Refurbished Apple Products

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I noticed that Apple has some good deals on their refurbished products page. Has anyone every purchased a refurbised Apple product? Any good or bad stories out there?



Thanks



Dave

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    guestguest Posts: 112member
    Yes, I have bought 2 ipods, and my parents bought an ibook G3. No problems at all. I am buying a refurbished powerbook now.



    Factory-refurbished product comes directly from Apple where it has been made "as new", tested and repackaged. Refurbished product comes with all accessories, such as mouse, power cords, etc. Apple refurbished product generally comes with the same software bundles as new machines. Apple refurbished product has the same 1-year limited warranty as new product and is eligible for the AppleCare Protection Plan.



    If you buy a refurb from Powermax.com or Smalldog.com, you won't have to pay any sales tax. Refurbs are also cleaned before they sell them. If you can live without the fancy new box, "go for it" </70's>.
  • Reply 2 of 15
    podmatepodmate Posts: 183member
    I've bought a few refurb products from Smalldog. I'm very happy with all the items that I have purchased.

    I'm cheap, so I wait until I can get a good refurb price before I buy anything for myself.
  • Reply 3 of 15
    randycat99randycat99 Posts: 1,919member
    I learned an important distinction this week wrt "refurbished" equipment. I thought that was what I was ordering when I cruised through Mac of All Trades website. I know, I should have read the title more literally. When they say, "reconditioned", that isn't just a different way of saying, "refurbished", as evidently what you buy from them is literally "used" equipment. Whereas, when you buy a refurbished iBook from Apple and get documentation, system restore CD, bundled software, and originally included accessories, I simply got a "reconditioned", used iBook and a power supply from MoAT. No user guide documentation, no restore CD, no bundled software- nada! Just a word to the wise (or maybe it was only me that didn't see this coming).



    It's a real bummer. So even though I may have gotten a $200 savings on hardware, I easily missed out on $200+ in software (not a great way to make the first plunge into the world of OSX ). Zzzzzzzingggggg!!!



    Anybody know if there are "proper channels" to acquire a restore CD and bundled software for an orphaned iBook?
  • Reply 4 of 15
    torifiletorifile Posts: 4,024member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Randycat99

    Anybody know if there are "proper channels" to acquire a restore CD and bundled software for an orphaned iBook?



    That sucks, Randycat. According to this thread, you may be able to call Apple and ask them to send you replacements. Good luck.
  • Reply 5 of 15
    randycat99randycat99 Posts: 1,919member
    I will certainly chase down that lead, torifile!



    THANKS A BUNCH! MMMMMMWHAA!!! [gives grateful, yet not homosexual, kiss on the cheek]
  • Reply 6 of 15
    giantgiant Posts: 6,041member
    The refurb 500 tibook I bought a couple years ago seemed to be on par with all of the new ones.
  • Reply 7 of 15
    progmacprogmac Posts: 1,850member
    the refurb iMac my girl bought from smalldog came in the original shiny box and was completely indistinguishable from new. she's had it for almost two years with no trouble.
  • Reply 8 of 15
    hledgardhledgard Posts: 265member
    Anyone else have a report on the software that came with a refurbished product?



    I would like to buy one for a friend, but fear that it will not have iLife or other software.



    Thanks,

    Dr. L
  • Reply 9 of 15
    dmzdmz Posts: 5,775member
    I buy all my Mac systems there. (Not that much, usually 1-2 high end systems a year.) They have all been fine -- just get an idea of what you think you need, then cruise the deals sight for a month or two; something will pop up.



    The software that comes with the system has been complete, as well -- although the first thing you should do is a clean install, followed by a permissions repair and a visit from Mr. Diskwarrior.
  • Reply 10 of 15
    hledgardhledgard Posts: 265member
    Good to know, thanks !
  • Reply 11 of 15
    Bought a refurb iBook G4 800 last year and it looked new to me. Just sold it last week. New owner if very happy. It worked great for me and was a good deal. I've bought other refurbs in the past with good results.



    My Dad bought a dual G4 1GHZ a couple of years ago and it's still going strong.



    I'd buy refurbs again. Now that we have a new Apple store I'm going to check out the 'Refreshed' stuff at the end of the month. I hear these can be better deals.
  • Reply 12 of 15
    I bought a refurbed rev b dual 1.8 G5 from Apple a few months ago. Not only did I get all the software and discs I expected ( OS, iLife etc) I also benefitted from the lunacy of the previous owner who had ordered a gig of RAM from Apple. Nice.
  • Reply 13 of 15
    hledgardhledgard Posts: 265member
    Cool !



    I guess the issue is in the details.



    Thanks all!

    Dr. L
  • Reply 14 of 15
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by dmz

    I buy all my Mac systems there. (Not that much, usually 1-2 high end systems a year.) They have all been fine -- just get an idea of what you think you need, then cruise the deals sight for a month or two; something will pop up.



    The software that comes with the system has been complete, as well -- although the first thing you should do is a clean install, followed by a permissions repair and a visit from Mr. Diskwarrior.




    I thought part of referb was a clean install...am I wrong?
  • Reply 15 of 15
    dmzdmz Posts: 5,775member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by a_greer

    I thought part of referb was a clean install...am I wrong?



    I don't know, I'm supersitious with some of this stuff. The practice of the clean install started with a wallstreet that I got in '99, (CDW I think), but anyway, the frelling thing would not cooperate until I blew it's liitle brains out -- darn thing.



    Nuke the site from orbit -- it's the only way to be sure.



    From what I understand, alot of the 'refurbs' are due to credit issues. Also, you guys can pick up the phone and cruise MacMall, CDW, etc. just ask the voice on the other end what they have in the way of refurbs -- again, mostly credit issues -- and they will tell you. The catalog refurbs move pretty quick, you have to check constantly.
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