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Refurb vs. Clearance?

J

jasimon9

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 11, 2009
184
3
I have just about decided to pull the trigger on my first Mac.

My first post to Macrumors too, after lurking for some years.

In any case, I have decided to go with the previous gen iMac 24" 2.8, as the price savings against the current 2.93 are substantial.

The Apple store offers both refurbs and clearances at the same price. I am wondering what the tradeoffs might be between these choices?

Seems to me:

Refurb
- has been "burned in"
- has been checked over for function
- might have upgraded specs

Clearance
- new
- discount coupon available, such as educational

Seems like the refurb is a no-brainer, but am I missing something?
 
jasimon9 said:
I have just about decided to pull the trigger on my first Mac.

My first post to Macrumors too, after lurking for some years.

In any case, I have decided to go with the previous gen iMac 24" 2.8, as the price savings against the current 2.93 are substantial.

The Apple store offers both refurbs and clearances at the same price. I am wondering what the tradeoffs might be between these choices?

Seems to me:

Refurb
- has been "burned in"
- has been checked over for function
- might have upgraded specs
- discount coupon available

Clearance
- new

Seems like the refurb is a no-brainer, but am I missing something?
Click to expand...

What is this discount coupon you speak of?

I wish I had known before I bought my refurb.
 
jasimon9 said:
I have just about decided to pull the trigger on my first Mac.

My first post to Macrumors too, after lurking for some years.

In any case, I have decided to go with the previous gen iMac 24" 2.8, as the price savings against the current 2.93 are substantial.

The Apple store offers both refurbs and clearances at the same price. I am wondering what the tradeoffs might be between these choices?

Seems to me:

Refurb
- has been "burned in"
- has been checked over for function
- might have upgraded specs

Clearance
- new
- discount coupon available, such as educational

Seems like the refurb is a no-brainer, but am I missing something?
Click to expand...

Same price? US store? I see clearance listed $1399 refurb $1199
 
patricem said:
Same price? US store? I see clearance listed $1399 refurb $1199
Click to expand...

I have been checking the store, and getting timed out, and each time I got different offers. First there was a refurb for $1399 and a clearance for $1399. It must have been the specs which did not match.

Then that one was gone, and a different one for $1199. Now that is gone too.
 
Mike in Kansas said:
Same here - have always seen the $200 delta between the two.

It DOES appear that the refurb 24"/3.06 is now at a lower price however; I thought it was $1899 earlier this week and it's now at $1599. I could be wrong however...
Click to expand...

The US site was down all morning. I have been waiting for the 3.06 to go down, it never changed since before the updates, yes it was always $1899...until now. The question is, which one the old 3.06 which costs $1710 with tax, or the new 2.93 which cost $1788 at Powermax. I wish the 3.06 came down to $1399 then I would grab it. What do you think...anyone. Plus its only listed in refurb no clearance. What to do?
 
I just bought my first Mac refurb ever, and I was pleasantly surprised by the condition. Not that they are all guaranteed to be in that good of shape, but the general consensus on here is that the quality of the refurbs are excellent, if that factors into your decision at all.

I understand the allure of getting something new, but I also understand the allure of getting something top of the line for a great price, even if it is 1 model prior!

Geekbench speed tests put the 3.06 at something like 5% faster processing speed than the 2009 2.93. The big difference to me is the graphics card, and the ultimate ability to put in 8GB of RAM if you ever need it.
 
Mike in Kansas said:
I just bought my first Mac refurb ever, and I was pleasantly surprised by the condition. Not that they are all guaranteed to be in that good of shape, but the general consensus on here is that the quality of the refurbs are excellent, if that factors into your decision at all.

I understand the allure of getting something new, but I also understand the allure of getting something top of the line for a great price, even if it is 1 model prior!

Geekbench speed tests put the 3.06 at something like 5% faster processing speed than the 2009 2.93. The big difference to me is the graphics card, and the ultimate ability to put in 8GB of RAM if you ever need it.
Click to expand...

Which graphics card do you think is better? I know there's been a lot of debate over this. What i was really hoping was to spend considerably less...thinking the 3.06 might be cheaper. I wonder if it will go down again, making the $1599 a clearance price and then a lower refurb price.

So you love your new 2.8??? Works great??
 
patricem said:
So you love your new 2.8??? Works great??
Click to expand...

I've had it since early October, and yes, I DO love it. It hurt a bit seeing the refurbs go down to $1,200 last week for the same machine I spent $1800 on just 5 months prior, but what 'cha gonna do?

I bought my 20"/2.66 refurb for my kids. They love it! I actually find it a little easier to look at, as I can take the whole screen in without having to move my eyes or head. With the higher resolution of the 24", the text is a bit small and I find it closer to my face than I would have originally thought (eyes going with old age!). But I really need/like the additional size and screen quality for photo/video editing.

The quality of the refurb has convinced me that refurb is the way to go unless you just have to get the newest available technology.

