Refurb vs Education

[NutsNGum]

Hidely-ho.

I've just bought a refurb 2010 i7, and I'm happy as I got it for a great price. However, in the UK there is a 3 year guarantee on products bought via the Education online store.

The refurb was £1300 -- the 2011 model is going to be around £1600 after edu. discount. Applecare is £150 on it's own, taking my purchase to £1450.

In your opinions, would that £150 better spent just getting the new one?

 

[philipma1957]

Hidely-ho.

I've just bought a refurb 2010 i7, and I'm happy as I got it for a great price. However, in the UK there is a 3 year guarantee on products bought via the Education online store.

The refurb was £1300 -- the 2011 model is going to be around £1600 after edu. discount. Applecare is £150 on it's own, taking my purchase to £1450.

In your opinions, would that £150 better spent just getting the new one?

The exact model with exact specs would be needed to make a fair comparison.

I am assuming both have a 3yr warranty. But hdd and gpu need to be compared. also refurbs can sometimes come with extra ram , better hdds, better gpus then specced . Just last week I got a 2010 mac mini from the refurb store paid for 2gb ram it came with 4 gb ram.

One last thing the 2011 has t-bolt no ones knows if t-bolt is an amazing innovation or ehh!

 

[NutsNGum]

They would both be the standard specification. Fair point about the Thunderbolt and GPU, although I don't game really, would it make a difference for rendering in Cinema4D or Maya?

The refurb has only a 12 month guarantee, as I haven't yet bought Applecare for it.

This only really occurred to me in the last 5 minutes or so, but I didn't take into account the Back To School promo either. In reality that's another (sort of) £65 off the £150.

 

[philipma1957]

well one way or another if it is in your home and works fine that is worth some bonus points. New ones still have yellow screen and other issues edit = not all some.

So a good 2010 or a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I think it is pretty much a push rather then a clear cut winner. Assuming that your refurb is in good working order.

Now if they were in the same room and both were good I would give the edge to the 2011. For the extra 85 pounds I would be willing to pay that in the hopes that T-bolt is worthwhile.
I would not kick myself if I did what you did.

now if I purchased this FOR 3139

http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0G81LL/A?mco=MTcyMDg3MDQ



INSTEAD OF THIS FOR 3149


http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0LF1LL/A


I would be really mad at myself!!


I would say the above two items are crazy priced. for 10 bucks the second machine is soooo much better.

 

[johnsmith153]

Hi,

Where is there the 3 year warranty on the UK Education store?

I see Apple Care for £117, but nothing for free.

I am buying two Macs for my kids and would like as much discount as possible.

 

[TheUndertow]

Hidely-ho.

I've just bought a refurb 2010 i7, and I'm happy as I got it for a great price. However, in the UK there is a 3 year guarantee on products bought via the Education online store.

The refurb was £1300 -- the 2011 model is going to be around £1600 after edu. discount. Applecare is £150 on it's own, taking my purchase to £1450.

In your opinions, would that £150 better spent just getting the new one?

IMO, go new with student discount...not a big $ difference for the new model with longer warranty.

 

[iStudentUK]

The refurb was £1300 -- the 2011 model is going to be around £1600 after edu. discount. Applecare is £150 on it's own, taking my purchase to £1450.

In your opinions, would that £150 better spent just getting the new one?

That's a tough one. If the refurb does what you need why upgrade? However, for just £150 the new one is a good deal. If it were me, I'd have a tough time turning down the new one!

Hi,

Where is there the 3 year warranty on the UK Education store?

I see Apple Care for £117, but nothing for free.

I am buying two Macs for my kids and would like as much discount as possible.

The UK education discount is quite complex. I made a thread here.

In summary, UK university students get ~14% off and a free 3 year warranty. You only see that when you connect to the education store through the university network. You can phone and get the deal as well, but can't get it in store.

However, if your children are school/sixth form the discount is not as good, and there is usually no free warranty.

Read the thread I linked above, feel free to ask questions there (I get an instant email for that thread).

 

[NutsNGum]

That's a tough one. If the refurb does what you need why upgrade? However, for just £150 the new one is a good deal. If it were me, I'd have a tough time turning down the new one!

Agreed.

Today I went into the Apple store in Glasgow, guy couldn't have been more helpful.

Bought the 2011 i7 with the edu. discount, £40 Applecare - worth it for the uplift feature alone, this thing is not light - and I got a free Tragic MacPad with it - when I asked the fella to swap out the Magic Mouse, he just gave me one. Absolutely brilliant service.

I also got the £65 BTS App Store voucher. I am absolutely happy to pay a slight premium for Apple products when their service is like this.

The 2010 refurb will be winging its way back to Apple sometime next week.

Thanks for all your help folks.

 

[iStudentUK]

Agreed.

Today I went into the Apple store in Glasgow, guy couldn't have been more helpful.

Bought the 2011 i7 with the edu. discount, £40 Applecare - worth it for the uplift feature alone, this thing is not light - and I got a free Tragic MacPad with it - when I asked the fella to swap out the Magic Mouse, he just gave me one. Absolutely brilliant service.

I also got the £65 BTS App Store voucher. I am absolutely happy to pay a slight premium for Apple products when their service is like this.

The 2010 refurb will be winging its way back to Apple sometime next week.

Thanks for all your help folks.

Sounds like a good deal! Very jealous. (Been considering the trackpad, my MacBook isn't multitouch and Lion seems to use it a lot).

Good job you paid the £40, you don't get a free warranty in store! Don't know why the weight is relevant, with the student warranty Apple will still pick your device up.

 

[philipma1957]

Agreed.

Today I went into the Apple store in Glasgow, guy couldn't have been more helpful.

Bought the 2011 i7 with the edu. discount, £40 Applecare - worth it for the uplift feature alone, this thing is not light - and I got a free Tragic MacPad with it - when I asked the fella to swap out the Magic Mouse, he just gave me one. Absolutely brilliant service.

I also got the £65 BTS App Store voucher. I am absolutely happy to pay a slight premium for Apple products when their service is like this.

The 2010 refurb will be winging its way back to Apple sometime next week.

Thanks for all your help folks.

good luck with it!

 

[NutsNGum]

Sounds like a good deal! Very jealous. (Been considering the trackpad, my MacBook isn't multitouch and Lion seems to use it a lot).

Good job you paid the £40, you don't get a free warranty in store! Don't know why the weight is relevant, with the student warranty Apple will still pick your device up.

I didn't realise that! Oh well, carting it from the Store to a taxi was unpleasant enough, the thought of having to do it again makes me a little bit sick. Happy to have the AppleCare anyway. It'll be handy if I ever eventually come to sell it. Although to be honest, that's unlikely to be for a very long time.

 

[iStudentUK]

I didn't realise that! Oh well, carting it from the Store to a taxi was unpleasant enough, the thought of having to do it again makes me a little bit sick. Happy to have the AppleCare anyway. It'll be handy if I ever eventually come to sell it. Although to be honest, that's unlikely to be for a very long time.

That's true, you never know if you will want to sell it. Saying "x months of AppleCare left" sounds better than "x months of free student warranty left"! As you have 3 years phone support through paying the £40 you should periodically phone Apple for random chats to feel you got your money's worth.

 

[smoge]

the old 2010 27" imacs can be used a an external display!

 

[NutsNGum]

the old 2010 27" imacs can be used a an external display!

That's true Smoge, I did consider that fact, but the Thunderbolt, GPU, CPU and student discount swayed me more. Chances are Kanex or some of the other boys are working on Thunderbolt adaptors too. If anything it's probably better that I can't use this as a display, I'd never be off the bloody Xbox if I could.