Sanity check on purchasing Microcenter refurb

[automan98]

Can you please let me know if I'm crazy with the following... I currently have a mid 2011 Macbook Air with a SSD drive and 4 GB RAM. I'm very happy with it. My son needs a new laptop and I'm thinking about buying him a refurbished, just off of lease Macbook Air which is the same as I have for $550. I'm comparing that to a brand new $550 Dell Inspiron i5. My son will use it for browsing, cloud apps, music, etc. No video production or heavy CPU stuff. Trying to keep the purchase around $500.

Would I be crazy to buy a 5 year old Macbook Air for $550?
Would I be crazy to buy without a warranty (looking to buy from Microcenter)?

Thank you!

 

[kohlson]

I bought my daughter a 2011 13-in MBA with 4GB and 256GB. It went to college for 4 years and never missed a beat. She ran out of SSD space, so I updated to OWC 480about 18 months ago. About a year ago, after 1000+ cycles, the battery bulged and went out, taking the track pad with it. Apple Store (for fee) replaced the battery and trackpad. She still loves it - similar usage to what you describe. It runs El Cap. But, check for battery cycles in System Report, to see if it will need a new battery.

 

[Boyd01]

First, you haven't really told us what you have. All 2011 MacBook Airs have a "SSD". What size are you talking about? 128gb? Personally, that deal would not interest me. I had a 2011 13" MBA i5/4gb/256gb and sold it to a close friend in 2013 for less that that MicroCenter price in a "sweetheart deal". She still uses it everyday and loves it.

But the 2011 MBA is really showing its age today. Battery life is not anywhere near the newer models, doesn't have USB 3.0, it has slow wifi, the SSD is much slower than the newer machines and the SD card slot is very slow. Now all of that might be fine for some people, but I wouldn't pay $550 for it. But if you do, make sure that it has a new battery. Otherwise you may be spending another $150 soon.

Also sounds like you need to decide whether you want a Mac or a PC. If you want a Mac, then it's irrelevant how much a Dell PC costs. IMO, the "sweet spot" for a used MBA is the 2013 model. Very little has been improved on the newer machines. I have a 2013 11" i7/8gb/512gb MBA and no plans to upgrade anytime soon.