Apple Refurb Store

[g8orballboy]

So i finally got permission from the wifey to get an iMac... but the only way i can get the 27" i7 is to get the 1,899 refurbished one. I saw it online a few nights ago... for about 5 minutes . How often do these things come and go, and whats the best way to nab one?

 

[184550]

It's really just hit or miss. I don't believe that there's any set time in which they add 'new' refurb stock. Just check back a couple of times daily.

I'd assume that late morning, early afternoon and late afternoon California time might be best, though that's just a guess on my part.

EDIT:

I assume that you want that specific model, correct? I just checked and there are six 27" inchers up right now, though not in the configuration and price point you mentioned.

Perhaps this one is of interest? 27" and i7. It's the only i7 up at the moment.

 

[g8orballboy]

Thanks for the info!! but yes, i'm definitely looking for a specific configuration:

http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0JP0LL/A?mco=MTY3ODQ5OTY

I really need the ATI Radeon HD 5750 graphics with 1GB memory as opposed to the ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics with 512MB memory. Thats more important to me than the processor as I plan on doing some gaming with this machine... specifically Diablo III when it come out.

My backup if this one doesn't show up is to go with the i5 configuration with the same video card:

http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC511LL/A?mco=MTY3ODQ5OTY

Thanks again for taking the time to look for me though!

 

[rkaufmann87]

Your best bet is to check several times a day, when it's available have your credit card out because as you see they go quickly.

 

[brachson]

and you are really going to spend 2k bucks on the high end iMac to play Diablo III specifically?

 

[g8orballboy]

and you are really going to spend 2k bucks on the high end iMac to play Diablo III specifically?

Of course not. I've been a PC guy and have wanted a Mac for a long time. I currenlty just have a work laptop and a 7 year old Dell personal laptop. My wife and I wanted to invest in a computer we will use for years on end. I want this computer to be a media hub for my ipad, iphone, apple tv... and i want it to be capable of playing current games at max settings and capable of playing any games that come out over the next 5-7 years without an issue. I'm going top end so that it will have a greater lifespan!

 

[brachson]

Of course not. I've been a PC guy and have wanted a Mac for a long time. I currenlty just have a work laptop and a 7 year old Dell personal laptop. My wife and I wanted to invest in a computer we will use for years on end. I want this computer to be a media hub for my ipad, iphone, apple tv... and i want it to be capable of playing current games at max settings and capable of playing any games that come out over the next 5-7 years without an issue. I'm going top end so that it will have a greater lifespan!

now it sounds more reasonable however I doubt you can cover 7 years with that. Technology is not running that fast as it used to be 5 years ago but still you will be looking after new one after max 4 years - at least I think so...

 

[amt-austin]

Just go for the i5 but with the SSD. That's what I just did

 

[g8orballboy]

Just go for the i5 but with the SSD. That's what I just did

I'd do that in a heartbeat, its just $300 more than my wife is letting me spend

 

[g8orballboy]

What are your thoughts? Do you think, for my needs, that the i5 will suite me fine? should i just save the $200? I just really want the machine to last and want to do some gaming... If you think a game like diablo iii could be played on MAX settings on the i5 with the ATI 5750 and that it will handle games for a few years from now decently... should i just forgo the extra processing power and the turbo boost that the i7 has? is it really worth $200 if all other specs are equal? Like i said, i want this thing to last a LONG time...

thanks in advance

 

[brachson]

Blizzard generally produces very well optimized games - I am more than sure you Diablo III will go smooth on i5.

I would told wife you are going to spend 200$ less this year but prepare her for replace in 3-4 years rather than 7 years.

 

[Warbitrary]

What are your thoughts? Do you think, for my needs, that the i5 will suite me fine? should i just save the $200? I just really want the machine to last and want to do some gaming... If you think a game like diablo iii could be played on MAX settings on the i5 with the ATI 5750 and that it will handle games for a few years from now decently... should i just forgo the extra processing power and the turbo boost that the i7 has? is it really worth $200 if all other specs are equal? Like i said, i want this thing to last a LONG time...

thanks in advance

The i7 has barely more processing power and the i5 also has turbo-boost.

The only reason to get the i7 is for intensive video encoding, because it has hyper-threading.

The i5 is fine for your needs.

