What is Digg?168 Comments
- cheeseron, on 11/05/2008, -4/+68the only worries i'd have are the hard drive and the battery
- valleyvideo, on 11/05/2008, -4/+58As a happy, repeat Apple refurb customer, I'd recommend giving it a try.
- TVarmy, on 11/05/2008, -0/+47The car analogy doesn't factor for Moore's law, since cars don't get twice as fast or fuel efficient or safe every two years. Of course, if one is buying a laptop just to fill a set need, Moore's law is irrelevant, since you hardly need a supercomputer to browse Flickr.
- dha07030, on 11/05/2008, -15/+54The fact that Apple computers are expensive enough to justify buying refurbed units is ridiculous.
- sockpuppets, on 11/05/2008, -2/+24You're a refurbished customer?
- dha07030, on 11/05/2008, -5/+26O rly because I could NEVER build a high quality computer.
- MrMysterious, on 11/05/2008, -1/+16If a used car breaks you replace the part...
If a used laptop breaks you are probably SOL unless it's something like a hard drive. Even the battery is going to approach the cost you paid for the refurb. - DanielShinall, on 11/05/2008, -5/+19Nice article. I'll consider.
- FDDIcent, on 11/05/2008, -2/+14Refurbished apple computers are often more reliable than new computers. New computers are checked in batches of say 20 or so, refurbs are inspected inside and out individually.
- Jrv420, on 11/05/2008, -3/+14I bought a refurbished laptop, 3 months old it was half price. Installed Ubuntu and now its good.
- masterkenobi, on 11/05/2008, -1/+10I'll definitely consider it, I even noticed that if you buy a Dell Mini that's "previously ordered new", you can knock off about $80-90 off the price tag, which is pretty huge considering that completely decked out it's still under $500 buying it new.
- BossKey, on 11/05/2008, -1/+10My friends and I have switched to buying refurbished Apple gear instead of new. Saves hundreds of dollars and we haven't even had to use the warranties.
- inactive, on 11/05/2008, -4/+13gtfo of the internets
actually i'm kidding, welcome,
enjoy your stay - handler, on 11/05/2008, -0/+9I just got my macbook pro refurb last week. Can't beat the price saving, and it is in perfect shape!
- lanzemurdok, on 11/05/2008, -1/+10that "poor person"
got lucky.
Because they're most likely going to receive that laptop, but cheaper and working just fine. - barfooz, on 11/05/2008, -0/+9It's not the computer that's more important, it's the data. The computer is just the conduit. Get a computer that is reasonably priced and back up your data for when the machine fails. If you're not a power user, you probably won't significantly appreciate the benefits of the latest and greatest hardware.
- rolf, on 11/05/2008, -9/+17You know, I'm tired of this expensive Apple talk. If it's too much for you, don't buy one. It's not a monopoly. Seriously.
I went to look at the new Mac Book (13") and was impressed with the quality of the construction, especially the body. You just don't see it with other manufacturer with the cheap-looking plastic cases but it costs money. - himey, on 11/05/2008, -3/+11Here is why you SHOULDN'T get a refurbished laptop.
http://consumerist.com/374402/photo-dell-breaks-yo ... - sockpuppets, on 11/05/2008, -2/+10Please begin your journey with the hamster dance and go from there.
- dha07030, on 11/05/2008, -6/+14I don't hate Apple. I DO want a mac but can't afford one. So I am tired of expensive macs.
- serif69, on 11/05/2008, -0/+8ENGLISH *****! DO YOU SPEAK IT‽
- hughtopia, on 11/05/2008, -1/+9I bought a refurb'ed Macbook last year and I honestly can't tell if it was ever even used. Plus I saved enough to fully pay for 3 years of Apple Care so if it does have problems I'm covered.
- SirChasm, on 11/05/2008, -1/+8I have a 5 year-old HP laptop that I bought refurbished. It's lived through my entire university career of me lugging it back and forth between home, lectures, labs, and libraries. Only last month did it finally start to show signs of aging when its DVD drive died. Until then, it was rock solid.
- mrblue182, on 11/05/2008, -4/+10Cheap-looking? I haven't seen a cheap looking case in a long time.
- rolf, on 11/05/2008, -1/+7If you want to game, I suggest buying a cheap to moderate level desktop and adding a good graphics card. That or a console.
A gaming laptop is trying to be a hybrid of two different world and generally suck at them both. Worse performance than a desktop at a fraction of the price and bad battery life. - Jrv420, on 11/05/2008, -2/+7Well considering I only use it for traveling and to keep pictures on I am more than happy.
- rshuck, on 11/05/2008, -0/+5This is my second time buying a refurb from Apple, and I couldn't be happier. The day after the redesigned MacBooks came out, I bought a last model MacBookPro 2.4 Core2 Duo/15.4" for $1349. My last one was a 2.0GHz core duo black MacBook for $999. I saved 30% and 33%.
- JonLatane, on 11/05/2008, -2/+7@dha07030:
Seriously, just buy a used one if you really want it. That's what they're there for - Apple is notoriously good about their refurb'ed unit quality. Literally the only difference you'll ever see is that they don't come in the fancy "new" box (instead they come in a plain brown one).
I'm assuming the reason you want a Mac is for OS X; in that case, you have to consider that a major reason the hardware is expensive is because making a good OS really does cost a lot. Not to mention the hardware is high quality and won't get outdated very quickly (since Apple keeps OS X lightweight), so the 1.1 - 1.2X cost increase also means a system lifespan increase of 1.5X or more. - selrahc, on 11/05/2008, -0/+5Of course not, I need three supercomputers to browse Flickr.
