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MDWeezer · Nov 11, 2005, 12:12 PM

I'm a college student, I have a Mac Mini for my desktop and I've got a IBM Thinkpad that has served as my laptop for the past 3 years. The Thinkpad is starting to show wear and as I see my buddies G3 iBook which is just as old but solid as could ever be I'm looking to pick up a iBook.

Apple has a refurb G4 iBook with the following specs for $719, I won't ever beat that price will I?

G4 1.2GHz/ 256MB/ 30GB/ Combo/ AP Extreme Card/ E/ 56K/ 12-inch TFT

I'll be doing Flash, development with XCode and regular internet tasks (web, email).

I'm still new to the Mac, having bought a Mac Mini as my first Mac I'm a switcher for life.

Should I go ahead and order directly from Apple or will I find one cheaper elsewhere?

Thanks!

mduell · Nov 11, 2005, 12:34 PM

You won't find a better deal elsewhere.
Keep in mind that the video card is the 9200, so it's not Core Image capable, but neither is your Mac mini so I guess it's all the same.

MDWeezer · Nov 11, 2005, 12:47 PM

Originally Posted by mduell

You won't find a better deal elsewhere.
Keep in mind that the video card is the 9200, so it's not Core Image capable, but neither is your Mac mini so I guess it's all the same.

Yeah, I don't need the droplet effect for my widgets

Plus this is basically going to hold me over till we get a Intel iBook and then I imagine I'll pick one up and my girlfriend will get this one

Thanks for the heads up though!

MDWeezer · Nov 11, 2005, 03:24 PM

Ordered! Roughly $780 after taxes... Now the worst part........

waiting for it to arrive!!!

haha this thread can be locked

buffswin · Nov 11, 2005, 04:07 PM

How much will a memory chip set you back?

You'll need more than 256 with Tiger.

mrgaskell · Nov 11, 2005, 10:34 PM

I've got a 1GB PC2700 laying around. Email me at my gmail account with the same login.

robby818 · Nov 13, 2005, 02:25 AM

That refurb'd ibook is a good deal but i would buy from amazon instead. at amazon there is a $100 rebate on the current ibook, combined with the small A9 discount and it would be about $890 from amazon.

if i bought from apple it would be 719 + tax (8.25%) = 778.32.

for $120 you get a new machine (not that imp.), 256 more megs of ram, 10 more gigs of hard drive space, bluetooth, a slightly better video card ( i think), and scrolling touchpad.

i like the amazon deal a bit more esp. because 512 should be the bare minimum for os x, you're going to add ram to the refurb'd ibook bec. 256 is really not enough.

hookem2oo7 · Nov 14, 2005, 12:18 PM

keep an eye on the apple refurb section of the store...i just picked up a 1.33ghz 12" ibook (the latest model) for $699

buffswin · Nov 15, 2005, 09:26 AM

Originally Posted by hookem2oo7

keep an eye on the apple refurb section of the store...i just picked up a 1.33ghz 12" ibook (the latest model) for $699

Are you sure?

The only $699 I see listed on apple's refurbished page is the 1.2 GHz, 256 Megs memory, 30 Gig hard drive, with a CD drive.

If you got a current model refurbished for $699 (they are listed at $799) I wanna see your receipt!

hookem2oo7 · Nov 15, 2005, 10:44 AM

yup...i paid 799. i could have sworn....oh well. regardless, its still a bargain IMO.

buffswin · Nov 15, 2005, 11:04 AM

$799 is still a good price!

My only problem with that price -- sales tax bumps it up to almost $900.

I say go for the Amazon.com one-- they are offering a $100 mail in rebate - free shipping - no sales tax. Gets you a brand new machine for pretty much the exact same price.

jadekitty24 · Nov 15, 2005, 10:42 PM

For all it's worth, I hear "refurb" is the way to go...these are more scrutinized than say, a new iBook. I still say you got a great deal...perhaps better deals could have been had but this is still a good one. Congratulations on your new purchase. An iBook is a good buy

Wayland · Nov 16, 2005, 07:35 PM

I faced the same decision recently-$719 refurb from apple or $999 from amazon. I went with amazon. If you use their credit card, you can get another 3% cash back along with a9 and the warranty gets doubled to two years. After all that I am paying about $855 for my ibook 12".

Anyhow, the apple price is a genuine good deal.

QuadG5Man · Nov 17, 2005, 01:06 PM

FYI, I picked up the latest 12" ibook refurbed from Apple for a friend. It was 799 + tax and came with a 60 gig hard drive instead of the 40 as advertised. Score!

imago dei · Nov 17, 2005, 02:38 PM

Just pulled the trigger on one of the $799.99 refurbs from Apple myself. Have a dying iBook G4 800 that I'll either part out or sell as is to someone else who wants to deal with it. I've already replaced the logic board twice on my current machine, so the refurb iBook was ordered from the get go with AppleCare.

-imago dei