 

[g8orballboy]

The i7 has barely more processing power and the i5 also has turbo-boost.

The only reason to get the i7 is for intensive video encoding, because it has hyper-threading.

The i5 is fine for your needs.

Thanks for the input... i do plan on doing some video encoding. I have a bunch of avi's i need to convert with handbrake (about 400ish) but have been waiting do nab the iMac... is the jump in encoding time huge? I mean, if it takes 20 minutes on an i7 and 30 minutes on an i5... i can deal... but if it takes twice as long, i may want to keep playing the F5 game on the refurb store for the i7

 

[g8orballboy]

Just lose the skirt and grow some stones and do what you want to for probably the first time in your married life!


Geez....can't believe people actually post this stuff and embarrass themselves the way they do.

I'm sure your in a happy marriage! Its all about communication and agreeing on whats best for the two of us... just because you feel like you can just go drop 2 grand without discussing it with your wife, doesn't mean you have a healthy marriage (this is assuming your married, which you probably aren't because you obviously don't know what a healthy married life if truly all about!!!)


Anyhow... outside of this tangent, the iMac I was looking for is back and i just placed my order:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0JP0LL/A?mco=MTkwMzU2MjQ

This is my first Mac... i got an iphone and got hooked! Thanks to all who were ACTUALLY helpful and provided pertinent information to this thread! I appreciate it!

 

[aphesian]

I think I may be one of the ones that beat you to that deal on the refurb store. Ordered those exact specs last Thursday. This will be my first Mac as I've been a dedicated PC guy forever. Recent purchases of an iPad and iPod Touch intrigued me enough to take a look at the other side more seriously. Wishing I'd chose the fast shipping option as it won't be here until Friday

 

[g8orballboy]

I think I may be one of the ones that beat you to that deal on the refurb store. Ordered those exact specs last Thursday. This will be my first Mac as I've been a dedicated PC guy forever. Recent purchases of an iPad and iPod Touch intrigued me enough to take a look at the other side more seriously. Wishing I'd chose the fast shipping option as it won't be here until Friday

Yeh, its only been a few hours since I ordered mine and I'm going nuts...I'll be lucky if it gets in by Thanksgiving!

And yes, i did try to order last thursday and you were porbably one of the ones that beat me to the chase

 

[jamied95]

www.refurb.me

 

[Celedral]

Macconnection has the i5 w/ 5750 for $1849 (after Rebate of course).
http://www.macconnection.com/IPA/Shop/Product/Detail.htm?sku=11822991&cac=Result

Just picked up an 09" for $1699 which I thought was a great deal, then turned out I could of gotten one for $1530 after tax at microcenter with my brother's Employee discount + 10% off

Too late to return as they already shipped it and they charge a 20% restocking fee regardless of new or opened

So sad....

 

[andybuildz]

So i finally got permission from the wifey to get an iMac... but the only way i can get the 27" i7 is to get the 1,899 refurbished one. I saw it online a few nights ago... for about 5 minutes . How often do these things come and go, and whats the best way to nab one?

Just got the refurbished 27" 2.8 quad i7 in the mail today for $1699.
I'm psyched! Looks awesome. The rep even gave me the 3 year protection plan for $120...how could I NOT buy it..ya know?

Only bummer is..ugh..it's always sumpin'..the old 20" iMac a friend loaned me 8 months ago JUST bummed out on me. I came into my office in the morning and apple was on with a white screen behind it and that circle turning belkow it but nothing comes up besides that. Unplugged everything..restarted it up..same thing..ugh..occasionally a big question mark pops up. Why couldn't it have held out for a few more days? Now I gotta search for an answer as to how to fix it or take it to the Apple Store for repair b/4 I return it.
Damn Murphy's Law!! Grrrrrr...It's always sumpin! Ya know?

 

[Icaras]

Maybe some of us don't have a lot of disposable income. I've only been married for 3 years and we're both right out of college and trying to save for a house and a family... so a $2,000 IS a big deal. Do you know how pompous you sound?

Or you could get into selling.

You should know that Macs have an incredibly high resell value as compared to PCs (aka: junk). As an avid ebay seller, I constantly like to swap out my machine have 2-3 years. With my experience in selling Macs, the amount of money you spend on a new machine every couple of years while selling your old machine vs. waiting 5 years or plus is the same thing. I really don't lose money in the long run as it all evens out since the newer the system, the higher the resell value.

