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Refurbished vs. New iMac 27"

M

maxmiles

macrumors Pomeranian
Original poster
Jan 5, 2009
54
2
Hey Guys,

I'm another one of these people wishing to buy an iMac but wondering about the details. From the comments here, it seems clear to me I shouldn't wait. But should I buy new or refurbished? I wouldn't mind getting the discount, but am worried the refurbished unit might have more problems than a new model. If the hardware of the machines built in the last few months have been tweaked to fix the screen issues, and a refurbished unit built on architecture predating these tweaks, then might it be better to go with a brand-new model?

What are your thoughts? Are my worries unfounded?
 
I have had my refurb 27" i7 for about a month. It is flawless and super fast. Save the money; get the refurb.
 
iMac customization is essentially nonexistent, so I see nothing to be gained from buying new. Especially since refurbs are supposedly individually tested, and iMacs have display issues.
 
Good news, thanks. I think I'll be getting it this weekend. Am thinking will extend the desktop with the old 17' Studio display I'm using right now, may as well! It will be neat to compare how much the display quality has improved since 2003.
 
I don't think you are any less likely to get a refurb with screen issues than a new one.
 
Near the end of the upgrade cycle, don't consider the new ones -- at least when you get a refurb you won't think you overpayed for the old model when the new one comes out in 15 days.
 
Sun Baked said:
Near the end of the upgrade cycle, don't consider the new ones -- at least when you get a refurb you won't think you overpayed for the old model when the new one comes out in 15 days.
Click to expand...

Do you have anything to back that or are you taking a shot in the dark?
 
however, if you have access to any kind of educational discount, take that. as far as i'm aware, those discounts don't apply to the refurb store. as a result, my new iMac was only £50 more with an extra 4GB of RAM. in that case, value isn't a reason to go refurb.

the main perk of refurb, as stated already, is that the machines are individually tested, so you're more likely to have an issue-free machine when you get hold of it.
 
zaffle said:
however, if you have access to any kind of educational discount, take that. as far as i'm aware, those discounts don't apply to the refurb store. as a result, my new iMac was only £50 more with an extra 4GB of RAM. in that case, value isn't a reason to go refurb.
Click to expand...

Actually I'd save about $250 by going refurb instead of just using the student discount. (for a 27" i7) Then I'll add another 4 gig's of RAM myself. Plus, down the road, I might swap out the optical drive for a SSD to use as a boot HDD, if I can figure that out.
 
I bought Refurb about a month ago 27 inch. I will say I did get a DOA machine but Applecare overnighted me another refurb and this one is flawless, loving it. Refurb is def the way to go. Good luck!
 
Ordered Mine lastnight!!

I ordered my 27'' i7 last night!

I ordered through the Education store, my wife is a teacher.

No further discounts on refurbs, but I got AppleCare for $119 instead of $169!!!

I am praying it arrives without any issues!!
 
Had my 27" i5 refurb for a week now. Been encoding videos with handbrake 24/7. To look at you wouldn't know this was not brand new. Saved me over £250.
 
I received my refurb 27" i7 the other day and have had no issues whatsoever.
I seriously dont know why people would pay full price if there is a refurb on offer.
The machine i received is absolutely flawless, and came properly sealed and packed just like a 'new' unit. The only difference ive managed to find between my refurb and a 'new' machine, is that the box which contains the keyboard and mouse has something about it being an official apple refurbished product printed on it.
Dont know about other people, but id rather have that printed on the box and save myself a few hundred pounds :cool:
 
iMacdude313 said:
Do you have anything to back that or are you taking a shot in the dark?
Click to expand...

Usually it is karma, people come here and are told they are at the end of the product cycle.

They wait while they bitch, moan, and complain about the new machines not showing up and how they cannot put up with their old machine any longer.

We get a post about them getting a spiffy new CTO machine, then usually a couple weeks later new machines show up.
 
So a few days ago I went ahead and got the 27" i7 refurbished. Plus Applecare (which I usually never get) ... it was so cheap. I'm going to be setting up several various CPU's here in a network (ie: macbook will be my torrent server, connected straight to the HDTV) so I'm sure there's going to be some troubleshooting ahead. ;-) Plus I have a Studio display that shouldn't go to waste and multiple HDD's to organize. Thanks Apple! (and fingers crossed the iMac has no serious hardware issues..)
 
maxmiles said:
So a few days ago I went ahead and got the 27" i7 refurbished. Plus Applecare (which I usually never get) ... it was so cheap. I'm going to be setting up several various CPU's here in a network (ie: macbook will be my torrent server, connected straight to the HDTV) so I'm sure there's going to be some troubleshooting ahead. ;-) Plus I have a Studio display that shouldn't go to waste and multiple HDD's to organize. Thanks Apple! (and fingers crossed the iMac has no serious hardware issues..)
Click to expand...
AWSOME!!

lucky for you there are no known hardware issues appart from the screen tinge (which only fussy users will see, and are on the first revision iMacs) - no other hardware issues really :)

love it well :D
 
Still no sign of my iMac. Fedex still says Sacramento, CA :( - Said that since last thursday.
 
dexthageek said:
Still no sign of my iMac. Fedex still says Sacramento, CA :( - Said that since last thursday.
Click to expand...

Really? That's weird. I hope it gets to you soon.

I got mine yesterday, then spent hours and hours dealing with migration assistant. I've got Mail and Safari open side by side now on the desktop, the amount of screen real estate is sweet!
 
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