06-07-2011, 10:51 AM

Hi All.
Im wrting from denmark, and my granny is heading home from usa in october. So im about to make him bring me a refurbished macbook pro. But right now im a bit confused.
Is there any chance that i might catch a better deal if i wait a bit and dont order at the moment, since i have 4 months? How often does apple update their refurb shop? Is the refurbished laptops 100% clean and new?

Im looking at the 2010 c2d with gt 320m model for 899, but they have the i5 2011 for 1019. My budget is tight, so it makes sense for me to save 120 bucks.

But whether i5 or c2duo, will it last with me around 3 years without any problems? also, is the warranty international?
Ill be using it at college for programming issues.

also, does any of them has any common issues such as overheating or so?

Thanks in advance

06-07-2011, 11:55 AM

Please, tell me what is your thoughts? Sorry if my language isnt understandable

06-07-2011, 12:07 PM

I've seen a number of Macs purchased through Apple's Refurb page, and they all look as good as new. Should you buy now or wait? That's entirely up to you... yes Apple's inventory on the refurb page changes almost daily, but you won't see major discounts on newer hardware until a new revision is released. The only suggestion I might make at this point is to hold off one month or so for Lion to be released. Even refurbished units should have Lion either preinstalled or provide a free download once the OS is officially released.

Apple's warranty is international, but they recommend purchasing the extended AppleCare agreement in your country of origin to take advantage of the legal protections you have there, which may vary from country to country. AppleCare for a MacBook Pro, retail, would be about 350 USD.

Temperatures will vary, and a higher temp doesn't necessarily mean there's a problem. Macs have a built-in thermostat designed to ramp up fan speeds when necessary to keep the unit working under proper temperature ranges. That might be hotter than comfortable to set on your lap, but it's not going to damage the computer. The newer procs seems to run warmer a bit than older ones.

Should it last three years? Probably. Will it do everything you want three years from now? Who knows. Three years from now you might want to run the latest 3-D game with holographic sound and full 1080p cinematics throughout... will your Mac handle it? Who knows? Depends on the folks coding the game and the system requirements they establish for it. But, yes - you should be fine for most tasks.

Good luck - I hope you enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed mine through the years!

06-07-2011, 04:02 PM

Anyone who can tell me if the GT 320m model does have enough power for programming and some after effects / photoshop ?