Thoughts on this refurb system?

[cfcboy]

Hi, im looking to take the giant leap from HP laptop to Apple MacBook.

Would anyone say this is a decent machine for the price?

£1489

Refurbished 15.4-inch MacBook Pro 2.3GHz Quad-core Intel i7 with Retina Display

Eligible for OS X Mountain Lion Up-to-Date Program

Originally released June 2012
15.4-inch (diagonal) Retina display; 2880-by-1800 resolution at 220 pixels per inch
8GB of 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
256GB Flash Storage
720p FaceTime HD Camera
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1GB of GDDR5 memory

Been toying with the idea of Retina and non retina but retina always seems to come out on top. The non retian refurb deal is:

£1269

Refurbished 15.4-inch MacBook Pro 2.3GHz Quad-core Intel i7

Eligible for OS X Mountain Lion Up-to-Date Program

Originally released June 2012
15.4-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1440-by-900 resolution

4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 512MB of GDDR5 memory

So is the £200 additional cost worth it for the extra bump in GPU, Flash drive, extra 4gb of mem and retina display?

Im looking to buy this between now and June, are the costs likely to stay static with app unitl then?

Any advice would be greatly appreicated

 

[Macman45]

Hi, im looking to take the giant leap from HP laptop to Apple MacBook.

Would anyone say this is a decent machine for the price?

£1489

Refurbished 15.4-inch MacBook Pro 2.3GHz Quad-core Intel i7 with Retina Display

Eligible for OS X Mountain Lion Up-to-Date Program

Originally released June 2012
15.4-inch (diagonal) Retina display; 2880-by-1800 resolution at 220 pixels per inch
8GB of 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
256GB Flash Storage
720p FaceTime HD Camera
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1GB of GDDR5 memory

Been toying with the idea of Retina and non retina but retina always seems to come out on top. The non retian refurb deal is:

£1269

Refurbished 15.4-inch MacBook Pro 2.3GHz Quad-core Intel i7

Eligible for OS X Mountain Lion Up-to-Date Program

Originally released June 2012
15.4-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1440-by-900 resolution

4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 512MB of GDDR5 memory

So is the £200 additional cost worth it for the extra bump in GPU, Flash drive, extra 4gb of mem and retina display?

Im looking to buy this between now and June, are the costs likely to stay static with app unitl then?

Any advice would be greatly appreicated

I guess I'll be in a better position to answer your question on Monday when my new rMBP is delivered, but you can be assured that all Apple refurbs are fine, as new machines. I deliberated long and hard and compared the 15" and 13" models both retina and non retina before settling on the maxed out 13" rMBP. I think the retina screen makes up for the lack of real-estate, and I wanted a large ( 512MB) SSD based machine having sold my 17" cMBP a while back as It was just too heavy. I decided that the better, faster 3GHZ GPU and the SSD v mechanical storage was more important to me than the screen size. Remember that you always have the 14 day return option if you find it's not the Mac for you. That's the way I'm playing the 13"..I couldn't afford the Maxed out 15", it would have meant a ordinary HDD which I wanted to get away from. Hopefully, the screen will be fine...I'm used to using that size on my MBA, although I haven't used that one for work. Whichever you choose, those refurbished units are fine.

 

[cfcboy]

I guess I'll be in a better position to answer your question on Monday when my new rMBP is delivered, but you can be assured that all Apple refurbs are fine, as new machines. I deliberated long and hard and compared the 15" and 13" models both retina and non retina before settling on the maxed out 13" rMBP. I think the retina screen makes up for the lack of real-estate, and I wanted a large ( 512MB) SSD based machine having sold my 17" cMBP a while back as It was just too heavy. I decided that the better, faster 3GHZ GPU and the SSD v mechanical storage was more important to me than the screen size. Remember that you always have the 14 day return option if you find it's not the Mac for you. That's the way I'm playing the 13"..I couldn't afford the Maxed out 15", it would have meant a ordinary HDD which I wanted to get away from. Hopefully, the screen will be fine...I'm used to using that size on my MBA, although I haven't used that one for work. Whichever you choose, those refurbished units are fine.

