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The "I just ordered/bought/got my new/refurb iMac" thread [merged]
- Thread starter sackboy
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Refurb 27" / i7 / 6970
Ordered it Monday, ground UPS and it arrived tonight. I live in Central Oregon so free shipping got it here in two days. The box it arrived in was really badly scuffed, and there was a tear in the bottom of the box. Opening the packaging, none of the actual hardware was damaged save a VERY tiny scuff on the monitor stand. Obviously this happened in shipping, either by UPS or by Apple's staff.
Seeing the packaging in such bad shape, I was a little leary and paying extra close attention to every detail. If something is wrong I'd like to ship it back on Friday. Everything booted normally, the O/S asked for the basic user information, and setup my system. I noticed two issues that got my attention - the display rate on the monitor was extremely slow, and the Wi-Fi wasn't recognized by the O/S or work. I've never had a new Mac before, but it felt like maybe the drivers had just been installed and weren't functioning yet. A quick reboot and it was working perfectly.
When I ran system info I noticed that this model arrived with 8gb of RAM instead of the stock 4GB I'd expected - bonus RAM = huzzah! I've heard so many people talk about dead / sub pixels and dust inside the display that I payed really close attention to the display, but honestly I can not find a single thing wrong with this sytem. So all told, I saved about $530 by going with a refurb. (Well, more like $370 in savings if you assume I'd have bought an after market memory upgrade instead of getting gouged by Apple.)
In summary I'd say that I'd rate my personal refurb experience as 5 star. The damage via shipping would have happend even with a brand new system, but I highly doubt I'd have gotten 8GB instead of the 4GB I'd ordered. I know that the new iMac's are likely to hit the market in a few weeks or months, but I figure with the system I have I won't honestly need to upgrade for a few years no matter what.
Ordered it Monday, ground UPS and it arrived tonight. I live in Central Oregon so free shipping got it here in two days. The box it arrived in was really badly scuffed, and there was a tear in the bottom of the box. Opening the packaging, none of the actual hardware was damaged save a VERY tiny scuff on the monitor stand. Obviously this happened in shipping, either by UPS or by Apple's staff.
Seeing the packaging in such bad shape, I was a little leary and paying extra close attention to every detail. If something is wrong I'd like to ship it back on Friday. Everything booted normally, the O/S asked for the basic user information, and setup my system. I noticed two issues that got my attention - the display rate on the monitor was extremely slow, and the Wi-Fi wasn't recognized by the O/S or work. I've never had a new Mac before, but it felt like maybe the drivers had just been installed and weren't functioning yet. A quick reboot and it was working perfectly.
When I ran system info I noticed that this model arrived with 8gb of RAM instead of the stock 4GB I'd expected - bonus RAM = huzzah! I've heard so many people talk about dead / sub pixels and dust inside the display that I payed really close attention to the display, but honestly I can not find a single thing wrong with this sytem. So all told, I saved about $530 by going with a refurb. (Well, more like $370 in savings if you assume I'd have bought an after market memory upgrade instead of getting gouged by Apple.)
In summary I'd say that I'd rate my personal refurb experience as 5 star. The damage via shipping would have happend even with a brand new system, but I highly doubt I'd have gotten 8GB instead of the 4GB I'd ordered. I know that the new iMac's are likely to hit the market in a few weeks or months, but I figure with the system I have I won't honestly need to upgrade for a few years no matter what.
B&H and UPS Rock
So, a similar thing happened to me this week regarding shipping and the iMac. I ordered a new 27" i7 iMac from B&H Photo Video. When it arrived, my UPS driver called me outside and asked me if the item in the box was fragile. Well, when he moved the box all we could hear was the sound of tinkling glass. The box looked relatively intact, but obviously the poor thing had suffered a huge blow during shipping. The driver noticed it when he picked it up to place it in his truck that morning. He told me to refuse to accept it, and it was a sad moment watching his truck snake down my driveway taking my long-anticipated new iMac away.
I called B&H customer service and told them what happened, and they didn't even hesitate to immediately ship me a new one before the first one even arrived back. It arrived on Tuesday and was perfect. Interestingly, it looked like they double-boxed this one because the box was much larger than the first one sent.
I've read a lot of the posts about waiting for the refresh to happen, but I just couldn't hold off any longer and am so happy with this one. I figured since I'm due for a new MacBook Pro upgrade from a 2008 model, I can join the in crowd then!
