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scsuh

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 5, 2011
3
0
Hi everyone.

Long time lurker but first time poster here. I'm strongly considering purchasing an 11" MBA (4gb/64gb) to replace my 5 year old piece of junk Compaq notebook. I've been searching around for the best price on the model specified above and found buying a refurbished MBA would be the most affordable option. That said, once I factor in sales tax, the refurbished MBA (~$995 after sales tax, free shipping, and 1% online rebate) is only about $40 cheaper than a brand new MBA with the exact same specs (~$1,037 after sales tax, free shipping, and 3% online rebate).

So, which option would you take? and why?

thanks!
 

Jolly Giant

macrumors 6502a
Sep 15, 2010
646
0
Hamburg, Germany
i swear by refurbs - better than a new machine, IMHO.

i say go for the refurb !

edit: why ? new machines are made somewhere in the Far East. refurbs are faulty machines returned to Apple. they are overhauled by Apple staff in-country, carry the same warranty as new products, and are eligible for AppleCare. great value @ discounted prices ...
 
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BlackMax

macrumors 6502a
Jan 14, 2007
901
0
North Carolina
I purchased a refurb 11" MBA in January 2011 and so far it has been working great. For me it was worth the savings to go with a refurb.

With that said... If I could have gotten a similarly configured brand new 11" MBA for only $40 more I would have gone that route. :)
 

Lord Appleseed

macrumors 6502a
Nov 7, 2010
682
37
Apple Manor
I'd say new. Simply because I do not buy preowned stuff. Also 40$ are not much. I'd start considering a refurb. if the difference was 100$ or more.
 

kazmac

macrumors G4
Mar 24, 2010
10,103
8,658
Any place but here or there....
New

New. For $40 more, I'd jump.

Many, many folks have had great success with refurbs.

I haven't (20" iMac dying 4 month in and had to return 24" iMac for health reasons). Granted those were iMacs NOT MBAs.

So I would go with new for several reasons, mainly it makes more sense to have a new machine when the price difference is that slim.
 

calvol

macrumors 6502a
Feb 3, 2011
995
4
At a $270 discount for the 13-UMBA, I went for the refurb, and so far, it's great.
 

votdfak

macrumors 6502a
Mar 15, 2011
886
770
you can't go wrong either way. imagine living in my country and paying 1800$ for base 13" configuration. ofc i'll buy my mba 13" ultimate in the states, new or refurb depending on my funds.
 

Edmoil12

macrumors member
Jun 1, 2010
51
0
I bought a refurb 4/64 11" mba and couldn't be happier. It is basically brand new aside from having a plain white box instead of the retail one, but for the $170 price difference (from apple online in Canada) it is worth it. It still has the full warranty and they undergo full burn in testing so it's not like there is extra risk. I got the 4 gigs of ram as a like to run windows 7 in parallels, and so far it is blazing fast at everything I do (no heavy video editing or high end gaming so far). I would buy new if refurbs are unavailable (e.g. after a model update) but otherwise it is a good way to save some money if you want a mac part way through a product cycle.
 
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yanksrock100

macrumors 6502a
Oct 30, 2010
673
245
San Diego
NEW
A refurb might have been checked, but there WAS something wrong with it. I dont wanna spend my hard earned money on something used, when for $40 more, i can get it brand spankin' new.
 

TheXFactor

macrumors regular
Apr 3, 2011
149
0
The config I bought was a 13" refurb and it was $210 less than new. So I hopped on that bad boy. I'm not sure if I would even consider a refurb for that price ($40) less than new.
 

scsuh

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 5, 2011
3
0
thanks for the feedback everyone. I think i'm going to go ahead and wait for the refurbished MBA with my preferred specs to show up in the Apple store again. While I agree that $40 isn't much, at least in comparison to the price of the notebook itself, I could use that $40 towards software or accessories that I know I'll have to purchase (ie. office 2010 is $40 at my school's IT center). I'm not too concerned about the quality of a refurbished item, especially with an Apple product.

Hopefully I've made the right decision!
 

kallyq

macrumors 6502
Apr 12, 2010
273
79
I just got my refurb 11.6 128/1.6/4 on apple.com this week and it is just as nice as a new one :D I like it a lot!
 

Scottsdale

Suspended
Sep 19, 2008
4,473
283
U.S.A.
Refurbs probably have better quality control than new. They are NOT used. It even states that all external components, aluminum case, keyboard, display, are replaced even if the internal logic board/components are used.

Apple isn't going to ruin its reputation by selling junk. And people think the aluminum cases are somehow expensive just because Apple charges a fortune for them. I would bet that they put a brand new case even on open box returned Macs that haven't really been used, as it might cost them $3.

In addition, Apple warranties it like new, and will honor AppleCare for three years. I believe more in Apple refurbished than new... If people are buying a model that is at least a few months old and reached refurbished store, then they should buy refurbished and save the money.

It is a really big deal to save the money, and people that buy refurbished lose less money when they sell their Macs. I fully support anyone buying Macs.
 

zub3qin

macrumors 65816
Apr 10, 2007
1,314
2
At a $270 discount for the 13-UMBA, I went for the refurb, and so far, it's great.


Me too, ordered yesterday.

But today rumor sites are saying the i5 MBA is about to be released......
What to do? Even if they are out, no refurbs are going to be available for months I suspect. So you'll be paying $270 more for the 2011 MBA. Worth it for the processor bump?
 

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,311
8,326
NEW
A refurb might have been checked, but there WAS something wrong with it. I dont wanna spend my hard earned money on something used, when for $40 more, i can get it brand spankin' new.

Not necessarily. Someone might have just returned it to get a faster model, or to get a Pro instead of an Air. My refurb 11" has given me fewer problems than my new 13" did. The latter needed a new logic board because it was crashing all the time.
 

ansabakhan

macrumors 65816
Mar 3, 2010
1,210
0
$850 for a BRAND NEW ONE shipped ! look around you will find it .. i bought mine from macmall last week when they were running a special on it ...
 

NorCalLights

macrumors 6502a
Apr 24, 2006
600
89
Refurb. 100%. A new computer was given a brief automated QC and sent out the door. A refurb computer was checked over in depth by a human, and anything that was wrong with it was fixed.

Added bonus of sometimes you get a computer with *better* specs than what you paid for on the refurb store. Killer. Happened to me twice.
 
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