Refurbished or Brand new?

[Frances144]

Do you buy a refurbished Mac from the Apple website that doesn't tell you how old it is or how many miles it has done for a couple of hundred quid less than a new one?

Is it a better deal to buy refurbished?

I like the year's warranty.  I like the smell of a new box (i could give that up), I like the shiny screens!  I am not sure about the new OS as I only run 10.5.8 on my iMac and that suits me fine.

I need, yes need, something to travel the country with that can run Photoshop CS3 efficiently, can deal quickly with 500 x 50mb tiff photos, will burn a cd/dvd quickly and still have change from a fiver for a fish supper on the way home!

My iBook struggles with anything and is, wait for it, at least 5 years old!

My iMac is wonderful but non-portable.

I work with both all the time.  My iBook does my emails and its battery has stopped it being very portable (£70 for a new battery).

My iMac does everything else but nothing is stored on it except for my day-to-day work.  The Time Capsule backs up and holds iTunes and the external HD has all my photos.

Anywho, your thoughts please on new or refurbished.  I would only buy from the online UK Apple Store because, should something go wrong, they arrange and pay for collection and delivery, if still under warranty, and it is ruddy expensive to send anything from these beleagured isles!

[jchuzi]

I have never bought any refurbished items from Apple but all the comments that I have read have been positive. They have the same warranty as a new item so what's to worry about? In addition, anything that was wrong was fixed. Can you still buy extended Applecare on a refurb? If so, I wouldn't hesitate.

There may be a problem with CS3. CS3 does not totally work with OS 10.6. In fact, that's one of the reasons why I upgraded from CS3 to CS5, although the improvements in CS5 would have caused me to do it anyway. The issue that I had with CS3 and 10.6 involved printing. I like to let Photoshop control color and my prints were terrible when I did it in 10.6 (they were fine in 10.5). I resorted to letting the Epson software control color and got better results but not as good as when Photoshop did the work. Printing from Photoshop CS5 is superb and I'm getting better prints than ever. Of course, my new Epson R2880 has a lot to do with that but I got that printer before I upgraded to CS5 so the printer itself was not the reason.

[Jack W]

Frances,

I purchased a refurbed PowerBook G4 1.66GHz several years ago from the Apple store.

It was equivalent to a new PB G4. Saved a couple of hundred $.

I have been very happy with it, altho I only use it when I travel.

I also purchased the 3-year extended warranty with it. All of their refurbs can be warranty-extended.

The power supply was flakey early on, but Apple replaced it without hesitation.

- Jack

[Paddy]

Frances, I've bought an iMac and an iBook from the refurb section and had no issues whatsoever.

They're NOT really used machines - they're usually returns, ends of lines and machines that perhaps had minor issues early on, and got returned for replacement (within the first few days after purchase) and then were fixed. They shouldn't have any greater failure rate than a new machine and they carry the same warranty as a new machine. The refurbs we've received have looked brand new in every way - not a scratch or scuff to be found.

The main difference is that you cannot customize a refurb when you order it - what you see is what you get, although there have been cases of people getting MORE than what was advertised (ie: more RAM etc.) - it would appear that Apple doesn't necessarily downgrade the returned machines to their original base model state. However, I think that is the exception rather than the rule.

Do pay attention to the specs - there may be both current models and previous models in the refurb section and you need to be able to tell which is which to judge accurately whether they're particularly good deals or not.

[chriskleeman]

Hi Frances,

IAW Paddy. I'm writing this response from a refurbished MacBook Pro that I got from Apple. It came without a scratch, and has worked flawlessly. As Paddy suggests, do scour the specifications for any particular computer you're considering, because at the moment, there are several different generations of MacBooks available on the Apple website.

And remember, any refurbished Mac is eligible for AppleCare. I have it on this MBP.

HTH,

Chris

[Bruce_F]

I am on my third Mac Store refurbished computer. By the way, it smelled new when I opened the box!

I was a bit surprised at the age of this latest purchase. This newly acquired MBP to replace my stolen one is a Mid-2009 model. So, it's already a year behind. But it's a BIG jump from my last purchase just two years ago so I'm very pleased.

I thought about going for a new computer with the latest CPU but in the end I chose the refurbished. It helped that I chatted with an Apple expert about the differences and possible advantages to the newer model. The refurbished one was actually recommended to me after we went over my use requirements.

[daryl66]

QUOTE(Bruce_F @ Jul 16 2010, 11:09 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I am on my third Mac Store refurbished computer. By the way, it smelled new when I opened the box!

Count me "in" as a firm believer in the refurb program.    I am currently running a 1.83 gb "mac-mini", a  13"macbook pro, and a 1st gen iPod touch, ALL are refurbs.   I have had zero problems with any of them.  The power brick on the MBP failed the first week and Apple replaced it immediately.  The refurb page is the first I look when the urge to buy or replace something hits me.

Daryl

[Frances144]

Lots to think about.  Thank you everyone.

Can you get them to put a lesser OS on or do they all come with the latest Snow Leopard thingy?

