Refurbished Mac computers.. Great deal or Expensive paper weight?

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with getting a refurbished product. Im hearing some good things and some bad but i just wanted to know if anyone went this route, have you had any problems, and how long your have had your machine.

Thanks!

Great deal... you get a huge price discount and the same warranty as a new one.. I'd buy refurbished and add AppleCare.

i havent gotten a refurb computer from apple but i have gotten a refurb ipod. it looked brand new and didnt have a problem until my fiance decided it needed to go thru the washing machine.

my next mac will most likely be a refurb mac. they come with a one year warranty from your purchase date. they qualify for apple care, and with the exception of the original box they will appear brand new when opened.

I have them, saves money and they are identical to new, brilliant plus often with extra software

i just got a new, well refurbished macbook (black) and so far sooooo good. yay

Yes the 2nd imac i bought was a refurbished one.
Saved about $300 and got a wireless mighty mouse included.
No Problems what so ever.
Even came in the original box.
If you didn't know it was refurbished you couldn't tell.
Plus think about it......Not all macs are completely checked, say 1 in 10 etc.
So a refurbished one is actually BETTER.
It even comes with the noraml 12 month warrenty, so how can you lose?

I bought a refurbished 15" MacBook Pro (Core Duo model) in December of 2006. I found it to be as good as new - in fact, the only difference was that the packaging was a generic brown box instead of the normal, fancy packaging. Otherwise, the warranty is exactly the same. So, even if there was a problem (cosmetic or otherwise), you could always have it repaired or replaced.

I bought my 24" iMac refurb, no problems with at all. Saved a few bucks and happy I did. I'd buy another.

Search this site and you'll see this has been answered often and mostly in the positive.

Mine are new, however I have friends who have bought refurb and are very happy with them.

Excellent! Thank you all for the information. It sounds like a no brainer to me. Get the same computer for less money, ill take the refurb!!

I have asked around on top of posting here and it seems that just about over 97% of people have nothing but good things to say about getting refurbished products.

bought my first mac mini refurbed and i loved it...used it heavily for three year until i got a new comp and now i have it hooked up to my television.still works just fine...

I got a black macbook refurbished and its great

Another refurb here, and it was absolutely perfect. Still is

Got my 5G iPod refurb as well a couple years ago.

I have a Macbook Pro 17" 2.4Ghz that's a refurb and so far no problems. There are some little hints that it's been opened up, but otherwise it's not recognizable as a refurb beyond the serial number. I even got Applecare on it.

I got a question about refurbished products as well!

If someone sent back a Mac or iPod with a scratch on the casing or screen, would they fix that as well?

It's hard to say definitively, but both my iPod and MBP were cosmetically perfectly new in appearance. No scratches, smudges, marks, etc.

The cost is so minimal for them to replace whatever needs it to be brand new again so in most cases that is what you get. I could not even fathom my imac was a refurb. The only way is that I payed quite a bit less than 'the other guy' and I also got a bigger HD than I ordered.

My refurb was in perfect condition. No one would have guessed it was a refurb if i didn't tell them. The only deference is the brown apple box and not the pretty retail one.

They don't come in the beautifully designed boxes?! Grr!