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Buying a refurbished laptop

post #1 of 8
9/30/06 at 2:31pm
Thread Starter 
Hi,

I'm currently trying to decide between buying a new macbook or a refurbished macbook pro, there isn't too much in it price-wise.

Anyone on here bought a refurb? Had any bad experiences with them?

Any info at all would be very helpful!

TIA, Steve
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post #2 of 8
9/30/06 at 5:55pm
Refurbs are certified and there's always a really good chance that your "refurb" was one that someone bought on a lark and returned before the 14 days were up.

They have the same warranties as new ones so if you're comfortable buying a refurb go ahead.
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post #3 of 8
10/1/06 at 12:52am
I gave up waiting for a Merom MBP and bought a refurb 15.4" 2GHz model last week. ...The one for $1699 on Apple's store. I'm a happy camper, after swapping the RAM and HDD for 2GB / 120GB, it was still a tiny bit cheaper than the base config purchased new from Apple. I'll see what the Merom refresh brings, but I don't plan on upgrading from this notebook until Apple delivers an MBP that can take and address 4GB+. Which will probably be sometime next year, unless Apple and Intel have an Ace up their sleeve with this anxiety-causing delay we're all seeing.

So for what it's worth, my refurbished MBP experience has been great so far. ...Now I'm desperately searching for wood to knock on.
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post #4 of 8
10/1/06 at 3:34pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks guys.

Current thinking is that as its my first Mac I'm probably going to go with the cheapest option - the new Macbook.

Currently using a Dell XPS M1710, which is great for gaming but not exactly portable so I'm wanting something smaller to use for web surfing and the like.
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post #5 of 8
10/1/06 at 10:58pm
For those who have purchased refurbs, how were they cosmetically? I'm confident that they'll function properly, but was wondering if they tend to have scratches or any other blemishes on them?
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post #6 of 8
10/2/06 at 12:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jaycrew
For those who have purchased refurbs, how were they cosmetically? I'm confident that they'll function properly, but was wondering if they tend to have scratches or any other blemishes on them?

I would imagine that you do run the risk of getting a notebook that may have small scratches or signs of use. I've only bought one and it showed up cosmetically perfect, but I don't know if that is normal or not. Refurbished units have the same 1-year warranty as new products and are elligible for AppleCare. They also have the same 14-day return window. I know even for a refurbished system, there are some things that I would not accept such as dents or cracks in the shell of the notebook, scratches on the screen or backlight irregularities or color irregularities on the screen.

If you have a local Apple store, you can visit them about open-box or refurbished systems as they may have some. And then you can see the item before you buy it.
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post #7 of 8
10/25/06 at 4:55pm
I bought a refurbished macbook. It came perfect, looks and functions like a brand new one in every way. The only thing different that I could notice was the packaging. It said Refurbished on the box. Thats really about it. I love my macbook
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post #8 of 8
10/26/06 at 2:06am
Congrats
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