Thing is, I have CS3 and I don't want CS5 - I can't afford that.

[jchuzi]

Any new Mac will come with Snow Leopard and you probably will not be able to install Leopard. As to CS5, you are eligible for the upgrade price ($200 or less, depending on the vendor) provided that CS3 is installed. If you use Migration Assistant to move everything from the old computer to the new, CS3 will come along for the ride and the CS5 installer will recognize it and then install CS5.

Adobe has its Draconian ways of insuring that its software is not installed in unauthorized computers so it might be a good idea to launch CS3 (on the new computer) before installing CS5. You'll get a dialog box asking if you want to change its location to the new computer. Click Yes and you're done. Then, you should be able to install CS5.

Are you eligible for an academic discount? Check out http://www.academicsuperstore.com/  If so, you can save a bundle. You need to be affiliated with an academic institution in some way (teacher, student, parent of a student, for example). I don't know if this will apply in UK but there may be some academic discounts available in your location. Check into it.

[Frances144]

Thanks for that.  £181 for upgrade and I wouldn't know if it would work either for an obvious reason. Hmmmmmmmmm.  I need to give this some thought.

I could buy the Mac OS10.5 disks I suppose and install them.  Would that be cheaper?  But then that is sort of not going forwards really.

Edited to say I have just found my Mac OS10.5 install discs so I could in theory bin the OS the refurb comes with and reinstall the OS10.5 and then keep CS3 rather than upgrade to CS5.

Is that as stupid as I think it sounds?

[jchuzi]

Depending upon the date of manufacture of the refurb, 10.5 may refuse to install. Generally speaking, Macs cannot boot from an OS earlier than the original one that was installed on the computer. So, if the refurb had originally come with Snow Leopard, you won't be able to install Leopard. Another wrinkle is that your Leopard install disk may be earlier than the version of Leopard that may have come with the computer. So, if the computer originally came with 10.5.6 and your install disk is 10.5.0, the disk may not work.

If you can afford the £181, CS5 is IMHO well worth the price. I never bought CS4 so I can't speak about it, but CS5 is a huge improvement over CS3. Content Aware Fill alone is enough reason to get it. Camera Raw is also greatly improved. One of the things that impresses me most about it is the ability to correct barrel distortion. I took some photos of doors in my house and was forced to use a wide-angle setting at a close distance. Barrel distortion is quite evident but Camera Raw can correct it so it it is not visible. Marvelous!

[Xairbusdriver]

QUOTE

£181 for upgrade and I wouldn't know if it would work either for an obvious reason.

What would be that "obvious reason?" I think Jon is saying that CS5 runs fine on Snow Leopard, which should be what comes on the machine. The specs should state what OS is installed, anyway.

I have no need for CSanything, but I did pick up a 'refurb' MBP for my wife over a year ago, AppleCare, also. So, I'm part of the crowd, also.

Only problem I've had is that the A, S, E, R, T, H, I and O keys have lost most of the lettering, N, R and L are also affected. It doesn't seem to bother her, since she knows how to type! What really bothers me is the 15" display! Even though it has a matte screen, the pixels are much more densely packed than on my 24" iMac. And that 9 inches is measured diagonally, of course, so the width seems only half of what I'm accustomed to. Nor do I enjoy the keyboard compared to the free-standing one. And we both use a Mighty Mouse instead of the pad. But I don't need the portability, so my complaints are moot!

BTW, Apple replaced the keyboards twice on her previous laptop, an iBook. I suspect they will on the MBP if I just take it to the store. Just been too busy lately to find out. I just try not to use words containing those hard-to-read letters!

[gunug]

My sister is trying to get ahold of a Powerbook or Powermac and I don't have a fully working one to give her.  She's been trying to do it online (someplace in Colorado) but it's kind of tough to get her hands on one with cross-bidding and such!  I'm thinking that with all of the school buys there ought to be some G4's or early Intel's out there someplace.

[jchuzi]

QUOTE(xairbusdriver)

I think Jon is saying that CS5 runs fine on Snow Leopard, which should be what comes on the machine.

Exactly. Adobe wrote CS5 with full support for SL. CS4 has had some updates but CS3 is dead as far as Adobe is concerned. There will never be any future updates to CS3 so Snow Leopard support won't happen.

[Highmac]

I've never bought refurbed but, like everyone else here, I've heard nothing bad!

You have daughters at school - check out that education discount. We just bought a 15in MBP from Apple Store in Solihull and got the discount simply because Caroline was doing a part-time course at the local FE college (they do ask for evidence). 8pc off the computer and a discount on Apple Care (just checked and it brought the £279 down by almost £90). I believe "proper" university students and staff get an even better deal  Oh and a "free" 8GB iPod Touch (cashback deal!).  Edit to add:  "Free" apart from the VAT... Still, an 8GB brand-new iPod Touch is probably worth £22.64

All the posts I can remember on the subject have recommended taking extended AppleCare for laptops since they suffer more than desktops. And where you live, it has to be even more worthwhile!