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... or if the buyer checks the serial number.

True. But oh well. If you're buying a computer used anyway, you're mainly judging it on the condition it's in at the moment rather than whether or not it's been officially refurbed by Apple. That's my opinion anyway. I don't care how many hands something's been through as long as it's in good nick.

Now, if the seller had got it repaired by his dodgy mate down the road, THEN I'd want to know :p
 
In regards to the refurbs......

When do you think we will start seeing the current late model MBP 15 laptops for sale?

Also, when buying a refurb can you return it if you do not like it? If so, is there a restocking fee to do so?

Sorry, one more question.....When buying refurb, is the shipping always free or is this just a "holiday special" going on right now?

Thank you!
 
I won't refurb again

the iMacs I received were terrible. The one I kept died within 3 months of buying it. Huge mistake.

That said, I'm glad that many people are receiving excellent MBPs etc. My personal experience has not been good.

Instead of refurbing, my next Mac will probably be a brand new previous generation Mac from MacMall. Their sales are quite tempting. I was this close to jumping for 2010 13" Air for a grand less (with the warranty) than what I would have paid at Apple 7 months ago. They are selling February 2011 MBPs at great prices too.
 
the iMacs I received were terrible. The one I kept died within 3 months of buying it. Huge mistake.
...

Unfortunately, there is always the chance that something will break - new or refurbed. Did you at least get it replaced/repaired under warranty? Since a refurbed unit comes with a year warranty, you would have been well within that period.

On another note.... I don't actually need anything at the moment, but I think I will just see what's come up on the refurb pages.

We are big believers in buying our Mac stuff refurbed... and I can list one other 'con'. Tracking the shipment can be frustrating. We live on the west coast of Canada. The refurbs (for us at least) appear to be shipped from California. To get to us, the shipment apparently needs to visit at least 4 or 5 cities in transit, 3 of which are going to be in eastern Canada/USA. One time I tracked the shipment to Vancouver (50km or so away from us) before it visited Montreal - and then coming back to the coast. From experience, I can tell you this really builds anticipation.

2 thumbs up for refurbs.... 1/2 thumb down for the shipment tracking!
 
Go for it

Bought a mid-2011 iMac i7 a few months ago from the UK refurb store. Came in a plain white box, but that was the only downside. Opened it up and there was a lovely little bonus of 8Gb RAM installed, when the spec only said it was 4Gb. Happy days!

Total saving was close to £500 considering the increased spec, and it can only have been a few weeks old at the time I bought it.

Chuffed to bits with it, would definitely buy refurb again

Good luck!
 
Yes I did

Unfortunately, there is always the chance that something will break - new or refurbed. Did you at least get it replaced/repaired under warranty? Since a refurbed unit comes with a year warranty, you would have been well within that period.

On another note.... I don't actually need anything at the moment, but I think I will just see what's come up on the refurb pages.

We are big believers in buying our Mac stuff refurbed... and I can list one other 'con'. Tracking the shipment can be frustrating. We live on the west coast of Canada. The refurbs (for us at least) appear to be shipped from California. To get to us, the shipment apparently needs to visit at least 4 or 5 cities in transit, 3 of which are going to be in eastern Canada/USA. One time I tracked the shipment to Vancouver (50km or so away from us) before it visited Montreal - and then coming back to the coast. From experience, I can tell you this really builds anticipation.

2 thumbs up for refurbs.... 1/2 thumb down for the shipment tracking!

I am very pleased that most folks have great experiences with refurbs. Yes I did contact Apple. No it did not go well. A couple of weeks later I bought a new iMac (which works great, but I am kicking myself over. After 12 years of this particular Mac I'm weary of them).

You are correct: 2010 was iMac hell for me between the refurbs and having to return 1 dud new model as well. Refurbs were harder to return for me as well. Why I stuck with this particular type of Mac after all that, well I had no idea you could use a mouse with a laptop (yeah, I know).

I will not buy another refurb from Apple. I'd rather take my chances new.

As far as MacMall for another Mac, I don't know. I wasn't crazy about the people I spoke with over the phone and/or online.

So unless I bid on a black Macbook on eBay, I'll wait and see what 2012 holds.

Again, refurbs do not work for me. I am in the vast minority though and am pleased others have such great results.
 
Refurb

I have a macbook pro 1st generation. It was a refurb and I had to get the battery changed every year because it kept dying. Luckily I had applecare! But other than that refurb MacBook Pros are a much better investment than new ones because honestly there isn't much of a difference and there is a big price difference.

Oddly enough my refurb came in the original box haha.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Looks like some or all the refurb macs have gone down in price. Not by much but still nice.

Example: a certain early 2011 15" MacBook pro went for $2039 and now it shows up for $1999.
 
Refub or not to reburb - That is the question

Rubs are good...

I got an Early 2011 (256VRAM) Macbook Pro just before xmas, and paid $1,599

It was only 2 Gig. but it came with Lion.

True, it comes in brown box, I din't get any "easter eggs".

The way i think of refubs, is that there used, or rather "looks like new". Even if the box has been opened. its no longer new is it.

If you can get "out of that idea" in your mind. refurbs are great. at great prices. $500 in some case. Its like repairing a mac with used parts "only whats needed".

This "only whats needed" gets me... and the one reason why i'd rather buy brand new. Of corse, this would only last until they repair it.

If $$$ are an issue, i'd get the refurb, otherwise brand new, based on the above.
 
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