How are the refurbished Macs? Are they cosmetically OK, or do they have dings and scratches on them? Do they come in a beat up box or is it in fairly good condition?
Thanks
Thanks
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Refurb Macs?
- Thread starter skubish
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I doubt there are any serious defects, and they are covered by a one year warrant. For the most part they are pretty good deals, and they even come with tiger and ilife 05(on some).
I've bought one refurb'd ibook G4 from the Apple Store, one refurb'd emac from Smalldog.com and one refurb'd imac G3 over the past 2.5 years. The imac G3 came in a brown cardboard box that did have Apple company markings on the outside, but the box was a little ratty. It was the oldest unit I bought, yet still didn't have any obvious wear and tear on it. The mouse and keyboard and software enclosed were brand new.
The other 2 came in (then) current white Apple boxes, and were perfect in every way. Yes, even the ibook! They come with the same full warranty as a new product. I've also purchased some laptops and a imac G4 new, and unpacking and setting up the refurb'd units was identical to that experience with a new unit.
I can highly recommend Apple refurb'd computers from my experience.
The other 2 came in (then) current white Apple boxes, and were perfect in every way. Yes, even the ibook! They come with the same full warranty as a new product. I've also purchased some laptops and a imac G4 new, and unpacking and setting up the refurb'd units was identical to that experience with a new unit.
I can highly recommend Apple refurb'd computers from my experience.
Blurb said:
I have to agree, last week or so I ordered an iMac G4 20" and just got it today. Its in everyway perfect. I really can't even tell that it's refurbished at all, it looks brand new. I was planning on getting one through ebay, but this was just so much better. Not only do I now have 3 year apple care, but it came with Tiger and iLife 05. I'm really happy with the way it went, especially since this was my first mac.
tag said:
Did you get it through the apple.com refurb store or what. I've never seen one of these on there, although I'd love to get my hands on one. I love the design of the G4 iMac.
macbaseball said:
Yeah, I did get it through apple.com's refurb section. They seem to go really quickly though when they get posted for sale on there. I only saw two go in the last month that I noticed, and when I saw the first one up for sale, I pondered buying it for an hour, then went back online to order it, and it was gone. Finally another identical one came back up a week later and I bought it right as fast as I could. And wow the 20 inch screen is awsome.
Just to note, the last two I saw were both iMac G4s, 20" 1.25ghz with 256MB ram 80gig and superdrive, both were $1,399.00.
I just checked this moment and while there aren't any 20 inch ones, there is a 15" at 1ghz,80gig though with only a combo drive for $799.
Just a helpful hint if you are planning on getting one through apple, I tried to check early in the morning each day, since it seemed by the end of the day they were always gone.
Also it says that it comes with Panther, but mine did come with Tiger thrown in the box, just not installed.
tag said:Yeah, I did get it through apple.com's refurb section. They seem to go really quickly though when they get posted for sale on there. I only saw two go in the last month that I noticed, and when I saw the first one up for sale, I pondered buying it for an hour, then went back online to order it, and it was gone. Finally another identical one came back up a week later and I bought it right as fast as I could. And wow the 20 inch screen is awsome.
Just to note, the last two I saw were both iMac G4s, 20" 1.25ghz with 256MB ram 80gig and superdrive, both were $1,399.00.
I just checked this moment and while there aren't any 20 inch ones, there is a 15" at 1ghz,80gig though with only a combo drive for $799.
Just a helpful hint if you are planning on getting one through apple, I tried to check early in the morning each day, since it seemed by the end of the day they were always gone.
Also it says that it comes with Panther, but mine did come with Tiger thrown in the box, just not installed.
Alright thanks. My Mom and sister both have 15 inch iMacs, and I was trying to figure out how much it would cost upgrade ...
Where to buy refurb mac in Sydney Oz.
i am about to buy my first mac and after reading your comments am now thinking that a refurb imac sounds like a good option. What are refurb macs? are they ex demos? Also, can someone tell me where i would be able to purchase one from Sydney Australia? Ive been on the Apple store (Australia) site and cant seem to find anything re refurbs. I apologise for my ignorance guys but if someone could answer my queries it would be much appreciated...
thanks!
i am about to buy my first mac and after reading your comments am now thinking that a refurb imac sounds like a good option. What are refurb macs? are they ex demos? Also, can someone tell me where i would be able to purchase one from Sydney Australia? Ive been on the Apple store (Australia) site and cant seem to find anything re refurbs. I apologise for my ignorance guys but if someone could answer my queries it would be much appreciated...
thanks!
As far as I know, refurbs are usually items that were returned, tested and repackaged. Or perhaps they came out of manufacturing with less-than-perfect appearance.
Go to Apple, click on 'Store,' and look for the red flag. They usually put the refurbs in there.
I bought a refurb g4 Powermac Quicksilver from Smalldog Electronics and well, I had issues.
First, they offered a good deal on a memory upgrade so I took it. Unfortunately, the RAM module they installed for me was dud and all I got was a greyscreen when I tried to boot. I guess they didn't test it. I waited for a replacement in the mail.
Also, they left some sort of custom CDr in the combo drive that apparently they use to refurbish returned machines or something. Not a good idea to leave a disc in a drive for shipping me thinks.
Aside from these issues I have been extremely happy with the machine. I tend to go for the PowerMac line becuuase it is relatively easy to install new RAM, add new or swap out hard-drives, upgrade a CDR to a DVD or DVD burner.
I'm sure Smalldog has legions of happy, loyal customers. I am an exception to that rule.
Go to Apple, click on 'Store,' and look for the red flag. They usually put the refurbs in there.
I bought a refurb g4 Powermac Quicksilver from Smalldog Electronics and well, I had issues.
