In my social circle, the topic of refurbished electronics vs. new electronics has come up several times in conversation. We've even come to blows over the topic; ok, we have only arm-wrestled. Yes, I know... we’re total tech geeks. As this debate tends to be a topic of many conversations in our heads or otherwise, I started to take a closer look at the differences between the refurbished Mac items and the new ones.
I have to say, I’m one of those consumers who takes a hard look at any electronic device before I buy it, and when it comes to Apple goods, most of the time I choose a refurbished model instead of a new one. As a matter of fact the refurbished Aluminum MacBook 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 13” laptop that I purchased Monday for $1099.00 just arrived, and it is Pristine! Here it is..
Keep in mind “refurbished” usually means that the product was returned with the factory seal broken. It may or may not have been used by the customer. At any rate, all products are tested and inspected. That is not to say that some refurbished models may have a cosmetic blemish or two... but I’ve yet to find any blemishes on any refurbished Apple product.
I've included the above photo because the "Apple Certified" sticker on the back of my laptop's protective shrink wrap demonstrates that every refurbished product undergoes Apple's stringent refurbishment process prior to being offered for sale. So even if there was a previous problem, Apple has made sure that I won't be bothered by it. Also, the unit is repackaged (including appropriate manuals, cables, new boxes, etc.), as seen below.
Oh, and by the way, even though each refurbished item includes the SAME 1-year limited warranty as a new item, you can purchase AppleCare to take care of you in case something does go wrong with the unit. AppleCare for a refurbished unit!! How can you beat that?
Now for the savings.... Because I cannot find a new model which compares to my refurbished MacBook model on the Apple site, I turned to the Information Highway SuperStore.... Amazon. They have a new model with half of the memory for $1250.00. That’s $250 more than mine, and you get only 2GB of memory, instead of 4GB. Are the savings worth it for you? They are definitely worth it for me!
All in all I feel that I got myself a killer deal. Isn’t that what’s most important to us? Even in a booming economy, I’m always up for getting the most bang for my buck. Although the idea of a brand-spankin’ new piece of technology is seductive. In some cases, if the price difference and warranty are negligible between a refurb and one that is untouched by human hands, I’m into the euphoria that a new model Brings. But when a refurbished model shows up at my door looking as good as this one, I have to admit that I do get butterflies in my stomach right before breaking the seal.
So the next time you consider buying a refurbished item, take a look at the price and warranty...It’s worth it to do a little homework. You remember homework, it’s the stuff that we spent 4 years of high school avoiding because we thought it was pointless.
Now I finally see the point of it all! I really should call my old Geometry teacher.