So, a similar thing happened to me this week regarding shipping and the iMac. I ordered a new 27" i7 iMac from B&H Photo Video. When it arrived, my UPS driver called me outside and asked me if the item in the box was fragile. Well, when he moved the box all we could hear was the sound of tinkling glass. The box looked relatively intact, but obviously the poor thing had suffered a huge blow during shipping. The driver noticed it when he picked it up to place it in his truck that morning. He told me to refuse to accept it, and it was a sad moment watching his truck snake down my driveway taking my long-anticipated new iMac away.
I called B&H customer service and told them what happened, and they didn't even hesitate to immediately ship me a new one before the first one even arrived back. It arrived on Tuesday and was perfect. Interestingly, it looked like they double-boxed this one because the box was much larger than the first one sent.
I've read a lot of the posts about waiting for the refresh to happen, but I just couldn't hold off any longer and am so happy with this one. I figured since I'm due for a new MacBook Pro upgrade from a 2008 model, I can join the in crowd then!
I've never been so indecisive... to wait or not? Do I need SSD or not? $600 I could use for an iPad if need be!
All these rumours of what the iMac 2012 might have or whether the price goes down...so frustrating! I'm surprised nothing has been leaked about the imac in comparison to leaks for the iPhone and iPad
Twice I've been on the order screen to get the base 27 inch model and hit cancel... just can't pull the trigger!
Convince me folks... end this torture!
All these rumours of what the iMac 2012 might have or whether the price goes down...so frustrating! I'm surprised nothing has been leaked about the imac in comparison to leaks for the iPhone and iPad
Twice I've been on the order screen to get the base 27 inch model and hit cancel... just can't pull the trigger!
Convince me folks... end this torture!
Well I gave in and did not get the i7 version of the iMac today, but I did get the high end i5 27" iMac. For what I need nd what t do I am sure it will get the work done. I am just finally happy I pulled the trigger.
i am so ready to do the same, i don't need i7 really, but i am so hankering for the SSD... but "we're so close" to the new one... heck.
My C2D 3.06 ghz, 24" is working fine though, so i can wait; if i want to.
yeah I was going to hold off, and really wanted the i7 and the SSD, but I will live haha. Just means I will have to buy another iMac later :0
refurb ordered; what OS will come with?
after a few weeks of reading up here on iMacs I finally decided to go ahead and order a refurb!
27" i5 - 3.1ghz, 4gb ram, 256 ssd.
I ordered a Trackpad with it. With tax it came to like $2250.
Very excited; upgrading from C2D 3.06, 4gb ram, 500gb HDD (after 4 years, i am using 150gb of the hard drive and a lot of that is really old stuff that i don't use; it's crazy, like my cluttered living spaces.
It's due by monday.
My question is; what OS will it come with?
the description says OS X and that it depends on availability.
From what i've heard about Lion, I don't think it's going to make much difference to me.
I want to upgrade to aftermarket 8 gb ram.
Do i have to remove the original modules and refit all 8gb?
after a few weeks of reading up here on iMacs I finally decided to go ahead and order a refurb!
27" i5 - 3.1ghz, 4gb ram, 256 ssd.
I ordered a Trackpad with it. With tax it came to like $2250.
Very excited; upgrading from C2D 3.06, 4gb ram, 500gb HDD (after 4 years, i am using 150gb of the hard drive and a lot of that is really old stuff that i don't use; it's crazy, like my cluttered living spaces.
It's due by monday.
My question is; what OS will it come with?
the description says OS X and that it depends on availability.
From what i've heard about Lion, I don't think it's going to make much difference to me.
I want to upgrade to aftermarket 8 gb ram.
Do i have to remove the original modules and refit all 8gb?
My question is; what OS will it come with?
the description says OS X and that it depends on availability.
From what i've heard about Lion, I don't think it's going to make much difference to me.
I want to upgrade to aftermarket 8 gb ram.
Do i have to remove the original modules and refit all 8gb?[/QUOTE]
Mine came with Lion, I'm pretty sure yours will also. Mine had 8GB in it for some reason, however it was supposed to have 2 4GB modules. Since there's 4 slots, you'll most likely be able to just add 2 more memory sticks.
the description says OS X and that it depends on availability.
From what i've heard about Lion, I don't think it's going to make much difference to me.
I want to upgrade to aftermarket 8 gb ram.
Do i have to remove the original modules and refit all 8gb?[/QUOTE]
Mine came with Lion, I'm pretty sure yours will also. Mine had 8GB in it for some reason, however it was supposed to have 2 4GB modules. Since there's 4 slots, you'll most likely be able to just add 2 more memory sticks.
If a new one is released that soon (Which I Doubt) you have 14 day's in which to return the one you have purchased. No risk.
I've been doing business with B&H Photo for several years and always had great customer service.
Refurb?
