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Question About Apple Refurbs

Finnxeon

Finnxeon

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 20, 2006
114
0
Vermont
So in the next few weeks i am going to buy a macbook......however, the refurb 2.0 Ghz White MacBook is very tempting, but i am concerned about its appearance......i like my new things to look new if you know what i mean. So my question is, in the opinion of refurbished Mac users, do the products still look as good as if they were new?

Thanks in advance!
 
good news

Well that's encouraging, i wouldn't mind saving a little money.....just means more apple products for me!

Thanks!
 
I posted the same type of thread a while back because I was looking at apple refurbs for a possible buy. Still have never bought one, but everyone there said they were very pleased with their buy and that the only difference they could tell between their refurbs and a brand new machine was the extra money they'd saved!

I'd say it's an excellent option for those on a budget.

The only downside might be that you don't get an original box (you get a cardboard one), but that's really only a problem for later on, if you like to resell your old machines to fund your new ones.

Other than that, you get a second QC, the same warranty, the possibility of "surprises", and extra money to spend elsewhere. Seems like a great deal!
 
Im in the same boat as you. Im looking to get a new MacBook for school....but was looking at the refurbs just for kicks. Seems like a good deal to me. From what I notice though the only different between refurbished and new is about $100...
 
I have a referb iBook and it looks/works great. One thing about my iBook that I did not know was suposed to do was goto sleep when you close the lid. I recently tested to see if it would work if the magnet part of the swich was there and it does, so nothing wrong just a missing magnet for the sleeping swich.


Edit: YAY I just noticed that I am not a "macrumors newbie" anymore (even though I was not one from the time I signed up)
 
Buying the latest model as a refurb is a great way to save and still buy with full confidence and a full factory warranty.

Many who do not qualify for education discounts can benefit greatly from
a refurb.

They generally come in pristine condition, so you're not settling for a scratch and dent model.

The majority of refurbs come from new purchase returns with repairable issues that can not be sold again as NEW.

My daughter loves her iBook Refurb and never once felt like she was settling for
a used machine.

Her's came with an upgraded HD at no cost.

Refurbs go fast because they are quite popular, so you may need to wait a few days to see the model you want pop up in the listings.
 
My friend got a reburb iBook awhile back and it looked great. Not a single scratch, surprisingly. But maybe he just got lucky :confused:
 
I ordered a refurb Macbook, it should come today or tomorrow (Yay! :D ) I'm expecting it to come in great shape. I heard the the refurb systems come in generic brown boxes though :(

I guess a brown box is ok as long as it has the apple logo on it
 
Bought a refurb ipod with click wheel (black and white screen), works awesome. Looks awesome, like new. I got a 20 gig for 169, 250 out the door with apple care and free shipping. Two thumbs up from me! ;)
 
Being a refurb owner i thought i'd pitch in.

My PowerBook which has been my main machine was bought as a refurb. It came practically new, there is no way you could the difference apart from the Serial Number and the Box it came in, it was sparkling/spotless.

The additional candy was that it also shipped with a BTO 100GB 7200RPM HDD which was God send to me so adding more RAM meant i had the fastest G4 available.

Another good thing is that the machine has given me no issues whatsoever, i run it for 10-13 days straight without restart and it works like a champ.

Second story is that i bought an BlackBook recently for my brother and it also came spotless/sparkling and the candy for that was it came with a 120GB HDD and 2GB RAM upgrade..i mean thats AWESOME!. and it also had no issues..no shutdowns..moos...whines....just perfect.

Highly recommend refurbs, its cheaper and you often get more than you would if you bought a new machine. Whats not to like?
 
another happy refurb owner.
iMac 20" core duo in May of this year.
Plus Apple employee friend discount made it almost the same price as a retail iMac 17" core duo. No brainer for me.
 
Don't forget a refurb is most likely to be free of defects because any problems associated with the unit will have already been taken care of. You cannot say that about a brand new machine straight off the production line.
 
CrackedButter said:
Don't forget a refurb is most likely to be free of defects because any problems associated with the unit will have already been taken care of. You cannot say that about a brand new machine straight off the production line.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%
 
I wanted to get a refurbished 2ghz macbook also but I decided to just wait for a refurbished core 2 duo macbook. How long do you think that it will take for apple to start selling the refurbished core 2 duo macbooks after they are released?
 
i have refurbished 2 ghz white macbook, looked brand new, and had 1 gig ram :) so, i cant complain. you might want to wait for the core 2 duos. any day now...
 
CrackedButter said:
Don't forget a refurb is most likely to be free of defects because any problems associated with the unit will have already been taken care of. You cannot say that about a brand new machine straight off the production line.
Click to expand...


Good point, I never thought of that.
 
CrackedButter said:
Don't forget a refurb is most likely to be free of defects because any problems associated with the unit will have already been taken care of. You cannot say that about a brand new machine straight off the production line.
Click to expand...

I was working on that theory last year.

However, a Powermac and three powerbooks later and I was begging for a refund. To have so many faulty units in a row seems like spectacularly bad look though as most people praise Apple's refurbs.

Perhaps Quality Control in the UK is not so hot as the US. The Powermac also came with marks and dirt over it. The Powerbooks did look pristine though. They just were either DOA or came up with errors within a day or two.

Luckily, Apple took every one back with no problem so I'd certainly recommend trying to get a refurb to save money. Then if you get the duds, you can reassess the situation. :)
 
Some batches of perfecty new units off the shelf have issues too.

Buying refurbs saves money so at least you can buy a good system for less.

A few hundred bucks can make the difference between having just a computer or having a computer with software and a case or a back-up drive, digital I/O or something else you need.

You might consider ordering your refurb at your local store or call to order.

I found that it helps to have a regular sales rep in the event there's any problem.

But never had any problems.
 
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