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mashinhead

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Oct 7, 2003
2,957
835
So i'm inches away from getting a refurb mac. I just want to know if anyone here has gotten one and what there experience was, before it do it. Is there anything i should be aware of?
 

dpaanlka

macrumors 601
Nov 16, 2004
4,868
30
Illinois
I bought a refurb 1.5ghz 17" PowerBook G4 and it was perfect. Couldn't have asked for anything more. Too bad it was stolen.
 

Bibulous

macrumors 6502a
Jan 19, 2005
716
0
So i'm inches away from getting a refurb mac. I just want to know if anyone here has gotten one and what there experience was, before it do it. Is there anything i should be aware of?

I bought an ipod from the refurb store and it was perfect.

fyi, dealmac.com has a $30 off $400 order from the Apple Store coupon currently on their page - http://dealmac.com/

took less then an hour to get my coupon after I submitted my email.
 

MSM Hobbes

macrumors 6502
Aug 25, 2006
375
0
NE Hoosierana
Have a refurbed 24" C2D iMac, bought ~3 months ago, and love it. Saved hundreds of $$$, confidence that the machine was inspected, has the full warranty backing. Highly recommend going that route. Also, recommend getting the Apple Care. Nothing much besides that, that I can think of at the moment. Best luck!
 

ffakr

macrumors 6502a
Jul 2, 2002
617
0
Chicago
20" iMac

20" iMac Core2Duo for my mother.
Machine arrives in an un-inspiring plain brown box. I noticed right away that the keyboard and mouse had some use (smudges, scuffs on mouse teflon).
The case also had a few scuffs. I assume they were picked up while at the Apple repair depot. The hinge on the base is also faulty. The hinge is loose so you can't set it to any angle in its range but it stays put at some acceptable angles so it wasn't a big deal. The machine has been functioning perfectly.

Overall, it was beat up superficially more than I had expected. Given Apple's general policy on repairs I suspected that Refurbs would be on DOA machines. This one looks like it was used for a while an not pampered. It was, however, completely functional. I purchased it from the Apple Developer Refurb area so I saved about 5-10% off Dev. Pricing which put it about 20% below Edu.. or 30% off retail.
 

tobefirst ⚽️

macrumors 601
Jan 24, 2005
4,612
2,335
St. Louis, MO
I bought a refurb'd Power Mac and was rewarded with a silent hard drive and RAM upgrade. Awesome! I just bought a refurb'd nano 2 months ago, and it is great. Refurbs all the way!
 

grumpy

macrumors newbie
Feb 20, 2007
16
0
2 refurb iPods and 2 refurb 15" powerbook G4's and a refurb Intel mini. The only issue I've had with any of it was a hard disk failure in a PB, two years after I got it. Applecare replaced it, no problem.
 

mashinhead

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Oct 7, 2003
2,957
835
Thanks for all you help guys. I pulled the trigger on a 2.33 macbook pro. Only problem is how long i have to wait to get it. Should come sometime next week. I assume i can return if there are any unthought of problems. i'll post when i get it.
 

mashinhead

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Oct 7, 2003
2,957
835
So i thought i would be posting from my new (to me) macbook pro. I placed my order one week ago. It said it would ship within 3-5 days. I paid extra for overnight delivery and it was supposed to ship out by today. That doesn't look very likely to me. So i called them up and they said that maybe it will ship out in the estimated time and maybe it won't and it can take up to 3 estimates for you to get your computer and even then it is not guaranteed:mad: :confused:. Not to mention they made NO effort to let me know or apologize, or inform me before hand of this system. Really their answer is we have no idea how this system works and you'll get it when we feel like giving it to you.

I really wasn't aware of this when i purchased it. And i HATE it when you call a company for answers and they say 'I don't know." It's just not acceptable to me. If they don't know who the hell knows. Then they say that it's on a first come first serve basis. But what I don't understand is A) why they're selling something they don't have in stock (i mean they know if they fix them they be sold so why not fix them first??). and B) mine was placed a week ago, its on the top of the order list and they can't fill it on time. On top of that it's been on the apple store for a week, meaning they've been taking orders they can't fill on time for a week???

Did you guys know it worked like that when you purchased yours? How long did they take to get? BTW i'm sure someone will post that, "Hey your getting a deal don't bitch," but that's just BS. I'm a big advocate of consumer rights. And I don't think this is a cool way to do business at all. If you're not gonna deliver it on time, don't say you are to begin with. End of story. I could have sold my other computer by now and I'd be SOL. Sorry but I'm pissed.
 

Lancetx

macrumors 68000
Aug 11, 2003
1,991
619
I must say I had a similar experience when I bought a refurb eMac back a couple of years ago. It literally took 2 full weeks from the day I ordered it before it arrived, even though it was listed on the site as "ships in 1-2 business days" at the time when I placed my order. Part of the blame was on Apple for taking 5 days to actually ship it out, and then FedEx literally took another 9 days to get it delivered from California to Texas for some crazy reason. So from that experience, I learned that it does take some major patience when placing an order from their refurb store sometimes.
 

yojitani

macrumors 68000
Apr 28, 2005
1,858
10
An octopus's garden
Actually, this is fairly common for Apple and it does tick me off somewhat. My first buying experience from apple: a 1.8 Dual G5 PowerMac. It was supposed to ship in 7 days and arrive 5 days later, but every 7 days they put it forward another 7 days. I think I waited about 6 week for the computer to be sent. And even then I was lucky to get it that soon - I finally got the university dogs on them. At the time, there were quite a few petitions on the web to get apple to set realistic delivery/ shipping times on their products so that people who need them more quickly can order elsewhere... makes sense to me. Obviously, nothing's changed.

