Refurb or new?

I currently use a PC and am almost decided on switching to a MAC (about 80% there). My budget will allow me to buy a refurb Macbook or if I really pushed it and I could go for a new Macbook.

The refurb one has the following spec and costs £599:

Refurbished MacBook 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo - White

• 13.3-inch glossy widescreen display
• 1280 x 800 resolution
• 512MB memory (2x256MB SODIMMs)
• 60GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive
• SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
• Built-in iSight camera

I guess I don't need to list the spec of the £749 Macbook.

I would like to know what the general consensus is on buying a refurb Mac. Do they die after the year's warranty runs out? Can they be considered reliable? Or should I break the bank slightly and go for new? I really appreciate your comments.

Thanks,

I'm the owner of a refurb MacBook and I am very happy with it.

With regards to warranty; you can buy Apple Care which will give you up to 3 years coverage - might help you sleep at night You do not need to buy the warranty at the same time as the MacBook so get the best MacBook you can now and then in a few months (or any time within the 1st 12 months of you owning the MacBook) you can buy Apple care to give you 2 further years of coverage.

The spec you're looking it will be nice the RAM is the only real draw back there and you may want to invest in more RAM at some point in the future (depending very much on what you want to use your MacBook for).

Refurbs are a good buy.

I have a feeling you can't buy AppleCare for refurb items. Might be wrong, but check it out...

Other than the box it came in you'd never tell my MBP 17" was a refurb - it was in perfect condition. Apple have so much confidence in refurbs that you get the same warranty as a regular Mac, including the option to buy three years worth.

i checked with apple yestrday and was told i had the option to buy the three year warranty with a refurb - didn't ask whether i could buy it at a later date though., makes sense to buy it after 11 months of ownership i would imagine.

Apple Certified Refurbished Products

- Quality products/great prices
- Stringent refurbishment process prior to sale
- Covered by Apple's One-Year Limited Warranty
- AppleCare Protection Plan can be purchased
- Supplies are limited

Click to expand...

If you click on more info under any of the refurb products you will see the above quote about 1/2 way down page

thoras_herd said:

i checked with apple yestrday and was told i had the option to buy the three year warranty with a refurb - didn't ask whether i could buy it at a later date though., makes sense to buy it after 11 months of ownership i would imagine.

Click to expand...

There is an argument for buying it as close to the orig purchase date as possible. The original warranty only gives you 90 days telephone support - where as AppleCare gives you 3 years telephone support so buying AppleCare after 11 months means that you missed out on ~ 9 months telephone support. Of course most people probably don't need telephone support that often anyway.

thanks - do most people purchase Apple Care? when i got my PC i purchased a pricey care plan and never used it.

RNDdave said:

If you click on more info under any of the refurb products you will see the above quote about 1/2 way down page

Click to expand...

I stand corrected. Hadn't spotted that before despite looking!

Makes refurbs more attractive. Anyone bought a refurb iMac?

Buying tomorrow!

EDIT: actually, I don't know whether it'd be worth it; refurbs don't come with wireless keyboard and mouse and I'd have to add more RAM as they tend to have 1gb...

does the wireless keyboard and mice come packaged with new macbooks then? i did not now that. and what is 'apple remote'?
thanks,

A refurb comes with all accessories that come with a new product - the ONLY differences are that you MAY get a brown box instead of a pretty box and you WILL save money.

IF the iMac was originally sold with a wireless keyboard/mouse - then the refurb will come with it as well.

No wireless keyboard/mouse with macbook but you will get the remote.

The difference in specs from a refurb Mac and a new Mac are because the products changed a little with the introduction of Core 2 Duo processors (the HDD sizes and default RAM changed)- so if you see a refurb iMac or MacBook or any Mac with a Core 2 Duo - then it will be exactly the same as the new version of that product - with a nice reduction in the price.

thoras_herd said:

does the wireless keyboard and mice come packaged with new macbooks then? i did not now that. and what is 'apple remote'?
thanks,

Click to expand...

No Keyboard/mouse with new MacBook.

The apple remote is a .. well its a .. Remote

It kind of looks a little like the first iPod Shuffles it allows you to control your MacBook from a distance so for example you can press the menu button and a screen pops up [frontrow] allowing you to choose from Music, Movies, Photos and DVDs.

You select Photos with the remote control and then you can either just have a slide show or use the remote to skip through the pictures to something you want to show someone.

You can also point the remote at the MacBook and hold the Play/Pause button for about 5 seconds and it will send the MacBook to sleep.

It's quite cool actually - especially for showing people your photo albums or skipping through your music collection.

EDIT:

Check this video on YoutTube of the Apple Remote in use with a MacBook:

Clicky

Get the refurb. I absolutely love my refurbed macbook. It looks absolutely brand new. refurbs come with the exact same warranty, accessories, support as a new apple does. The only difference is the box.

The only reason you may want to get a newer core 2 dou is the wireless N built-in. That is if you think you are gonna want that. If not then go for the refurb.

i like the idea of a remote! another thing that swings me towards MACs.

exscuse me again but what is 'wireless N'? i thought the macbook was wireless as standard?

yes I am a complete MAC novice!

All Macbooks have wireless, but the macbook core 2 duos are capable of being upgrade to wireless "N". Wireless G is what's in them by default, but they can go up to wireless N which in thoery is 5 times faster then G. Realworld results are not that good, but most are seeing a jump in speed.

i definitely say go for the refurb. I was a little hesitant to buy one as well, but i absolutely love mine. The only thing ive noticed that is a little off is the left cmd key is *very* slightly uneven w/ the rest of the keyboard. it still functions perfectly though and you really have to look for it to notice it (i didnt even notice it for a while). Also, if i understand correctly, you could return it if you are unsatisfied. imo though the pretty box it normally comes in isn't worth the extra $800 a new mbp would've cost.

I had some minor problems with my refurb and returned it to get a new model. The case was warped, as a result the dvd drive didn't run smoothly, and I had the electric shock issue that was discussed a while back.

I received my new model yesterday and it is perfect.

That said, I don't think that my experience was the norm for refurbs. It's a great way to save some cash.

thank you all for your valuable feedback.
i think i will try a refurb then and fingers crossed it will last a while! my pc has been going strong for 10 years now - but as you can imagine it is hideously slow and massively out of date now - hence the change

now - when do you think the Macbook Core 2 Duo's will hit the refurb section of the store?

I think I've seen core 2 duos up there before but I'm not sure of they were macbook or mac book pros? I guess it's just random.


I just checked and there are a few core 2 duo macbooks.