08-26-2009, 09:33 PM

hi all, im getting close to pulling the trigger on getting a mac, im torn between two of the refurbs on the apple store. theres the aluminum macbook with 160 gb and 2 gb ram for 899. theres another mb with a 250 gb for 999. thens theres the 13 inch macbook pro 2.26 ghz 160 gb hdd. that one goes for 999. whats the best deal??? ill be using it for school work and surfing 10k itunes library, making a few songs and movies here and there. thanks in advanced...



brian

08-26-2009, 09:43 PM

Originally Posted by bgomes87

hi all, im getting close to pulling the trigger on getting a mac, im torn between two of the refurbs on the apple store. theres the aluminum macbook with 160 gb and 2 gb ram for 899. theres another mb with a 250 gb for 999. thens theres the 13 inch macbook pro 2.26 ghz 160 gb hdd. that one goes for 999. whats the best deal??? ill be using it for school work and surfing 10k itunes library, making a few songs and movies here and there. thanks in advanced...

brian

If you're going to ask people their opinions on which of three computers is the best deal...you need to at least provide a complete set of the major specs. for each computer.

One of the more important specifications is the CPU speed...and you only provided that for one of the computers.

If you want help...you need to help us!

- Nick

08-26-2009, 09:45 PM

oops my bad...the 899 mb is 2.0, the 999 mb is 2.4...all have 2 gb ram, only the pro has firewire. not too concerned with that

08-26-2009, 10:01 PM

Originally Posted by bgomes87

oops my bad...the 899 mb is 2.0, the 999 mb is 2.4...all have 2 gb ram, only the pro has firewire. not too concerned with that

Thanks that helps greatly!

Personally I wouldn't even consider the $899 computer...unless the lowest price is important.

That leaves the 2.4 ghz MB & the 2.26 MBP.

I think that I would go with the 2.26 MBP.

Yes it has a slightly slower processor than the MB 2.4 (which you probably won't notice)...but the 2.26 has the longer runtime 7 hour battery, and the MBP has an 8 gig of ram max (the 2.4 has a 4 gig of ram max).

Both have the same graphics hardware...so that doesn't matter.

The hard drive size really doesn't matter...since that can be upgraded later very easily.

The 2.26 MBP would be my choice.

Hope this helps,

- Nick

p.s. Remember In case you don't know. The refurbished inventory can change daily or even hourly...and sometimes the computer you want may not always be available.

08-27-2009, 12:16 AM

thanks ill b ordering a mbp on friday!!!!! yay my first mac

08-27-2009, 12:20 AM

I have the one that your ordering. the 13'' macbook pro. It is soooo nice. I love it. I can't stop using it! literally... I hated laptops till I got this. Its so smooth and nice. And really easy to upgrade the hard drive and memory. I upgraded my hard drive to a seagate 500gb momentus 7200rpm. Next comes 4gb of memory then i will be set. Good choice my friend.

08-27-2009, 12:42 AM

***deathcloud***how hard is the hd swap, im deathly afraid of trying to b cheap and doing it myself, ive been told by some guys at work to have geek squad swap em...but im a little skeptical

08-27-2009, 01:54 AM

I just wanted To say that with refurbs you can't upgrade harddrive without voiding your warranty. So if 160gb is not enough but you wan. Your apple care might want to think about spending 200$ more for the brand new (100$ if you can get a student discount)
but if you don't care about warranty and are willing to upgrade urself the. By all means get that refurb


If 160gb is enough then disregard this post


((I asked an apple genius guy these questions earlier this week)

08-27-2009, 11:28 AM

Ya I though about that too. I already have a 500 gb time capsule. And I plan on purchasing either a USB or FireWire external hard drive in the new future. Any recommendations on the external drive. Certain brands ?? Thanks.

08-27-2009, 11:45 AM

bgomes87, what is funny is that I didn't go to geek squad. I am not very computer savvy, especially to mac laptops, now a desktop is another story. But I followed the guide by chrismac and it wasn't hard at all. Actually very simple. The hardest part is getting all 10 screws out of the back of the laptop. just time consuming. But everything else is so simple.

However, being advised by babyt saying that you void the warranty by doing this is an upset. So you can be a rebel and do it or just be stuck with the hard drive.

But this brings up the question, can you upgrade your memory? Or does that void the warranty as well? That would be bogus because that means they are forcing you to buy their upgraded machine which is highly marked up. Doing it by urself costs much cheaper. But its up to you.

08-27-2009, 12:17 PM

There are instructions for changing/adding RAM in the manual, so I can't believe that will void the warranty. Best to check anyway though.

08-27-2009, 04:11 PM

Well I called an apple store and i asked them about it. I was going to get a refurb myself. But after hearing that I changed my mind.
And waiting a few weeks to get the extra cash to get a brand new one



I'm not sure about memory upgrades. But wouldn't hold my breath about it.

08-27-2009, 04:47 PM

Originally Posted by babyt

I just wanted To say that with refurbs you can't upgrade harddrive without voiding your warranty. So if 160gb is not enough but you wan. Your apple care might want to think about spending 200$ more for the brand new (100$ if you can get a student discount)
but if you don't care about warranty and are willing to upgrade urself the. By all means get that refurb


If 160gb is enough then disregard this post


((I asked an apple genius guy these questions earlier this week)

I think your wrong on this one. Just because it's a refurb doesn't mean you cannot replace the hard drive. In my manual it shows how when I purchased my refurb black macbook. In some of the older macbook pros, yes changing the hard drive involved gutting the laptop which would void your warranty. The new macbook pros (would have to be latest since it's a 13.3 MBP) the hard drives are user replaceable. It's in their manuals on page 37 and there is no new version and refurb version to the manuals.

08-28-2009, 07:51 AM

I did not say you couldn't. Just that to do so would void the warranty. However I only asked one apple genius. I guess I'll call a different store and ask someone else.
Mb the guy was wrong????

08-28-2009, 10:25 AM

Yea if they were worried about voiding the warranty then they wouldn't allow you to upgrade anything. Hopefully you guys find out if it is true or not true so we can figure it out and let other refurb people know that it is either ok or not ok because voiding the warranty is a big deal.