Reburbed MacBooks

[Gunnyart]

Anyone have experience buying refurbed Macbooks?

Not in a hurry to purchase but for my young'n's HS graduation we are planning to buy her a Mac but probably refurbed to save some money.

Advice...?

[txdukklr]

don't ......the rate at which technology changes I'd either buy the last year old model new (the update every single year)

or buy the low end macbook air.

i buy millions of dollars in desktop, laptop and server equipment and generally speak refurb is too problematic.

[txdukklr]

also i've put four kids through college . . . . . trust me they use em.

I'd get the macbook air (while they have them) and put microsoft office for students on it.

candidly they need reliable pc equipment and software programs more then they need a vehicle.

[tbgascorer]

No idea on the refurb part. But service wise, wow Apple is great. Weekend before last, I spent 7 hours on the phone with Apple cleaning up my mac and transferring pics and itunes to an external harddrive. Would you believe they didn't charge me a dime? I fully expected to pay. I asked, "How much do I owe you?" They said, "nothing because we are Apple." Off the charts.

[OrangeBlood]

you can save some money with student discount, just have to use a .edu email account to buy. Once they enroll they should have a valid email account for the discount, or they may already have one. And you may already know this and I'm just wasting your time reading this .

[TexaRican]

Mac user here and just bought my daughter a MacBook Air for Christmas. Thought about the refurb but then my wife reminded me, we've had 2 refurb iPhones from insurance replacement and also bought one refurb iPad. All 3 of those devices have been troublesome. Sure, they have a warranty but it's a pain to have to ship your stuff off for repair.


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[LROSE]

Been thinking of getting a low end Macbook air for myself to use for work..

[Kevin]

Refurb is hit and miss. Sometimes it works out great, other times it doesn't. We stopped buying them.

Now which model to buy? What is their major. Depending on the work usage, I would recommend different models. An Air isn't recommended for App/Software Development.

[hchntr]

We bought my daughter a refurbished MacBook last year before she went off to college. It's been fine so far.


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[LWD]

If you want one get it from the Apple website. Do NOT buy a "refurbed" from an Apple store. It will be a problem machine that was exchanged at the store and may or may not have been really fixed. The stores need them out the door as sales for P&L purposes. www.macmall.com and www.macsales.com are third party vendors with good reputations. You will find the newest stuff at apple.com. Be careful with pricing on older than previous generation stuff. It will likely be priced more than it's worth given the lifecycle. I buy only refurbed stuff, but I only buy the previous generation.

LWD

[Gunnyart]

Thanks all for the helpful insights. As I mentioned we aren't in a hurry so I'll take the time to figure out exactly what her needs for the machine will be and shop accordingly.

[JustinJ]

I wouldn't worry about buying refurb from Apple.com, but that's the only place I'd buy one.

[In-Yo-Grill]

If you are not in a hurry then start saving your pennies now and get him a Mac that will last him his whole time in college. They are worth every penny. If you want to save a few bucks, look into the open box items at Best Buy. There are some good deals to be had.

[BTLowry]

don't ......the rate at which technology changes I'd either buy the last year old model new (the update every single year)

or buy the low end macbook air.

i buy millions of dollars in desktop, laptop and server equipment and generally speak refurb is too problematic.

I always heard that the factory refurb stuff was good because if it left and came back they were dang sure going to make sure it was 100%good before it left again.

Maybe that was BS or maybe that is the way "it used to be"

Glad you posted your experience/thoughts txdukklr as I need a new laptop and you might have saved me some frustration

[Double-O-Dave]

I'm a long time Mac user and the last 3 Mac laptops (Mac Book Air) we purchased were refurbs from the Apple.com site. None have had any problems whatsoever. My daughter, who is rough on stuff, will graduate from college in 6 weeks and hers is still alive and kicking.

Regards,

Dave