Why is the refurbished powerbook still so expensive?

[LUNA]

In apple's refurbished store, there seems to be always some powerbooks in there, and they are almost the same price as the refurbished macbook pro. Does apple expect anyone really to buy them at all? I don't see any reason to buy them in the presence of the much more powerful macbook pro asking for the same price. What kind of sale strategy is this?

 

[adrianblaine]

Are you looking at the original price or the discounted price??

Original price: $1,999.00
Your price: $1,249.00

$1,249 is a lot less than the MBP...

EDIT: ooops, was looking at the 17" MBP... I compared it to the 15" PowerBook

 

[Compile 'em all]

I am interested in an answer too, if any. I can only assume that if someone needs the machine for some software that only runs on PPC. But still that doesn't justify why they are still expensive.

 

[dllavaneras]

Original price: $1,999.00
Your price: $1,249.00

$1,249 is a lot less than the MBP...

Still, would you buy a powerbook for 1300 bucks?

 

[adrianblaine]

Still, would you buy a powerbook for 1300 bucks?

No, but some people must be or they wouldn't be charging that much.

 

[LUNA]

I am interested in an answer too, if any. I can only assume that if someone needs the machine for some software that only runs on PPC. But still that doesn't justify why they are still expensive.

Isn't rosetta running all the PowerPC software? Just a bit slower, but the power the intel CPU can fill the speed gap, and more and more softwares are switching to universal version.

 

[dllavaneras]

Isn't rosetta running all the PowerPC software? Just a bit slower, but the power the intel CPU can fill the speed gap, and more and more softwares are switching to universal version.

Exactly my point. I doubt that an Intel Mac running Rosetta is slower that a G4 powerbook.

 

[Sly]

It's quite common to find older lower spec Macs at higher prices than the newer higher spec ones in the refurb store, it mystifies me too.

 

[Butthead]

Exactly my point. I doubt that an Intel Mac running Rosetta is slower that a G4 powerbook.

Probably for the same reason people can get more selling their product on e-Bay and then buying the newest and greatest from Apple...ignorance of the consumer . I.e., they only have a few of these for sale, and some sucker always buys them at that inflated price.

Could be that some PPC applications are just easier to swap from one PB to another PB setup, for someone who is too lazy to learn what few disadvantages there are (not sure I would consider there are any?). With a 2.33 MBP I would think the difference btw a top of the line PG is even less when running some PPC apps in Rosetta, seeing how the lastest MBP's are now using faster clocked x1600 GPU's.

G4 v. Intel CD benchmarks.

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/content_page.asp?cid=7-7891-8185&print=true

http://www.macworld.com/2006/02/reviews/mbpromain/index.php

I wonder how much longer Apple will be able to sell any PB's on their site once the major apps like those from Adobe are all UB by this summer?

 

[BenHoleton]

And when everything goes ub, you'll see powerbook prices drop significantly. My wife's 17" powerbook needed to be replaced, and if she had to use adobe as well as final cut (she only uses final cut), I woould have asked for a refurb pb, instead of the mbp.

 

[danny_w]

And when everything goes ub, you'll see powerbook prices drop significantly. My wife's 17" powerbook needed to be replaced, and if she had to use adobe as well as final cut (she only uses final cut), I woould have asked for a refurb pb, instead of the mbp.

People have been predicting the PB prices would plummet for a long time now, and it hasn't happened yet. I just sold my 15" 1.5 Combo drive (previous to last rev) for $900 cash and could have gotten more if I had held out. They are proven machines with a good track record, unlike some of the problems that the MB and MBP have been having, so I can easily see why people would still want a PB over a MB/MBP. Not everybody wants to be a beta tester. I have been looking at the new C2D MB, but refuse to buy it until Apple proves to me that they have fixed the wireless problems that seem to be so widespread (regardless of router type).

 

[Zwhaler]

I think Apple makes it that much because they know if someone really wants a powerbook, they will have to pay the price (even though who knows who would want one now)

 

[Abstract]

In apple's refurbished store, there seems to be always some powerbooks in there, and they are almost the same price as the refurbished macbook pro. Does apple expect anyone really to buy them at all? I don't see any reason to buy them in the presence of the much more powerful macbook pro asking for the same price. What kind of sale strategy is this?

Because they're trying to pull a fast one on you!

But really, sometimes the refurbs will say something like:

Refurbished 15" PowerBook...1.5 Ghz G4 processor (or whatever specs you'd expect to find here).
Original Price: $2500
Refurbished Price: $2250.
Save 10%!!

So yes, the original price was $2500....until you realize that Apple lowered the price of the 1.5 Ghz PowerBook from $2500 to $2200 when they upgraded the top-end 15" PBs to 1.67 Ghz, which makes the "original price" rather deceiving, since the selling price of a NEW 15" PowerBook cheaper than the refurb, even if it has great specs.

This is just an example used to illustrate a point.. I didn't use real prices or specs. This does happen though, especially with iPods.