08-01-2009, 09:03 AM

Besides a shiny box, is there any benefit to buying a brand new MBP over a refurbished one? I'm looking for a university laptop, you see, and have my heart set on switching from Windows to a 13-inch Pro.

Any advice would be welcome. Thanks.

08-01-2009, 09:05 AM

If you are talking about the refurbs on the apple site then there is no difference. The refurbs are, just as good, sometimes better than "new" and you still have the full warranty

08-01-2009, 09:10 AM

Oh, well, that's brilliant. I'll buy one of those, then. Cheers.

08-01-2009, 10:40 AM

I got a Whitebook - apart from having a cardboard box instead of a sexy one there was no difference at all.

08-01-2009, 10:42 AM

Yup...no difference in my humble opinion. And of course there's the financial benefit of buying refurbished!

- Nick

08-07-2009, 02:00 PM

I was talking to the Mac Genius and he told me that the Refurbished Macbook Pros use the 1st gen aluminum chassis which does NOT have the SD Card slot and it has a removable 5h battery instead of the new unremoveable 7h battery.

So here's my question... why would you spend an extra $600CDN to have an extra 2h battery life and a SD card slot when you can use your multi-card reader and have the opportunity to carry around an extra battey for extended life?

I'm looking to buy the 15.4" 2.66Ghz 256Gb SSD Macbook Pro

08-07-2009, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by taran_wanderer

I was talking to the Mac Genius and he told me that the Refurbished Macbook Pros use the 1st gen aluminum chassis which does NOT have the SD Card slot and it has a removable 5h battery instead of the new unremoveable 7h battery.

You need to mention what specific MacBook Pro computer you are referring to.

Just about every single computer Apple produces can be purchased refurbished at some point in it's retail "lifetime".

Your statement above makes it sound like Apple produces "special" refurbished model MacBook Pro's...with special "builds" using sub-standard parts!

The refurbished MacBook Pros are exactly the same as the same model sold as new!

Just because someone at the Apple Store has the title "Mac Genius"...does not really mean they are a "Genius"!

There are plenty more "Mac Geniuses" on this website!!!

- Nick

08-07-2009, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by taran_wanderer

I was talking to the Mac Genius and he told me that the Refurbished Macbook Pros use the 1st gen aluminum chassis which does NOT have the SD Card slot and it has a removable 5h battery instead of the new unremoveable 7h battery.

So here's my question... why would you spend an extra $600CDN to have an extra 2h battery life and a SD card slot when you can use your multi-card reader and have the opportunity to carry around an extra battey for extended life?

The 15" MacBook Pro (current model) starts at $1699. The former model started at $1999. I haven't looked at the pricing on the refurbished models, but I can't imagine that they would start at $1099.

I'm looking to buy the 15.4" 2.66Ghz 256Gb SSD Macbook Pro

I'd skip the SSD and save yourself a few bucks. Apple's costs for the SSD are way overinflated and SSD technology, still relatively immature, is evolving rapidly. In a year, better drives at a fraction of the cost should be available. IMO, the performance difference has yet to justify the price (and keep in mind that most SSD drives, while able to read much faster, can't write as fast as normal HDDs).

08-07-2009, 06:31 PM

Originally Posted by gadje

Besides a shiny box, is there any benefit to buying a brand new MBP over a refurbished one? I'm looking for a university laptop, you see, and have my heart set on switching from Windows to a 13-inch Pro.

Any advice would be welcome. Thanks.

If you want it for Uni, get a new one with student discount. I just bought (like 2 weeks ago) my new MacBook Pro 13" for college. I looked at the refurbs, but I got a student discount, but only from a new one, which added up to a bigger saving than a refurb.

08-07-2009, 09:23 PM

Originally Posted by ElliotGraham94

Only difference is the price

And the packaging (at least in my experience). You don't get the slick box and packing materials, but other than that, it's like new.

08-07-2009, 10:52 PM

Originally Posted by cwa107

I'd skip the SSD and save yourself a few bucks. Apple's costs for the SSD are way overinflated and SSD technology, still relatively immature, is evolving rapidly. In a year, better drives at a fraction of the cost should be available. IMO, the performance difference has yet to justify the price (and keep in mind that most SSD drives, while able to read much faster, can't write as fast as normal HDDs).

Ok, this is another thing I was looking at. I was in looking about 3 weeks ago and thy didn't even have the 256GB SSD available. I've heard that the drives are way faster and do not generate as much heat as the regular drives.