So I'm now thinking of a refurb... really proceeding with caution because you don't always know what you're going to get.
Anyone think this is a good deal?:
Refurbished iMac 27-inch 3.1GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
4GB memory
1TB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
AMD Radeon HD 6970M graphics with 1GB memory
for $1659.
(and of course order 8g of RAM elsewhere).
I don't want to wait for the new version...I can't afford to keep up with every update. I don't think buying new with an SSD will suit my needs which are basic surfing, word processing and causal photography which I can use iPhoto.
So I'm now thinking of a refurb... really proceeding with caution because you don't always know what you're going to get.
Anyone think this is a good deal?:
Refurbished iMac 27-inch 3.1GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
4GB memory
1TB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
AMD Radeon HD 6970M graphics with 1GB memory
for $1659.
(and of course order 8g of RAM elsewhere).
I don't want to wait for the new version...I can't afford to keep up with every update. I don't think buying new with an SSD will suit my needs which are basic surfing, word processing and causal photography which I can use iPhoto.
I just switch from Windows to MAC with a refurbished iMac 27 i7 3.4GHz, got it Thursday afternoon. I am still struggling to use it but I am very happy with the purchase. I was going to go with the one you are looking at but for $200 dollars more got the i7 processor, which is much better.
I also asked at work on the two because I want to use it with Lightroom and PHotoshop. This is what I was told as the difference.
“Those kinds of tasks take a lot of horsepower. Definitely go for the i7. It is well worth the money. i7 and i5 are both quad core, but i7 has hyper threading which is effect allows it to process as an 8 core chip. Plus, i7 chips have more cache then i5 (8MB, 10MB, 12 MB compared to 3MB, 6MB). I think Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop both use multithread processing so they should take advantage of that kind of horsepower.
Also, the amount and speed of your RAM will make a big difference as well.”
In short, if you have the 200 dollars go with the i7, you will not regret it. Also, when increasing memory go to an external place like Crucial, OWC to buy it is a lot cheaper. I just bought 4 X 4GB for mine for 96 dollars. By the way, the original brand for the memory that came with my PC is samsung. You can get it here, http://www.transintl.com/macupgrades/index.cfm
ONE LAST THING!!! This could save you some money as well. I went through Shop Discover (Discover card website, if you have a discover card). Doing so, I got an additional 5% discount on my purchase.
Good luck!
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Mine came with Lion.
[Software Mac OS X Lion 10.7.3 (11D50d)]
I ordered one that was released in mid 2011. There are some that show in the refurbished that were released earlier than that, I would think that those would not be Lion. But you never know. If you need to update I think the cost is $29.99.
Hey, I'm new to this forum and will be purchasing my first iMac.
There are rumours of the new iMac getting thrown around which waiting to buy is a possibility, but there's a lot of refurbished 2011 models becoming quite cheap. I can get a refurb higher-end 21.5" iMac with the 6770m gfx for around £780 which is quite an irresistible price!
Has anyone recently purchased an iMac and wished they'd waited for the new model? Any predictions to if it will be worth waiting for at all?
And are refurb models purchased from third parties I.e curry's / pc world, eligible for apple care?
There are rumours of the new iMac getting thrown around which waiting to buy is a possibility, but there's a lot of refurbished 2011 models becoming quite cheap. I can get a refurb higher-end 21.5" iMac with the 6770m gfx for around £780 which is quite an irresistible price!
Has anyone recently purchased an iMac and wished they'd waited for the new model? Any predictions to if it will be worth waiting for at all?
And are refurb models purchased from third parties I.e curry's / pc world, eligible for apple care?
I am done waiting for Electronics unless is something certain and is within a few months. Reason is that electronics change so quick that I have found myself waiting too long for things. Now I just do my homework and buy for my needs, as long as the product I buy meets my needs I am good.
I was not able to find a refurbished item anywhere else besides Apple Store online. Good luck.
My new iMac 27''
Just bought a brand new iMac 27'' with Apple Care.
* 3.1GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
* 2560 x 1440 resolution
* 8GB memory
* 1TB hard drive1
* AMD Radeon HD 6970M with 1GB
Got it for a really good price from a guy that had won it in a competition.
Finally a can use Lightroom without getting really frustrated. My old mid-2007 20'' Core 2 Duo was way to slow.
Just bought a brand new iMac 27'' with Apple Care.
* 3.1GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
* 2560 x 1440 resolution
* 8GB memory
* 1TB hard drive1
* AMD Radeon HD 6970M with 1GB
Got it for a really good price from a guy that had won it in a competition.
Finally a can use Lightroom without getting really frustrated. My old mid-2007 20'' Core 2 Duo was way to slow.