Some advice...

[jlewis2k1]

I am strongly considering in purchasing a laptop. One of the options I have looked at is refurbished. Should I even consider getting a refurbish or just get a Mac Book the lowest end? I plan on spending at most $1200 on a laptop. This would be my second mac in less than a year. I currently own a Mac Mini. The main use for the laptop is portability and eventually using it for school.

 

[sushi]

Refurbished Macs are almost like new.

If you are interested in saving $, I would suggest looking into purchasing one.

 

[mick4394]

Apple refurbished products are as good as new. I don't buy new macs or iPods. I wait for them to show up on the refurbished site. The savings are huge, and often times you end up with freebies. The Macbook I purchased in September came with a free hard drive upgrade.

 

[phungy]

Do you opt for educ. discount? It's cheaper to buy from Amazon.

From Apple w/educ discount: Macbook 1.83Ghz (new, C2D) = $1050 + 6.5% tax = $1118.25 shipped

From Apple: Macbook 2.0Ghz (refurb, C2D) = $1099 + 6.5% tax = $1171.50 shipped

From Amazon: Macbook 1.83Ghz (new, C2D) = $1099 - $75 rebate = $1024.99 shipped

I purchased my second Macbook from Amazon. I purchased my first from Apple because of the printer promo. I would have saved more money if I had purchased from Amazon the first time.

 

[surfer99]

I would def. go for an upgraded refurb model instead of a new base model even if they were the same price. If you end up buying the low end model macbook (like you mentioned) then I can almost guarantee somewhere down the road you will end up spending money upgrading your macbook with either a bigger HD or more memory or something. I learned this the hard way by buying the basic macbook model. Within a month I had to get a bigger HD to replace my 60gb and now 3 more months later I am at the point were I have to get more RAM. I kind of just wish I bought an upgraded model or a refurbed model. Just my 2 cents and I hope in some way this helps.

 

[redmeister]

i looked at similar options before i purchased

went with refurb and do not regret it one bit... would recommend it for sure! refurb is the way to go... get more for your money, get it inspected twice by quality control rather than once, and its pretty much completely new (not visibly old)

 

[AppleIntelRock]

I am strongly considering in purchasing a laptop. One of the options I have looked at is refurbished. Should I even consider getting a refurbish or just get a Mac Book the lowest end? I plan on spending at most $1200 on a laptop. This would be my second mac in less than a year. I currently own a Mac Mini. The main use for the laptop is portability and eventually using it for school.

Apple refurbs ROCK. Get one.. so long as you can really afford it.

 

[xJulianx]

I think alot of people are associating the term "refurbished" with "second hand" or "used".

Yes, technically they have been used and passed through someone elses hands, but, once Apple get them back, they have a complete makeover, any damaged/faulty components are replaced, and it goes through testing...it really is just like a brand new Mac. The only difference being the fact you just get it in a brown box and of course the price!