- starslinger72, on 11/05/2008, -1/+6Not always, like article said:
1) people just dont want
2) stupid small problem like keyboard was broken and they sent them a new system. Sure this was a "problem" but nothing that is really gonna affect performance - lemur, on 11/05/2008, -0/+5I've always bought refurbished electronics and never thought twice about it. Electronics are unique compared to other types of machinery, including cars (I think the article writer did a bad job by comparing refurbished laptops to used cars).
Electronics have a tendency of either working they way they were made (obviously not counting design mistakes) or not at all. There is little to no middle ground where being used makes any difference in the life of the product, which you should be able to measure in years longer than how long you even want to keep it (I have computers in my closet that are older than I am which are still fully functional). If a defective part is going to fail, it usually fails right away. If a part doesn't fail right away, it most probably won't.
Refurbs may never have had anything wrong with them in the first place, and the ones that were previously broken simply had the broken parts replaced with new factory parts. To all but the most anal individuals, refurbished electronics are indistinguishable from "new" electronics except for the packaging.
I'm the proud owner of a refurbished PDA, mobile phone, stereo system, digital audio player, and God-knows-what-else. I paid less (in some cases as little a fifth of the cost) and didn't lose anything for it; buying electronics at premium prices will always burn your money. - sadisticmind, on 11/05/2008, -1/+5is that anything like a "re-conditioned" apple customer?
- KSUdesigner, on 11/05/2008, -1/+5Also look for open box items. I found an open box Macbook on Amazon cheaper than the refurb of the same model Apple was selling. Was absolutely nothing wrong with the Macbook and came with a standard Apple warranty.
- zip000, on 11/05/2008, -0/+4Naah, refurbs can access internet porn too.
- nicktheawesome, on 11/05/2008, -1/+5"New or even a half-decent os?"
No matter if you are trying to compare Ubuntu to a Mac or Windows, it is newer than both of these.
As to the "half-decent" comment, if you were to actually use Ubuntu, and not just be a fanboy, you'd find it outstandingly smooth, responsive, and overall well put-together. And after all that, Canonical goes and gives it away for free (Yes, I realize the GPL requires it is given away for free). - maximilen, on 11/05/2008, -0/+4Agreed, but what percentage of casual users back up their data like they should??? I bet computer shops get HALF their business just from retrieving data from fried hardware...
- CrackyJSquirrel, on 11/05/2008, -1/+5I have a refurbished laptop right now and it has served me well for 3 years. I am feeling the pain though as space and memory get gobbled up by new apps. The only thing that can steer me away from refurbished is if the hardware wont stand up for the next 3 to 4 years. But then again, hardware is getting so fast that for the average user a 3 year old computer is perfectly fine.
- Xavious85, on 11/05/2008, -0/+4I sort of went the same direction. I just recently bought a Macbook Pro but the previous generation. They're on clearance right now on apples site and not that much different than the newer ones. Plus, I hate glossy screens so it's win win for me, I get my matte screen and saved about $700 with an education discount as opposed to buying a brand new one.
P.S. This is my first Mac and I'm LOVING it so far! - scootinger, on 11/06/2008, -0/+3Why would that be any more of a concern with a refurb laptop than with a new laptop? And have you seen the prices to purchase replacement LCD displays for the MacBook series? You can buy a MacBook LCD for less than $200 and a MacBook Pro LCD for less than $300 on fleabay...that is easily just a fraction of the cost of a new laptop.
- chibichibie, on 11/05/2008, -1/+4I should look into this. I have often stayed away from refurbished stuff... because I thought, "It's a laptop, my baby. It should be new."
But they just seem to die on me instantly anyways... - lutyens, on 11/05/2008, -0/+3I've had two refurbished laptops (a dell and an hp) and neither one lasted very long. small sample size though so maybe I was just unlucky.
- carterx, on 11/05/2008, -1/+4One good advantage is ..... they are cheaper
- r00fus, on 11/05/2008, -3/+6@dha07030:
Do you also want a BMW but can't afford one? Do you think that's "ridiculous"?
Competition is a good thing... so buy something cheaper if you can't afford the brand. - wolfing, on 11/05/2008, -1/+4I guess it works for Apple laptops since they have such a high markup, but I can hardly justify the same for a Windows laptop (Dell for example). The price difference between a new and a refurbished laptop is not that high, and considering you don't really know if the battery is new or already has some usage on it, I'm not sold. A new Dell laptop can be purchased at about $450/$500, the same refurbished could be what, $400? not worth it.
- shredswithpiks, on 11/05/2008, -1/+4was something wrong... I once worked at a local computer shop that sold new and used computers. We had considerably fewer problems with reliability on the used systems since the parts were time tested.
Besides hard drives, parts tend to either last a really long time or not very long at all. At least in my experience... YMMV but I'll confidently save some money - newdigger, on 11/05/2008, -0/+3I chuckled at that.
- inactive, on 11/05/2008, -0/+3he's probably just a second hand customer
- masterkenobi, on 11/05/2008, -0/+3Reading a lot of the comments above, you guys are also forgetting that the article mentioned outlet stores (Dell, Lenovo, etc), also offer laptops that were previously ordered and constructed, but for some reason the customer canceled the order. We're talking UNUSED laptops that never left the factory for $200-300 cheaper!
- Troy64, on 11/05/2008, -0/+3I have been buying used laptops for years. I get them at a local once a month computer show. The same vendors come back every month so they stand by there products. They usually get there computers off lease from companies. Only once have I received a bad computer and they traded it out with a different one the following month.
I am writing this comment from a used Dell C400 I bought for $260 two years ago and have had no problems. - inactive, on 11/05/2008, -0/+3a ferrari to a 94 camry is a very retarded comparison,
i see that the one i posted isn't very powerful, but that's just one of many that get listed on sites like dealnews everyday and sometimes you can find a very good laptop for 500 or less.
It might not run crysis but will run everything else -
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