Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

bohdanz · Feb 26, 2008, 03:08 PM

I see I can save a lot of bucks with a refurb MPB 2.4 vs today's new model.

Any REAL benefit other than a slightly larger hard drive and what seems to be a marginal bump in speed?

I'll use it for writing and some Garageband stuff.. but not anything power consuming.

Thanks in advance.

skacoreimplore · Feb 26, 2008, 03:17 PM

Depends on how much you're saving IMO. If it is about $500 I would go for the refurb, if not I would probably spring for the new model.

hedmisten · Feb 26, 2008, 04:18 PM

If I was only saving $100 at best, I would buy new.

RodriCO2000 · 04:40 PM

I was just looking at the online store and you can get a refurb. previous generation MBP 2.4 Ghz Model for 1,650.00

To me that's an AMAZING deal. Because it only seems that if you were to get the new model, you only gain .1Ghz in speed (which we all know is marginal) 256MB of additional VRAM. and about 90GB more of storage. Thats $850 dollars you could use to buy all sorts of goodies, including a better HD! I dont see why anyone would consider buying the new MBP! For Penryn? I don't think its worth it.

Just my 2 cents

R.

bohdanz · Feb 26, 2008, 04:50 PM

I did that exactly.... hit the 'order' button and paid to have the 3 day delivery so I have the weekend to move all my apps and docs from my olllllllllddd and slowwwww iBook 12" 733 to the MBP.

With that savings I can get a 24" monitor.

That money sure is coming in handy... although I'm already spending the savings!
Just hope the refurb is problem free.....

Xarthan · Feb 26, 2008, 05:02 PM

Originally Posted by RodriCO2000

I was just looking at the online store and you can get a refurb. previous generation MBP 2.4 Ghz Model for 1,650.00

To me that's an AMAZING deal. Because it only seems that if you were to get the new model, you only gain .1Ghz in speed (which we all know is marginal) 256MB of additional VRAM. and about 90GB more of storage. Thats $850 dollars you could use to buy all sorts of goodies, including a better HD! I dont see why anyone would consider buying the new MBP! For Penryn? I don't think its worth it.

Just my 2 cents

R.

well its not really just a .1Ghz gain, the new cpus are thinner and bigger L2 cache. How much of a performance in speed? I don't know. Also the new ones have multitouch, lawl.

I was hoping to see something where I could swap out the HD easily like the MB and a HDMI port.

olePigeon · Feb 26, 2008, 05:02 PM

Don't forget AppleCare, which I think is cheaper through Education.

fire3500 · Feb 26, 2008, 05:03 PM

I did the same...

Was about to order 2.4Ghz MBP from the refurb store for £1299.00 this morning when the store went down, was a bit narked as I was itching to get the order in but then I realised it was an MBP update that was likely to drop, so I watched with interest.

When the store came back up I was delighted to see that the refurb had dropped to £1049.00! A nice £250.00 saving on the refurb... as I had the £1299.00 to spend I checked out the new model before checking out with the refurb.

My extra £250.00 would buy me multitouch and an extra 40GB of storage basically... hmmmm, I was not really convinced whether to hit refurb or new. I sat on the fence for a few mins and then thought about having the £250.00 and basically being able to max the RAM at Crucial for £70 and get a 250GB SATA for under £90.00... OK to I have enough to get the 2.4Ghz, max the RAM, bump the HDD and buy my partner a meal out somewhere and probably still have change for gum on the way home!

Needless to say I've gone with the refurb! Should be here between tomorrow and Thursday, v.excited!

sogbrightlight · Feb 26, 2008, 05:24 PM

Multi-Touch is only useful for those using some serious graphic tools imo. Although it has many possibilities for the future.

hedmisten · Feb 26, 2008, 05:40 PM

I agree, mulittouch would be pretty cool.

icruise · Feb 26, 2008, 05:44 PM

Amazon has the previous model 2.2Ghz MBP new for $1750, minus a $150 rebate, which makes the final price $1600. Since you don't have to pay tax at Amazon, that's a better deal than the refurb, in my opinion. In fact, I just bought one. I don't think the new model's features will make much of a difference to me.