Thanks for the repsonse. I too am not in a great position to afford but biting the bullet and putting on my credit card (with 0% interest for a year). Im so use to a 15" screen (i use a HP 15" for years) so probably not going to be hot for the 13", i know id learn to regret it.

I dont suppose you know how frequently the refurb deals come up on the site do you? And if what ive added to the OP are good deals for the current time?

Thanks again

 

[Macman45]

Thanks for the repsonse. I too am not in a great position to afford but biting the bullet and putting on my credit card (with 0% interest for a year). Im so use to a 15" screen (i use a HP 15" for years) so probably not going to be hot for the 13", i know id learn to regret it.

I dont suppose you know how frequently the refurb deals come up on the site do you? And if what ive added to the OP are good deals for the current time?

Thanks again

It's totally as and when...There one day gone the next I'm afraid...The retinas do tend to sell quickly though...I looked for a refurbished 15" with the spec. I wanted as did my Apple sales Guru, but there weren't any. I'm pretty confident that I won't have any issues with that 13" screen though.

 

[cfcboy]

Ok so i went for the rMBP in the end

thanks for the input, hugely excited now!!

 

[xShane]

Hi, im looking to take the giant leap from HP laptop to Apple MacBook.

Would anyone say this is a decent machine for the price?

£1489

Refurbished 15.4-inch MacBook Pro 2.3GHz Quad-core Intel i7 with Retina Display

Eligible for OS X Mountain Lion Up-to-Date Program

Originally released June 2012
15.4-inch (diagonal) Retina display; 2880-by-1800 resolution at 220 pixels per inch
8GB of 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
256GB Flash Storage
720p FaceTime HD Camera
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1GB of GDDR5 memory

Been toying with the idea of Retina and non retina but retina always seems to come out on top. The non retian refurb deal is:

£1269

Refurbished 15.4-inch MacBook Pro 2.3GHz Quad-core Intel i7

Eligible for OS X Mountain Lion Up-to-Date Program

Originally released June 2012
15.4-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1440-by-900 resolution

4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 512MB of GDDR5 memory

So is the £200 additional cost worth it for the extra bump in GPU, Flash drive, extra 4gb of mem and retina display?

Im looking to buy this between now and June, are the costs likely to stay static with app unitl then?

Any advice would be greatly appreicated

Yes, it definitely is. If you're a gamer, the $200 is worth it merely for the 1GB VRAM alone. *However*, do keep in mind that once you buy the Retina, you're stuck at 8GB. The only way to upgrade the RAM would be to buy a new laptop. However, with a normal MBP, you can get 16GB RAM for roughly $80-$100.

 

[cfcboy]

Yes, it definitely is. If you're a gamer, the $200 is worth it merely for the 1GB VRAM alone. *However*, do keep in mind that once you buy the Retina, you're stuck at 8GB. The only way to upgrade the RAM would be to buy a new laptop. However, with a normal MBP, you can get 16GB RAM for roughly $80-$100.

I see you have very similar spec, does the 8gb do you?

Ive every only been upto 4gb so 8 is a luxury for me , hoping the 8gb should be good for next 3 or 4 years?

 

[chrisrosemusic1]

Ok so i went for the rMBP in the end

thanks for the input, hugely excited now!!

I would have too

The cMBP's feel like old hat by comparison.

----------

I see you have very similar spec, does the 8gb do you?

Ive every only been upto 4gb so 8 is a luxury for me , hoping the 8gb should be good for next 3 or 4 years?

It will be fine - 16GB is over rated and un necessary unless you're running high end video editing software.

8GB will easily do for 3 years - a lot of people I know are still using 4GB.

 

[kensic]

Ok so i went for the rMBP in the end

thanks for the input, hugely excited now!!

good choice! well worth the 200$

 

[xShane]

I see you have very similar spec, does the 8gb do you?

Ive every only been upto 4gb so 8 is a luxury for me , hoping the 8gb should be good for next 3 or 4 years?

I only use 3-4 on a daily basis. 8GB is great for now. However, I feel comfortable having the option to upgrade to 16GB at anytime I please. 3 years down the road I might be more likely to use more than 8GB (such as virtual machines and/or gaming).