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What are the pros and cons of buying refurbished products?

S

stuff99

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 11, 2007
394
0
As the thread title says...what are the pros and cons

I know of course the first pro is the price is cheaper!

but what are the cons I guess in getting refurbished products?
 
Pros:
Cheaper, same warranty, looks brand new, may get extra stuff not advertised (bigger hd, more ram, etc)

Cons: May be too busy smiling from your good deal to brush your teeth properly
 
Pros: as stated above, mostly indistinguishable from new, cheaper = better.

Cons: it is somewhat of a lottery. My first refurb 20" iMac 2.17 C2D had so many dead pixels it was somewhat laughable. Apple, however, is awesome with customer service, and I got my new iMac literally 33 hours after I dropped the other one in the mail depot. My new one? Completely and totally flawless.

It won't cost you anything (other than time) if your refurb happens to have some defects, although I doubt Apple will do exchanges for purely cosmetic defects. They did not quibble about my screen, though, despite allegedly strict "dead pixel" policies.

Be firm, be a smart customer, and refurbs will turn out just fine.

Good luck!
 
I've made three Apple refurbished purchases. The first two, a 3G iPod and a Power Mac G5 were in immaculate condition, the G5 even came with the original box and packaging.

The last one, a C2D 20" iMac was very poor, lots of scratches, a couple of dents, hand prints all over the screen and 3 dead pixels. It came in a very tatty original box and the inside packaging was also damaged. It also had a problem with the AirPort card, so I returned it and got the money back.

A number of friends have also received refurbs which were as good as new, so hopefully mine was just an isolated incident. I just thought it was wise to warn that not all refurbished products are perfect.
 
I know a few people with Mac refurbs, and to be honest, they seem to have the best refurb-success rate. The only thing to worry about is how pristine the casing/screen is.

Thoroughly tested, parts and packaging, 1 yr warranty + optional extended warranty.

If one of the Alu Imacs showed up in the refurb list, I'd be quick to buy it. (if I didn't have the student discount)

But like all refurbed machines, people have their doubts. It can be a hit or miss. :)
 
I bought a refurb appletv and it came retail packaging with a small tag that said refurb on it.. Other then that you'd NEVER tell it was a refurb unless I said something.. Next mac product i buy.. i'm buying refurb!

Zack
 
I just bought a refurbished iMac and I got a refurbished iPhone not too long ago. I also bought a refurbished iPod quite a long time ago. Besides the packaging, everything was a good as new. I probably saved about $500 in the process.
 
I have no reservations about buying refurb ipods as they have new cases and look new.

I purchased a refurb G5 tower, no issues. However the macbook pro i ordered last month was returned because the display had little gray spots in a few places and the glossy screen had some micro scratches as well. The gray spots bothered me more than the scratches so I returned it. With a refurb you should expect a few cosmetic problems, but the display defects were too obvious to overlook.
 
I got a refurb 2.16 MB and a Mini 1.83 C2D. No surprises, good or bad, and $300 off total. I plan to buy my other Macs this way when possible. The MBP price drops are awesome, and I wish I would have gotten mine as a refurb.
 
I bought my boyfriend a 4gb iPod nano (last gen, the new ones are ugly) and he has no idea. I didn't open it because I didn't want to undo the clear wrapping around the box, but I'm sure it will be fine.

If for some reason it has problems, I'm sure Apple will gladly fix it.


His mom couldn't' believe I got him an ipod for $100. She was so thrilled, she told his grandparents, now his brother is getting one, too!
 
refurb = rechecked?

would be interested to know as a % of total sales how many of the new alum imacs have freezing problems (bit of a contradiction since it appears to be from overheating...)

i recently bought 2x 20" 2.4ghz refurbs for office, figured that not only was i saving almost 20% but hopefully these had been returned due to problems which i imagine/hope/assume would have been repaired and tested by local apple technicians b4 being sold again, so hopefully avoiding freezing etc...

i was impressed by their repackaging, both appear pristine & included leopard
 
Xfujinon said:
Cons: it is somewhat of a lottery.
Click to expand...

Just like new, then :D (at present time. I'm sure they'll improve quality control soon enough, they're bound to know about it)


From what I've seen...

Pros: Big savings

Cons: Possible cosmetic defects, which aren't included in the warranty (scratches, dents etc). Less exciting "out of box" experience as it would be with brand new packaging etc.
 
Referring to the iMac the refurbished isn't really worth it considering with a student discount it's $1099 and the refurb is $1049 and you can't get a student discount.. also you're getting better hardware thats NEW..:rolleyes:
 
refurb

So you cannot get the education discount on top of the refurbished price? If so, I might as well get the brand new one. I am not opposed to the idea of refurbished but it should be cheaper than new!

Does anyone know if you can get the education discount AND use a $30 coupon code? Thanks.

Future :apple: owner......
 
I think you need to consider what product you're buying refurbed to understand the risks. For products that have had a lot of recent problems, MBP (yellowing screens) and iMac (Freezing) you are probably getting one of those which were returned. Who knows what they did, if anything to fix the problem. For slower moving items such as Apple TV, you may actually be getting new stock that they are trying to move through another sales channel.
 
md63 said:
I think you need to consider what product you're buying refurbed to understand the risks. For products that have had a lot of recent problems, MBP (yellowing screens) and iMac (Freezing) you are probably getting one of those which were returned. Who knows what they did, if anything to fix the problem. For slower moving items such as Apple TV, you may actually be getting new stock that they are trying to move through another sales channel.
Click to expand...

I got 4GB refurbished iPhone and it did look exactly the same like other two we got from the ATT store, only difference was white box. So I have to say it was good deal if you ask me, and I will be buying refurbished NoteBook soon....
 
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