Amazon.com: Apple MacBook Pro MA895LL/A 15.4" Laptop (2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM, 120 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD SuperDrive): Electronics

icruise · Feb 26, 2008, 10:58 PM

Update: Amazon just reduced the price on the MacBook Pro I linked to above to $1,694.00, which makes the final price after rebate $1,544.00. I've asked that I be credited the difference.

tridentinecanon · Feb 27, 2008, 10:53 AM

I don't know (too much!) about anyone else's financial abilities in making this type of decision, but I have a high-res 17" 2.4 that I purchased refurbed last year.

This goes without saying, but it is an amazing laptop. I doubt anyone would be letdown if they opted to save some cash on a "new" one or refurbed.

funkboy · Feb 27, 2008, 11:12 PM

Awesome idea. I'm trying to decide between 128MB VRAM and 256... it's $200 difference for .2 GHz more and 256MB VRAM (and 160GB vs. 120GB, but I plan to replace the HD eventually anyway)... I think that may be what I want.

mduell · Feb 28, 2008, 12:22 AM

$1450 for the previous 2.2Ghz model... great machine for a great price.

driven · Feb 28, 2008, 12:27 AM

Originally Posted by RodriCO2000

I was just looking at the online store and you can get a refurb. previous generation MBP 2.4 Ghz Model for 1,650.00

To me that's an AMAZING deal. Because it only seems that if you were to get the new model, you only gain .1Ghz in speed (which we all know is marginal) 256MB of additional VRAM. and about 90GB more of storage. Thats $850 dollars you could use to buy all sorts of goodies, including a better HD! I dont see why anyone would consider buying the new MBP! For Penryn? I don't think its worth it.

Just my 2 cents

R.

Since I just paid $2500+ for mine (with an edu discount) I'd say it's a great price. I would have returned mine (and even paid the restock fee) but I was about 3 days over the max period to do that when these new ones came out.

Still no regrets though. This is the best machine I've ever owned, and you can't always wait for "the next great thing". Worse, (for those that don't remember) my Dell was dead and I needed a machine for work the next day.

driven · Feb 28, 2008, 12:28 AM

Originally Posted by sogbrightlight

Multi-Touch is only useful for those using some serious graphic tools imo. Although it has many possibilities for the future.

You know ... just a thought (and a really good idea I think) ... I wonder if they will come out with a bluetooth or USB "touchpad" (with multi-touch of course) for those with desktops?

icruise · Feb 28, 2008, 05:09 AM

One last update on what I was talking about above:

I got the 2.2Ghz MacBook Pro I ordered and so far I love it. I think $1544 is a great price for this computer, especially when I think what I have paid in the past for PowerBooks.

And in the end, we since Amazon discounted the last-gen MacBooks by $104, I decided to keep the MacBook that I ordered and get a credit for the difference instead of returning it as I had originally planned. I was originally going to give my 12" PowerBook to my wife to use, but I think all things considered that it would be better to sell the PowerBook and have her use the MacBook. With the exception of the keyboard (IMO) and the aluminum case, the MacBook is a much better computer, and since the market for 12" PowerBooks is still relatively strong, the difference in price between what I can get for it and what the MacBook cost isn't that huge.

So for the first time in many years, we've got two new computers in our family. Kind of exciting.

icruise · Feb 28, 2008, 05:15 AM

LOL, I just checked the product page for the MacBook Pro I ordered, and it's gone down in price by another $7.51 (final price $1,536.49). I'm going to see if they'll give me a credit for that as well. If this keeps up, they'll end up paying me to take the computer...

songoku912 · Feb 28, 2008, 03:10 PM

Originally Posted by mduell

$1450 for the previous 2.2Ghz model... great machine for a great price.

That's the one I ordered, should be here tomorrow. Excited to be finally moving in the Intel world.

Simon · Feb 28, 2008, 04:23 PM

Up to a few hours ago you could get a refurb 2.4 GHz Merom with 2GB/160GB/8xSD/256MB for $1649. That's an awesome deal!

No wonder they're gone now.

Mojo · Feb 28, 2008, 06:24 PM

Where are 2.2GHz MBPs available for $1450?

icruise · Feb 28, 2008, 06:54 PM

Originally Posted by Mojo

Where are 2.2GHz MBPs available for $1450?

They are on the Apple Store, but they are refurbished models. The Amazon deal that I mentioned above is considerably better because they don't charge sales tax (so your total is probably going to be less than the total from Apple) and they are NEW machines.

Mojo · 07:36 PM

Thanks for the clarification... I missed the refurb part.

MacMall also has the 2.2GHz MBP for approximately the same price as Amazon.