That said, I'm also happily married and even though this has been my regular routine, I always run new purchases by my wife too

 

[g8orballboy]

Or you could get into selling.

You should know that Macs have an incredibly high resell value as compared to PCs (aka: junk). As an avid ebay seller, I constantly like to swap out my machine have 2-3 years. With my experience in selling Macs, the amount of money you spend on a new machine every couple of years while selling your old machine vs. waiting 5 years or plus is the same thing. I really don't lose money in the long run as it all evens out since the newer the system, the higher the resell value.

That said, I'm also happily married and even though this has been my regular routine, I always run new purchases by my wife too

That's good to hear! I know the iPhones hold a lot of value, which is why i've been able to upgrade every year. Good to know I can use the same techniques for iMacs.

 

[BigDukeSix]

g8orballboy, I agree with you on making the best decisions you can for both of you. I am with ya, and I have been married for 20 years. Ya gotta come to agreements, and when it comes to getting a new mac, that is a big expense.

Let us know when you receive your Mac it and how you like it please.

 

[yankintx]

Maybe some of us don't have a lot of disposable income. I've only been married for 3 years and we're both right out of college and trying to save for a house and a family... so a $2,000 IS a big deal. Do you know how pompous you sound?

Sorry if my post sounded pompous. That wasn't my intent.

I just don't understand why any man would write a post read by others stating that he now has permission from the wife to buy a pc.


To each his own I guess.

 

[iamthedudeman]

Just got the refurbished 27" 2.8 quad i7 in the mail today for $1699.
I'm psyched! Looks awesome. The rep even gave me the 3 year protection plan for $120...how could I NOT buy it..ya know?

Only bummer is..ugh..it's always sumpin'..the old 20" iMac a friend loaned me 8 months ago JUST bummed out on me. I came into my office in the morning and apple was on with a white screen behind it and that circle turning belkow it but nothing comes up besides that. Unplugged everything..restarted it up..same thing..ugh..occasionally a big question mark pops up. Why couldn't it have held out for a few more days? Now I gotta search for an answer as to how to fix it or take it to the Apple Store for repair b/4 I return it.
Damn Murphy's Law!! Grrrrrr...It's always sumpin! Ya know?

That machine is a beast. The new model is not much faster and you saved around five hundred dollars if not more.

Only thing, you could have bought that model "new' not refurbished. Amazon is selling it for 1699 new, as is mac connection.

Still a good deal. As refurbished is usually as good as new.

The i7 has barely more processing power and the i5 also has turbo-boost.

The only reason to get the i7 is for intensive video encoding, because it has hyper-threading.

The i5 is fine for your needs.

Really? The i7 860 blows the i5 760 out of the water. The i7 is in a different league. For everyday tasks, yes they are close. When you need processing power, not really. Although Hyper-Threading can't make up for pure speed, when speeds are close or of equal value, a HT processor against a non-HT one is absolutely no contest at all. look at a core i3 3.06 vs a C2D 3.06. Same speed, different results. The core i3 is much faster due to the hyper-threading.

The previous gen 27 core i7 is still the second fastest imac on the planet. Second only to the new core mid 2010 i7 model, and even the difference between the two is marginal. Not as great as the difference between the mid 2010 27 i5 and the late 2009 27 i7.


http://www.barefeats.com/imac10o.html


http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

The numbers speak for themselves.

 

[g8orballboy]

Sorry if my post sounded pompous. That wasn't my intent.

I just don't understand why any man would write a post read by others stating that he now has permission from the wife to buy a pc.


To each his own I guess.

I was half joiking first of all... hence the "" at the end of my post... Kinda of the "Ol Ball and Chain" humor... but to say she "let" me is actually fairly acurate. My wife has no interest in technology or computers and given our money situation, though not struggeling, making a decision to get an expensive piece of technology that she has NO interest in is basically "letting me get one". I have a very healthy marriage and feel blessed that i'm with someone who understands my wants and needs, even if she doesn't agree with them at all, and allows me to do somehting for me that impacts OUR money situaiton. She works full time as well and so my money is her money and vice versa.