Refurb MacBookPro 17" Recommendations?

I want to get my wife a 17" MacBook Pro to replace her 13" MacBook Pro (Early 2011, 2.3 GHz i5) since she does lots of spreadsheet work and could use the larger screen (I would take her 13" MacBookPro).

I would like to get a refurbished MacBook Pro and was looked at the refurbs on the Apple site. Apple currently has the following items available:

1. Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.53 GHz i5 (April 2010) for 1,719.00
2. Refurbished MacBookk Pro 2.66GHz i7 (April 2010) for 1,869.00
3. Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.8 GHz i7 (April 2010) for 1,899.00
4. Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.3Ghz quad-core i7 (February 2011) for 2,199.00

My wife is not really a power user and would be happy with any of the above. Any recommendations on which one I should get? Is it worth the extra money to get the February 2011 model over the April 2011 models?

Just buy her a large monitor. You can get a very good one for under $400.

Shootist said:

Just buy her a large monitor. You can get a very good one for under $400.

Click to expand...

Doesn't quite fit on your lap though, does it?

OP - If all your wife does is spreadsheets, then the i5 2010 model will be more than sufficient. Allows you to spend the extra cash on a new iPad!

Shootist said:

Just buy her a large monitor. You can get a very good one for under $400.

Click to expand...

There does often seem to be an inherent inability to answer questions that OP's pose on this forum.

Why when someone asks a question can't people just give them an answer?

OP - if all she really does is spreadsheets then the cheapest i5 would seem like more than power for her needs. However with that said for the sake of $400, the i7 quad core may buy you a fair amount of future proofing and extend the useful life of the machine substantially.

So either go with the cheapest in the knowledge it will serve the intended purpose or go for the more expensive in the knowledge it will potentially serve you for longer being quad core. The other two just seem like no-mans land and not worth considering.

I think the i7's will hold their value a little better. Get the April 2010 i7 (I have the same CPU, smaller screen).