Refurbished 2010 model or a new 2011 model??

[cris623]

Hey Everyone!

Just looking for some opinions. I'm a university student just looking for a laptop for general web and word use.
I was on the apple website and they have a refurbished lower end 15" from 2010 for $1319. Now I was also looking at brand new and I'm just not sure if the new 2011 update is worth the extra money. The thunderbolt port won't be much use to me, since I won't be transferring large files and I did notice that the new ones have the i7 as well as the 500 GB hard drive which are obviously better.
Just looking for opinions and if I'm missing anything big that would make a new mbp a better option for me and if anyone had negative experiences with refurbished apple products.

Thanks!

 

[Buck987]

for your needs get a 2010 refurb model

 

[HBOC]

seems like even a 13" refurb would be fine, unless you need a larger screen. Can always upgrade the drive yourself

 

[cris623]

Thanks to both of you. I was definitely leaning towards the refurbished and the 13" would be fine, I just want the bigger screen.

 

[Jmouse]

Get the new 13inch with i5 or refurbish 2010 15"

Im always reluctant to get the first patch of updates.

like the ipad2 im not sure to wait or not.

 

[Kyzelios]

I'd recommend one of the refurbished 2010 models, either a 13-inch or 15-inch depending on how much you will be carrying it around -- either one will meet your needs for years to come.

 

[paleriderc2d]

I just picked up a new high end 13 two days before the refresh. I am going to use it to carry me through my masters degree. I used a blackbook to get me through my undergrad work, and it did it well. The 13 inch travels well, and a core 2 duo runs Word and Firefox.

I didn't want Intel graphics - my blackbook has it and I've never enjoyed even light gaming on it.

The only thing is with a refurb 13" you will have a core 2 duo, and that may be a detractor for many.

 

[Kyzelios]

The only thing is with a refurb 13" you will have a core 2 duo, and that may be a detractor for many.

The Core 2 Duo processors are still quite capable and for web surfing, word processing, and other general tasks you wouldn't realize the full capabilities of the new Core i5 or i7 series processors anyway -- it'd be better to take the price difference and invest in a memory upgrade or solid state disk, in my opinion.

 

[cris623]

Yeah I think if I was to decide to go with the 13" I would get the 2011 models. Just because I would prefer to have the i5. But at this point I'm pretty certain I'm going to go with the 15" 2010 refurb. I prefer the bigger screen and it has the i5 and if I find out I need more memory or storage down the road I can upgrade fairly easy.

Thanks for all the opinions!!

 

[adnoh]

go with refurb