarvels]

Get a refurb. They are perfectly good machines and they even come with extras (like i got a processor and video card upgrade on my 20" iMac c2d for free) not to mention it is way cheaper than a new machine. It does come in a brown ugly box, but whatever, it's still a great deal. Just keep your eye out on the store, you will see more and more refurbs popping up. Don't worry, just wait another week or two, you will be glad that you did.

Also, CD = Core Duo and CD2 = Core 2 Duo (not sure if you were asking this but thought I'd tell you just in case)

Cheers

 

[iW00t]

I will try and wait until after MWSF if I were you.

Apple may be keeping the C2D refurbs in their warehouses to prevent them cannibalising holidays sales.