[waluigi]

Hi!
In the other post, I was thinking about getting 23" ACD or iMac 20, and you advised me to get a 24" iMac.
In my country (Poland) Mac are really expensie, so I decided to buy it in USA, by my friend. He will bring me this machine to Poland. And now, I don't know which one to decide, a new one or refurbished. He will bring me this in plane, so good package is important too.
On refurb I'll save about 200$, and I can easily buy and iPhone, which will be really nice device for me (as I don't have a laptop - I fact, I don't need It now).

But what do you think about refurb machines, does package will be safe for my iMac?
What's about their look? They have any scratches or something on the case? I really enjoy apple product look,so you know, It's important for me...

And what's about things like drive - are they new, or used?

I'll get a one year warranty, and as I know, i can use in international, am I right?

Cheers!

[mduell]

Refurbs are a great value. They may have scratches, but most are fine. The drive may be new if it was the reason the Mac was returned and refurbed or it may be used.

[waluigi]

Originally Posted by mduell 

Refurbs are a great value. They may have scratches, but most are fine. The drive may be new if it was the reason the Mac was returned and refurbed or it may be used.

So, in fact., machine may look like used? Gosh, I really like new-apple-products-look, so we will see

[Altered_Ego]

Quite often refurbished products look as good as new...

The obvious advantage of refurbished units is that they've been repaired, and still have good warranties.

[FireWire]

Be sure to take the import/duty fee into account when calculating your savings from buying in USA! Most often than not, I don't gain anything from buying outside of Canada... Recently I was charged 16$ for a 40$ stick of RAM for my uncle, negating any saving I had achieved...

Check your possibilities.. Maybe you can avoid paying any taxes if your friend declare it as a gift.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Altered_Ego 

Quite often refurbished products look as good as new...

Actually almost all refurbs (and certainly all I've ever received) are in excellent condition.

There have been very few isolated incidents where people reported light scratches on the case of a refurb Mac (IIRC on the Mac mini's white top).

If you find a refurb that suits your needs I'd go for it. Refurbs are an easy and safe way to save money. The packaging will be just as good as a new Mac. The only difference being the brown vs. white/black box. The padding inside will be the same and more than adequate to take on a plane. I checked in two ACDs on a flight from California to Europe and they both arrived in perfect condition although the boxes did look a bit battered.

[imitchellg5]

Like Simon said, refurbs are almost always in perfect condition. A refurb is a great way to go, if I was to buy a new Mac right now, it'd probably be a refurb. Good luck!

[redhot_nyc]

If you're taking it on a plane, I highly recommend a MacBook Pro or Mac Mini in carry-on luggage. I would advise you to reconsider the iMac.

I work at an Airport.

Having said that, the refurb boxes are EXCELLENT in terms of shipping protection. Much better than even the retail boxes.