Regarding the graphics card, it seems that there is no conclusive evidence that puts one completely over the other, although I think the general opinion is that the 8800 is better than the 120, the 130 is about equal to the 8800, and the current high end is the best. All I know is that the 2600XT is fine for what I do.
 
I just got my first refurb as well. I have to say, it is in top notch condition. I would not have known it was a refurb if I hadn't of ordered it myself!!! I can definitely find use for the money I saved elsewhere!
 
same here, refurb it is

I got it yesterday, in Canada, and it is quite nice.

BTW, in Canada the prices for refurbs were $1399 (2.8) and $1999 (3.06), now they are $1549 (2.8) and $1899 (3.06) :eek:

I am glad I got mine yesterday. I just got the memory to upgrade it to 4GB, btw, got the Kingston kit from Compunation here in Ottawa for an outstanding $68 + tax
 
My refurb was excellent. If you read the other refurb thread, generally excellent, there's exceptions.

I'm eying the MacBook Air refurb now. Not sure if I'll have any use for it since it's under powered... but I really want to put a laptop in an envelope.
 
I ordered!

Well, I pulled the trigger on the refurb 2.8 anyway. Seems like the sweet spot for now.
 
jasimon9 said:
Well, I pulled the trigger on the refurb 2.8 anyway. Seems like the sweet spot for now.
Click to expand...

I ordered my clearance iMac 2.8 that is supposed to be delivered tomorrow. I got the $100 educational discount so it was $1299. If they had marked the refurb 3.06 to $1599 earlier, I probably would have ordered it instead.
 
jasimon9 said:
I have just about decided to pull the trigger on my first Mac.

My first post to Macrumors too, after lurking for some years.

In any case, I have decided to go with the previous gen iMac 24" 2.8, as the price savings against the current 2.93 are substantial.

The Apple store offers both refurbs and clearances at the same price. I am wondering what the tradeoffs might be between these choices?

Seems to me:

Refurb
- has been "burned in"
- has been checked over for function
- might have upgraded specs

Clearance
- new
- discount coupon available, such as educational

Seems like the refurb is a no-brainer, but am I missing something?
Click to expand...

Appears refurb often includes the older iLife 2008 and clearance will have iLife 2009
 
Advance The Man said:
Appears refurb often includes the older iLife 2008 and clearance will have iLife 2009
Click to expand...

Currently, apple is including the iLife'09 drop in disc with all refurbs that still have iLife'08. I asked an apple rep about this before receiving my refurb, she said they are automatically being included with refurbs. Just as told, my refurb did, indeed, include the iLife'09 disc.
 
jena55 said:
Currently, apple is including the iLife'09 drop in disc with all refurbs that still have iLife'08. I asked an apple rep about this before receiving my refurb, she said they are automatically being included with refurbs. Just as told, my refurb did, indeed, include the iLife'09 disc.
Click to expand...

ditto mine from last week...
 
jena55 said:
Currently, apple is including the iLife'09 drop in disc with all refurbs that still have iLife'08. I asked an apple rep about this before receiving my refurb, she said they are automatically being included with refurbs. Just as told, my refurb did, indeed, include the iLife'09 disc.
Click to expand...

If the drop-in disk is not in the package, you are eligible for the $9.99 "up-to-date" program: http://www.apple.com/ilife/uptodate/
 
Mike in Kansas said:
The quality of the refurb has convinced me that refurb is the way to go unless you just have to get the newest available technology.
Click to expand...



Aside from my first mac, a mini almost 3 years ago that was bought new, all 5 macs since then were refurbs. I dont need the latest and greatest, last gens hardware suits me just fine at a nice savings.

I will never understand the mentality of alot of people here that say "new is better." Ive even read people say they literally can distinguish a "new smell." Gimme a break.

IMO buying new is no guarantee of getting defect free either. This board is littered with people having hardware issues right out of the box.

So as you say, and I agree, refurbs are the way to go.
 
patricem said:
Which graphics card do you think is better? I know there's been a lot of debate over this. What i was really hoping was to spend considerably less...thinking the 3.06 might be cheaper. I wonder if it will go down again, making the $1599 a clearance price and then a lower refurb price.

So you love your new 2.8??? Works great??
Click to expand...

Have you pulled the trigger on anything yet? ;)
 
If apple would have included in the top of the line imac a quad core many people would be buying that machine including me but since the upgrades are almost ridicules considering the prices that is why people is getting prev gen machines just like I did.
 
at this point in time I am trying to decide if I would have been better off getting the clearance item instead of the refurb I got.
 
Zmmin3 said:
at this point in time I am trying to decide if I would have been better off getting the clearance item instead of the refurb I got.
Click to expand...

Who knows it's the draw of the luck as you can see from the forum: new, refurbs... no guarantee. I thought they were supposed to make sure the refurbs are okay before shipping them. Guess not. What happened to your computer really sucks.
 
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