First, they offered a good deal on a memory upgrade so I took it. Unfortunately, the RAM module they installed for me was dud and all I got was a greyscreen when I tried to boot. I guess they didn't test it. I waited for a replacement in the mail.
Also, they left some sort of custom CDr in the combo drive that apparently they use to refurbish returned machines or something. Not a good idea to leave a disc in a drive for shipping me thinks.
Aside from these issues I have been extremely happy with the machine. I tend to go for the PowerMac line becuuase it is relatively easy to install new RAM, add new or swap out hard-drives, upgrade a CDR to a DVD or DVD burner.
I'm sure Smalldog has legions of happy, loyal customers. I am an exception to that rule.
ryan77 said:
Well I checked the Australian apple site and it doesnt seem to offer refurbished units. I believe just in the last month the UK and French stores started offering refurbished units themselves and only of power mac g5s I believe it was. You might be able to order a refurb unit from the US site(which seems to have the biggest offering of refurb units), but with shipping costs to Austrailia (which I assume would be rather pricey from the US) I'm not sure it would be worth it.
12" pb 1.33ghz
I bought a 12" powerbook from apple certified, it was cosmetically perfect and they gave me iLife 05 which i didn't expect. Wireless reception was crap (as in 1 meter) so i took it to the store and they had to send it for repairs, so basically it came with a broken antena but because it has the same guarantee as a new product they fixed it for free... a bit of a pain ,but because i bought it refurbished and it was the previous model it was a very good deal and i'm happy i bought it.
skubish said:
I bought a 12" powerbook from apple certified, it was cosmetically perfect and they gave me iLife 05 which i didn't expect. Wireless reception was crap (as in 1 meter) so i took it to the store and they had to send it for repairs, so basically it came with a broken antena but because it has the same guarantee as a new product they fixed it for free... a bit of a pain ,but because i bought it refurbished and it was the previous model it was a very good deal and i'm happy i bought it.
uk
USA is a bigger country and there returned items culture is stronger.... but i agree it sucks , even the powermacs in the uk store on wednesday gets sold in less than 30 minutes some weeks!
stevep said:We get refurbs in the UK, but only on Wednesdays, and there aren't very manyof them - mostly G5 Powermacs, very few laptops. Prices are quite good, and they go very quickly. The US site seems to be open all the time and they have loads of stuff -
USA is a bigger country and there returned items culture is stronger.... but i agree it sucks , even the powermacs in the uk store on wednesday gets sold in less than 30 minutes some weeks!
I'd have to agree with most of the posters. I just recently got a dual 2.5Ghz Power Mac, and it's great: cosmetically perfect, technically perfect, everything. In fact, it came with a bigger hard drive (250GB vs. 160GB) and more memory (1024MB vs. 512MB) than was listed on the website. I figured that they just listed the "least common denominator" on the website, but maybe I just got super lucky. Anyone else gotten more than they ordered?
Anyways, it's a great computer at a great price...I couldn't ask for anything more.
Anyways, it's a great computer at a great price...I couldn't ask for anything more.
We are an all-refurb household.....
the wife has a G4 iMac she got from Smalldog. No problems at all - in fact, she liked it so much she had to order a refurb iPod from them, too.
I've got a refurb G5 1.6 from the Apple store (I agree with a previous poster - check the website frequently! They don't tell you how many of each they have (Smalldog does, though), so sometimes what you're looking for simply disappears.
I'm also running a refurb monitor that I got from Mac of all trades. I couldn't pass it up - it's a 22" Apple Cinema Display that I got for $799! (I actually ordered it at $899 and it showed up on the bill as $799!) I didn't like the way it arrived (encased in a mile of bubble wrap, surrounded by peanuts....), but I plugged it in and all was well - and now I have some serious digital acreage.
So - positive experiences all around from our little corner of NJ!
Good luck!
MFK
the wife has a G4 iMac she got from Smalldog. No problems at all - in fact, she liked it so much she had to order a refurb iPod from them, too.
I've got a refurb G5 1.6 from the Apple store (I agree with a previous poster - check the website frequently! They don't tell you how many of each they have (Smalldog does, though), so sometimes what you're looking for simply disappears.
I'm also running a refurb monitor that I got from Mac of all trades. I couldn't pass it up - it's a 22" Apple Cinema Display that I got for $799! (I actually ordered it at $899 and it showed up on the bill as $799!) I didn't like the way it arrived (encased in a mile of bubble wrap, surrounded by peanuts....), but I plugged it in and all was well - and now I have some serious digital acreage.
So - positive experiences all around from our little corner of NJ!
Good luck!
MFK
My PB was a referb and I purchased it 3 days after Apple released new PBs, so the price was better than the comparable iBook. As far as I have had experience, refurbished Apple's are a great deal. My didn't have any blemishes, less on the unseen edges of the battery compartment.
I will keep my eyes open on the store. The last few days there haven't been any good deals there.
I usually only buy refurb. All have been new condition ASFIC. I usually use the difference in price to buy apple care for the 3 yr warranty and I sleep very well. Just got a refurb eMac 1.25 with combo drive for 649.00 and 3 yr apple care for my mom for just over 830. with tax and free delivery.
the only one I got that was not in apple packageing was a dual 450 from MacConnection 4yrs ago, all the ones from apple have come in newboxes with all packaging. The new eMac for my mom that cost 649.00 came with Tiger and iLife 05 too!
the only one I got that was not in apple packageing was a dual 450 from MacConnection 4yrs ago, all the ones from apple have come in newboxes with all packaging. The new eMac for my mom that cost 649.00 came with Tiger and iLife 05 too!
javiercr said:
I just ordered the same thing yesterday, so your post makes me feel pretty good about my purchase. The fact that you had an issue, but still feel good about it says a lot to me.
Did you get any "extras" that you did not expect (besides the broken antenna
)?