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Refurb or no?

K

kenglade

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 20, 2008
278
1
My wife's HP laptop just died (the repair guys say probably motherboard) and I'd like to replace it with an Apple Macbook. She used the laptop for email and surfing while I liked to tote it along on vacations to keep up with the enws and to store photographs. In other words, no heavy demands.

I'm thinking of replacing her laptop with a refurb but i thought I'd ask first to ssee what kind of experiences you guys have had with such models.

I've been a PC user for many, many years but I recently inherited a PowerMac and I won't go back to Windows for anything.

Many thanks.
 
There is documented experience here that would suggest that sometimes refurbs are better than new because they've been checked and re-checked. Additionally, you will sometimes buy a refurb and the specs will be bumped up randomly, which is never bad. I highly recommend them to be honest.
 
Go for it!

I just got my first Mac - a refurbished aluminum Macbook. It came in pristine condition: no scratches, no stuck or dead pixels, and with a new battery (4 charge cycles). I'm very happy with it.
 
Go for a refurb. I have had my unibody Macbook for just over 2 weeks and I love it. It came perfect. The battery had 1 cycle on it, the unit looked like it had never been touched. The build week (based on serial #) was just a few weeks before I bought it.

I have only ever bought 1 Mac brand new, and it was a DOA. All the rest have been refurb or used. And only 1 refurb ever had problems.
 
+1 for refurbs. My MBP and my AEBS were both purchased as refurbished direct from Apple. Both came in pristine condition. If they had been used, I couldn't tell.
 
I bought my wife a refurb MBP last year and then bought Applecare off of ebay and saved a ton. It has been a great computer so far.

I am about to buy an Uni MB and am going to buy a refurb.
 
I'll say upfront that I've never bought a refurbished laptop from Apple, but I've gotten a refurbished iPod from them.

My experience with the iPod was great, and I don't think there would be any differences with getting a laptop through the same route. They have to test it and make sure it still works properly and is in as mint condition as possible. There may be a few minor cosmetic things, but the machine has to work pristinely. And many times, there aren't even usually cosmetic things anyway. An item can be listed as refurbished just because someone bought it and decided that they want another model or a different color or etc.
 
i've had great results with refurbed macs. we'll be replacing our refurb iMac (lamp style) with a 24 inch refurbed iMac when it arrives next week. can't wait.
 
I'm a recent refurb owner. I couldn't be more pleased, I got a really good deal and there was no way I can tell the difference between new.
 
I've bought a refurb mac mini and a refurb 23inch ACD in the past two weeks and both have been immaculate. There is no way I would be able to tell if it was new or refurbished. They both even smell new.
 
I'd strongly recommend refurbs; as many other posters have pointed out, they have been tested and tried, come with Apple's warranty, - which you can add Applecare to - and are basically as new but for a very competitive price. It is an excellent option.

Cheers and good luck
 
Had 3 refurbs and all 3 have had some cosmetic damage.

The current one is a Macbook Pro early 2008 that arrived last week. This came with scratches to the rear display housing, pinched superdrive slot and crashes when warmed up. This is currently in for repair as these are like gold dust to get at the price. All problems are due to be sorted out by apple but they have had it longer so far than I have owned it. :(

Refurbs can be a lottery in that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. I always tend to lose but that is just me.

Still can't wait until I get my Macbbok Pro back so I can have a serious play with it :D
 
I just bought a refurb MBA and I absolutely love it. No cosmetic damage at all. From my research before deciding to purchase it a lot of member have said that the logic board is the only component from the original machine. Apple replaced everything else.

I haven't had to do this fortunately, but I've also heard that if you do have to send it back they send you a new one. . . Again not sure if it is true or not...

You won't get the nice packaging that you would if you had purchased a new mac, but it will save you hundreds!

I'd say go with it especially now that they have the new unibody MacBooks for sale.
 
Refurb MBP Classic, came in pristine condition and with major silent upgrades. No complaints thus far
 
There are nothing wrong with Refurbished iPhones. had 2 of them, seem exactly the same as the Brand new ones in the Black Box.
 
I recommend a refurb for some great savings. Only thing I've experienced with refurbs is that trying to re-sell it later on is difficult once you tell the buyer its a refurb. So you might take a hit on resale value but otherwise go for it!
 
Just think of all the things you can buy with the 100 plus dollars you will be saving. I have had a refurb and the only difference is the box it comes in.
 
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