Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

baeksoo · Dec 17, 2003, 10:37 AM

What could be expected of the physical condition of refurbished Macs from the Apple Online Store? Would they be in more or less immaculate condition? Does anybody have experience with them?

nredman · Dec 17, 2003, 10:38 AM

Originally posted by baeksoo:
What could be expected of the physical condition of refurbished Macs from the Apple Online Store? Would they be in more or less immaculate condition? Does anybody have experience with them?

the only refurb i have ever got was from smalldog.com and it was like new. i would think apple's refurbs would be pretty well like new as well.

DMS Guy · Dec 17, 2003, 12:49 PM

I hope they're good....I just bought my 15" 1.25Ghz PB yesterday (refurbed). I'll be getting it in tomorrow, and I'll let ya know.

(Another switcher is born by the way...my first Mac)

TheIceMan · Dec 17, 2003, 12:52 PM

Ok, I have been struggling with whether or not to get a refurbished 15" Al SuperDrive PowerBook from the Apple online store for $2099. But with MacWorld only a few weeks away and after my calculations, I realize that the savings isn't that significant. With the Education discount and with AppleCare ($239-Educ. disc.) the 15" SuperDrive PB would cost...

Summary with Education Discount

� 1.25GHz PowerPC G4
� 512MB DDR333 SDRAM
� 80GB Ultra ATA drive @ 4200 rpm
� SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
� Backlit Keyboard/Mac OS
� AirPort Extreme Card
� APP for PowerBook - ($239)
� 15.2-inch TFT Display
Subtotal $2,538.00

Compared to: PowerBook G4 Refurbished 1.25GHz/512MB/80GB/SuperDrive/AP Extreme Card/GigE/15"TFT - Refurbished $2099 + $239 AppleCare = $2338.

A savings of $200. In my opinion, this is not enough to justify buying a refurbished product. Again, you might disagree, but that's just my opinion.

DMS Guy · Dec 17, 2003, 12:58 PM

For those of us who don't get edu discounts, it's well worth it.

s4iscool · Dec 17, 2003, 01:05 PM

I would say operationally they are 100%. but condition wise I would doubt they are as good as new ones. I say this because the Al case never seems to be put together 100% after its initial factory assembly. The Apple techs never get the lcd's screens fitted like factory cause gaps around the base and screen when closed. The fitting of the base and the alum casing is neverf as seamless as it is from the factory. Sure there are some from the factory that are not perfect as well, so its probably not a big deal.

WOPR · Dec 17, 2003, 01:30 PM

I saved �450 and although the screen had the 'ripple' problem they fixed that in a week and my new screen also has no dead pixels. The lid hasn't been put back together perfectly but as I've saved so much money I'm not bothered. Other than that all I missed out on was the nice packaging. The PB had 1 tiny mark on the case but boy do you have to look to see it.

I'd use them again definitely.

Voch · Dec 17, 2003, 01:58 PM

I'm VERY happy with my TiBook 667/DVI I bought refurbished way back in February. It was in perfect condition as far as I could tell and pretty much still is. I just bought AppleCare for it a month ago, too.

Voch

TampaDeveloper · Dec 17, 2003, 06:30 PM

Originally posted by baeksoo:
What could be expected of the physical condition of refurbished Macs from the Apple Online Store? Would they be in more or less immaculate condition? Does anybody have experience with them?

I just recently purchased a 700mhz ibook referbished, and it looks and functions like new so far (knock on wood).