You would then recommend I get the bigger drive now then? ( I was considering getting an external when I only had the 128 SSD option)

What about the difference between the 2.66 and the 2.93Ghz processors? do you think it's worth the $400 difference in price?

Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - Apple Store (Canada)

Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - Apple Store (Canada)

I'm not a student, but I am leaving to go to Korea to teach english in less than a month. (no discounts, I checked )

I've been building my own PC towers for years now, do you think I'd be able to upgrade the SSD drive by myself once the tech improves?

Thanks for your input btw... I really appreciate it!

08-07-2009, 11:03 PM

Originally Posted by taran_wanderer

Ok, this is another thing I was looking at. I was in looking about 3 weeks ago and thy didn't even have the 256GB SSD available. I've heard that the drives are way faster and do not generate as much heat as the regular drives.

You would then recommend I get the bigger drive now then? ( I was considering getting an external when I only had the 128 SSD option)

They are faster in read speeds, they can be very, very slow in terms of write speeds, especially the MLC models. I don't think anyone here has ever conclusively determined whether Apple is using MLC or SLC (the faster variety), but I suspect they are using high end MLC models (otherwise, the cost would be incredible for a 256GB model). Again, the drives are maturing rapidly, but they still haven't hit the sweet spot for price/performance in my view. Yes, they will generate less heat and take less power, but I wouldn't let that be a selling point because I think the heat output of modern drives is pretty intangible, especially with the MBP's aluminum case acting as a heat sink.

What about the difference between the 2.66 and the 2.93Ghz processors? do you think it's worth the $400 difference in price?

If you're rendering 3D graphics and it's critical that something needs to render in 30 seconds as opposed to a minute, then yes. But for most consumers and in general computing, the difference would likely be indiscernible. We're talking about 270MHz mind you.

Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - Apple Store (Canada)

Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - Apple Store (Canada)

I'm not a student, but I am leaving to go to Korea to teach english in less than a month. (no discounts, I checked )

Really? You should be able to get an educator's discount.

I've been building my own PC towers for years now, do you think I'd be able to upgrade the SSD drive by myself once the tech improves?

Thanks for your input btw... I really appreciate it!

The drive is considered user-replaceable and Apple provides instructions for doing so. It's as easy as removing a few screws, then the bottom of the case is released and you can access the drive (and the battery too for that matter, although Apple wants you to pay them for the honor of doing that).

08-07-2009, 11:25 PM

Originally Posted by cwa107

They are faster in read speeds, they can be very, very slow in terms of write speeds, especially the MLC models. I don't think anyone here has ever conclusively determined whether Apple is using MLC or SLC (the faster variety), but I suspect they are using high end MLC models (otherwise, the cost would be incredible for a 256GB model). Again, the drives are maturing rapidly, but they still haven't hit the sweet spot for price/performance in my view. Yes, they will generate less heat and take less power, but I wouldn't let that be a selling point because I think the heat output of modern drives is pretty intangible, especially with the MBP's aluminum case acting as a heat sink.



If you're rendering 3D graphics and it's critical that something needs to render in 30 seconds as opposed to a minute, then yes. But for most consumers and in general computing, the difference would likely be indiscernible. We're talking about 270MHz mind you.



Really? You should be able to get an educator's discount.



The drive is considered user-replaceable and Apple provides instructions for doing so. It's as easy as removing a few screws, then the bottom of the case is released and you can access the drive (and the battery too for that matter, although Apple wants you to pay them for the honor of doing that).

Thank You! You just made my decision that much easier! I really didn't want to fork out 3K for the 2.93GHz 256GB and now I feel a whole lot better about the 2.66Ghz/320GB model.

Since it's out of country, I'm not eligible for the educators discount I fell like I'm getting a HUGE bargain right now compared to what I was going to spend!

My current box (which I just sold) is a homemade pc with 2GB DDR2 ram and dual core 1.86Ghz intel with a 200GB hard drive. I can't WAIT to get my shiny new Mac!

Thanks again!

08-08-2009, 04:15 PM

Originally Posted by gilez

If you want it for Uni, get a new one with student discount. I just bought (like 2 weeks ago) my new MacBook Pro 13" for college. I looked at the refurbs, but I got a student discount, but only from a new one, which added up to a bigger saving than a refurb.

Right. I was debating on the same thing but realized that you can get a new one that u can upgrade to 8gb RAM, better screen, better battery, with the student discount and free ipod which i sold, took off about $300 of the initial price. Buying it new would probably be your best bet.