[akent35]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

I got my 960 GB Crucial m500 SSD for about 360€ plus taxes.

That is absolutely not "EXTREMELY" expensive. It was well budgetable within a month or so, and the benefits have been SO worth it.

It's considerably more than a spinny disk, of course, but this thing just put an extra year of life in my MacBook Pro and made it feasible for stage use (which it wasn't before: I don't trust rotating disks with vibration).
Each of those alone would have made the purchase worth it.

I got my Samsung 840 Pro 256 Gig SSD for $120, so definitely a good deal. And, it is SO, SO worth it! However, I do not need to access large files at all, so the 256 Gig is plenty for me. But, I understand if one's career depends upon having the "need for speed", and thus need access quickly to large files. (Note that I initially stated that it was EXTREMELY expensive unless you absolutely have to access real large files quickly. That's clearly a reasonable and accurate statement.)

Again, though, for myself, the portability of the 1 TB drive is so, so beneficial. Additionally, even with "only" a 256 gig SSD in each of my machines, I am not even utilizing half of that space (on each computer). But, the extra space is nice in those situations when I need to download a large file. That was one of the primary reasons why I purchased a 13" Mac Book Air with a 256 gig SSD. Sure, the 128 gig was less expensive, and in most instances, enough. But, I just felt it was too tight.

[Chongo]

would you by a refurbished iMac?

Shopping Agreement - Apple Store (U.S.)
$2289 vs $2537 thru my EPP store.

Originally released September 2013
Refurbished 27-inch iMac 3.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
27-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology; 2560-by-1440 resolution
8GB memory
3TB Fusion drive1
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M graphics processor with 4GB of GDDR5 memory
Built-in FaceTime HD camera

[akent35]

Originally Posted by Chongo 

would you by a refurbished iMac?

Shopping Agreement - Apple Store (U.S.)
$2289 vs $2537 thru my EPP store.

I myself would not. To me, it's almost like buying a used car. Even though there is the original 1 year Apple warranty, I still want a brand new one.

Also, a $248 savings is not much at all. Now, if the difference was more like $700 to $900, that could entice me, especially if the refurbished machine does not have too much usage.

[Spheric Harlot]

I know people who ONLY buy refurbs, as those have been through more rigorous quality control.

[Chongo]

The WAF for refurbs is zero at my house. She wants a new one as well. Think I'll go with the fusion drive and upgraded video card. BTW, after blowing out the air vents I haven't had any freezes, yet. Dumb questions: Should I hear the fan(s) on a 20" mid 2007 iMac? (2.4Ghz dual core) Is there a way to view internal temps?

[akent35]

If one could actually see the refurbished machine in person, then possibly I might buy one. But, the savings would still need to be somewhat substantial.

[P]

Originally Posted by Chongo 

The WAF for refurbs is zero at my house. She wants a new one as well. Think I'll go with the fusion drive and upgraded video card. BTW, after blowing out the air vents I haven't had any freezes, yet. Dumb questions: Should I hear the fan(s) on a 20" mid 2007 iMac? (2.4Ghz dual core) Is there a way to view internal temps?

You can read out the internal temps for the components that have them using a tool like

Temperature Monitor: Description

[badidea]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

I know people who ONLY buy refurbs, as those have been through more rigorous quality control.

I am one of those who ONLY buy refurbs!
I have never seen a difference to brand new!

[Chongo]

Looks like I will wait and see what happens next week.

Could upgrade ports to Thunderbolt 2
Apple will launch a 2014 iMac refresh next week, sources say. The people tell French site MacGeneration that CPU speeds should increase by about 100MHz for each model via recently-introduced Intel processors. 21.5-inch iMacs are expected to use the 3GHz i5-4590S and the 3.2GHz i5-4790S. 27-inch systems will have access to the 3.3GHz i5-4690, 3.5GHz i5-4690, and 3.6GHz i7-4790.

The sources make no mention of possible Retina support. They do however suggest that Apple may include faster Thunderbolt 2 ports, and announce the refresh later in the week, instead of on Tuesday as Apple often does. There had been some anticipation that Apple would reveal new Macs during June 2nd's WWDC keynote, but instead it concentrated exclusively on OS X and iOS.





Read more: iMac rumored to get faster chips, lower prices next week | Electronista

[akent35]

Originally Posted by Chongo 

Looks like I will wait and see what happens next week.

Good idea! Maybe the price of the previous models will drop, although with BTO, that could be a challenge.

[P]

Note that neither of those two 21.5" CPUs have the Iris Pro 5200, which would imply that Apple is moving to discrete graphics also in the base model. I really doubt that.

[Chongo]

No new 27" iMac, just a new 21" I guess I'll make my BTO. Was there an option to BTO the 21" with an i7 chip-set before?

[Chongo]

Never mind. I saw this refurb that $410 less than the BTO I was looking at,
Refurbished 27-inch iMac 3.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 - Apple Store (U.S.)

[P]

Originally Posted by Chongo 

No new 27" iMac, just a new 21" I guess I'll make my BTO. Was there an option to BTO the 21" with an i7 chip-set before?

Yes it was always there, but it's an i7-4770S, with the S meaning that it's a lower power model (65W) - like in all the 21.5" iMacs, except the new one. The new one is an i5-4260U, with the U meaning an even lower power (15W - it's the same CPU as in the MBA). It is also worth pointing out that the RAM in that model is soldered in. The other 21.5" models can be upgraded if you remove the display, but on the new low-end model, you can't even do that.

[phillymjs]

Originally Posted by akent35 

If one could actually see the refurbished machine in person, then possibly I might buy one. But, the savings would still need to be somewhat substantial.

The last 3 Macs I bought (2 minis and an 11" MacBook Air) were all refurbs. You get everything a new one comes with except the pretty retail box, and maybe the Apple stickers. There was nothing wrong with any of them, cosmetically or otherwise, and I've been very happy with my purchases. I put the money I saved towards RAM and hard drive upgrades for the minis.

[bdmarsh]

8 to 10 years ago, I'd seen a higher percentage of issues with refurb units having a problem out of the box, this has improved, where now it is pretty rare. (probably 1 in 4 going back 10 years, to now maybe 1 in 20 to 50-ish)
I still only recommend that people buying a refurb expect there to be a problem, so don't toss/sell the old system until the new one has been well tested/running for a couple of months. I've bought 3 refurbs over the past couple years, no issues (that weren't a general problem with the model - like the 27" iMac that has had 2 warranty extensions - refurb or new)

Of course there are new systems that come DOA or with a problem part, but it is pretty rare - likely 1 in 100 or so based on the many years I've done Mac sales & service (again, numbers that have actually improved over time since the late 90's).


So really it comes down to time and money, most likely going refurb will save money, and most likely won't cost you any additional time.