All that said, all orders from apple since have been pretty good... though I was not too impressed with the shabby packing on the refurb iMac I bought (different story). If the Amazon rebate is close to what you'll be paying apple, you should cancel the apple order and go through amazon.

Finally, last thought: this is all pretty annoying, but the computers are something else! Once my G5 arrived, those 6 weeks just didn't matter... and 4 macs later...:D

YT
 

acoustics940

macrumors member
Dec 14, 2006
85
0
I just got my refurbished 2.0 core 2 duo ordered it on Saturday got in on Friday its perfect had -1 battery cyles no idea how and is 3 weeks old I love it!
 

w8ing4intelmacs

macrumors 6502a
Feb 22, 2006
559
4
East Coast, US
I bought a refurb MBP and it was shipped same day (of course, I ordered at 3am in the morning). I would call and complain to Apple and at least get a refund on your shipping cost.

My refurb works fine. I just don't like the plain brown box it comes in (versus the cool slim boxes the new MBPs come in)
 

MRU

macrumors Penryn
Aug 23, 2005
25,368
8,948
a better place
I ordered macbook pro 2ghz core duo for €1200 only a couple of days ago and it arrived yesterday.

It is brand new it appears as it still had all the sticky plastic protecting everything, seems like they just were getting rid of old stock.

Came with an extra 512mb ram too which was nice.

Other than that a great bargain at €850 cheaper than the cheapest macbook pro on the apple store at the moment.

I have no quarms recommending it.
 

Stadsport

macrumors regular
Nov 9, 2006
162
0
My boyfriend got a refurbed 2ghz Core Duo MacBook. It accidentally came with 1gb of RAM, but the iSight was broken. We took it to the Apple Store and they fixed it in ~3 days.
 

bwanac

macrumors regular
Mar 27, 2006
137
0
Just got me c2d macbook today... no surprises but looks brand new and works great. Came two days earlier than expected too! :D
 

nightsky

macrumors member
Feb 18, 2007
83
0
SA,Tx
Yahooo! Go for it!

So i'm inches away from getting a refurb mac. I just want to know if anyone here has gotten one and what there experience was, before it do it. Is there anything i should be aware of?

Just received my Refurbed Power Book G4, 1.67GHz, 15.2 REV5 and its a beauty.
Like new, not one scratch, powered up right away as I followed the manual instructions because this is my first mac. I am just over the top. Getting ready to go order some serious ram for the book and the D40 that is on its way. Price was one of the lowest, no tax, no shipping, ordered online after much research and listening to heated debate. No email notification at end of order process instead you get a call to verify that what you are ordering is in fact what you want, Then comes the email with tracking info. It took less than 5 business days by fedex. Here is the link and I hope they have what you want. BTW everything is originally packaged and sealed at Apple's Refurb location then it goes thru retailer to u w/same seal. All manuals, 1yr. warranty, battery, cords, and software. Mine looks all new smells new too. LOL https://www.eritech.com
 

cre8design

macrumors newbie
Feb 23, 2007
16
0
Bought a refurb 3.0 mac pro, works and looks perfect. Bought a NEW 23 apple monitor, died two days later.

Well the 800 firewire in the back is not responding. BUT with the applecare, they're sending a tech and reparing it at my house. Got to love the applecare =)

4 computers, and and an ipod through refurb, been happy each and everytime.
 

daneoni

macrumors G4
Mar 24, 2006
11,611
1,155
Bought a last rev PB, came with a defective display which was promptly replace and the whole computer was knock on wood till i sold it for my MBP.

Came with a silent Hard Drive upgrade as well.
 

mashinhead

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Oct 7, 2003
2,957
835
Just received my Refurbed Power Book G4, 1.67GHz, 15.2 REV5 and its a beauty.
Like new, not one scratch, powered up right away as I followed the manual instructions because this is my first mac. I am just over the top. Getting ready to go order some serious ram for the book and the D40 that is on its way. Price was one of the lowest, no tax, no shipping, ordered online after much research and listening to heated debate. No email notification at end of order process instead you get a call to verify that what you are ordering is in fact what you want, Then comes the email with tracking info. It took less than 5 business days by fedex. Here is the link and I hope they have what you want. BTW everything is originally packaged and sealed at Apple's Refurb location then it goes thru retailer to u w/same seal. All manuals, 1yr. warranty, battery, cords, and software. Mine looks all new smells new too. LOL https://www.eritech.com


Well that's good to know. Enjoy it. Anyway called all the apple stores in my area, determined to get one, because of my situation. And i found on that had 2.33 refreshed mbps so i went to get one. While i was there, i decided to check real quick and see if mine shipped out before i bought another. This morning they sent an email with a new delivery estimation date, and low and behold it shipped out today. So i didn't buy another one.

Mine will arrive tomorrow and I will post my thoughts. I have owned many macs, but they were all new. Never got a refurbished one, this is my first.
 
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