Refurbished MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, bet retailers-resellers?

I have an iMac and love it, my wife has old Dell PC and uses my iMac alto she needs laptop so we're looking but new is not affordable so we need refurbished, any suggestions on sellers with good reputation and good deals hopefully with PayPal.

Unless you have a lot of experience buying a used Mac, I personally would not deal with anything on eBay or Craig's list. There are legitimate on line re-sellers of used Macs such as Mac Sales (OWC) that you can trust. Of course the best place to buy a refurbished Mac is from Apple as they are warranted the same as a new unit.

As far as refurbished. As far as I know…there is no universal definition of "refurbished". I know what all of us would like to think "refurbished" means. But sadly…many many sellers of used computers that use the term "refurbished"…their definition of "refurbished" is:

- turn on the computer & make sure everything works
- clean off any offensive dirt, snot, boogers, finger cheese, etc.

If you want to purchase a truly refurbished computer (as chscag mentioned)…purchase from Apple. EVEN if Apple doesn't truly refurbish…the fact that Apple refurbished computers come with 12 months of Applecare is a VERY large "safety-net"!

In reality…I believe Apple does refurbish the computers they sell (verify operational condition via diagnostic software testing). Replaces internal parts as necessary. And replaces damaged exterior parts (cosmetic) as necessary.

And in all honesty. I believe that most Apple refurbished computers have been in the hands of the original buyer for a VERY short time. So the computers look and operate as good as new…and have very low use hours on them.

- Nick

Nick: It may interest you to know that, in fact, the word "refurbished" has legal ramifications in most US states (and in Canada). Just as you cannot legally sell used equipment as "new," neither can you sell equipment as "refurbished" unless it has met certain criteria, namely it has had all mechanical issues repaired and has been inspected and certified to be in good working order. Apple goes much further with their own definition, aiming for a level of repair or replacement that is indistinguishable from new, though it does allow for incredibly minor cosmetic differences from new. This is precisely why they can offer the same warranty as brand new equipment, and these forums are filled with stories of people who bought refurbs from Apple and have been delighted with them, while I can't recall so much as a single instance of Apple selling someone a refurb that was defective or damaged from Apple.

In short, Apple "truly refurbishes" and it was somewhat irresponsible of you to suggest that they might not, even if you later (partially) corrected yourself. I'm putting that down to simple poor wording.

chas_m said:

Nick: It may interest you to know that, in fact, the word "refurbished" has legal ramifications in most US states (and in Canada).

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Simple answer. If "Joe-Blow" retailer says that they are selling a "refurbished" computer (and it really isn't)…try prosecuting the case.

chas_m said:

In short, Apple "truly refurbishes" and it was somewhat irresponsible of you to suggest that they might not, even if you later (partially) corrected yourself. I'm putting that down to simple poor wording.

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It wasn't irresponsible of me at all! I NEVER said Apple didn't refurbish the refurbished computers they sell. I said even "IF" (worst case theoretical scenario) Apple didn't truly refurbish…the fact that Apple refurbished computers come with 12 months of Applecare

You don't get this sort of BIG "safety-net" with most other sellers of "refurbished" computers.

- Nick