Refurbed Computers

[Jim Watson]

I am thinking about a new home computer, the old HP is kind of shaky.
I am considering an iMac for commonality with iPhone and iPad.

I recently got an advertisement from Mac Warehouse offering "pre loved" Apple products for about 1/3 of new.
I don't need a game or business machine, mostly just an internet terminal and word processor, and was looking at the bottom of the line with the only upgrade being the 21.5" screen. $410 with aftermarket keyboard.

Is this a reasonably safe purchase?

[Shokl8]

Go get it and send me one too [emoji16] the question is what year Mac is it how much memory and hard drive size.


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[spinmove_]

The price is nice, but yes, what year manufactured, what size hard drive, and how much RAM?


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[JohnO]

What type of warranty do they offer?

How old is the device you are looking at?

It doesn't sound like a bad deal if you have a relatively current machine and a decent warranty.

[Jim Watson]

Year model not stated, here are the specs they show. 90 day warranty, extended "warranty" for sale.
Specs are greater than present HP which I am not pushing hard at all.

•3.06 GHz Intel "Core 2 Duo" processor (E7600), with two independent processor "cores" on a single silicon chip
•3 MB shared level 2 cache
•1066 MHz system bus, 4 GB of RAM (1066 MHz PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM)
•500 GB (7200 RPM) hard drive
•Vertically-mounted slot-loading DVD+R DL "SuperDrive"
•NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics with 256 MB of shared memory or ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics with 256 MB of dedicated GDDR3 memory
•Built-in iSight video camera
•Built-in stereo speakers
•21.5-inch glossy 16:9 LED-backlit TFT Active Matrix LCD (1920x1080 native) display
•Four USB 2.0 ports
•Firewire "800" port
•Built-in AirPort Extreme, and Gigabit Ethernet
•Mini DisplayPort, which supports an external display in "extended desktop" mode
•Upgraded to Mac OS High Sierra
•OS capacity: High Sierra

[spinmove_]

Year model not stated, here are the specs they show. 90 day warranty, extended "warranty" for sale.
Specs are greater than present HP which I am not pushing hard at all.

•3.06 GHz Intel "Core 2 Duo" processor (E7600), with two independent processor "cores" on a single silicon chip
•3 MB shared level 2 cache
•1066 MHz system bus, 4 GB of RAM (1066 MHz PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM)
•500 GB (7200 RPM) hard drive
•Vertically-mounted slot-loading DVD+R DL "SuperDrive"
•NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics with 256 MB of shared memory or ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics with 256 MB of dedicated GDDR3 memory
•Built-in iSight video camera
•Built-in stereo speakers
•21.5-inch glossy 16:9 LED-backlit TFT Active Matrix LCD (1920x1080 native) display
•Four USB 2.0 ports
•Firewire "800" port
•Built-in AirPort Extreme, and Gigabit Ethernet
•Mini DisplayPort, which supports an external display in "extended desktop" mode
•Upgraded to Mac OS High Sierra
•OS capacity: High Sierra

That’s a fairly modest machine and the E7600 is no spring chicken. That said, it’ll probably serve you just fine. I’d lobby for more RAM. 8GB at least, 16GB if you can swing it. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.


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[Darth_Uno]

Not an iMac, but we just bought 5 of these for a much needed update at my office. Does everything I need it to, and isn't sluggish at all. And it's Windows, which lets me avoid confusion with Office docs with my dad and uncle who are not tech savvy at all (nor am I, but I'm as competent as most people my age).

Compatibility with Iphone/ipad wasn't a consideration. I run iTunes on the computer for music and that's it. So I don't have an opinion on that.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077QZYN2W/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[LockedBreech]

Color me a believer in refurb.

Due to my incoming job switch, I need to give up my Macbook Pro. I am fine with that, I despise Mac OS, which we had to use in this job, but I'll miss the computer. Solid as a rock, great specs. Nothing wrong with Mac OS, by the way, I've just been using Windows for about 25 years and I can't get comfortable with Mac OS.

I was scouting around online for a computer to match the specs. To get a refurbished mac with the same specs was around 1100, new was around 1300-1400. To match the specs for a PC was about 700.

Got a reburn HP Elitebook G3 from Woot for $430 that matches the specs. Got it, removed bloatware, installed my preferred lightweight cleaning and antivirus free suites (CCleaner and Bitdefender), and it runs like a freaking dream. And for $430 I won't even be sad if it dies in a year or two.

Refurb all day. For a system to match your other stuff, that's not a rip-roaring gaming machine but it'll work. Perfectly functional for internet and word processing.

[Eugene]

I haven't bought a new laptop since 2002, all mine have been "refurbished". I buy business grade Dells and format and install Slackware.

[TQP]

I'm on my 6th? refurb computer. The latest one had the hard drive die at about 60 days, well after the 30 day warranty. I replaced the HD with a better one, for $60, and am back up and running. This is the first one of my refurbs that has gone bad. The previous 2 are at the 8 year mark and still in daily use.

[Peally]

I would not purchase one, but I think I'm not the norm there. It's like purchasing a used gun, sure with a spring swap it's 99% likely to be fine but I'd rather start with something fresh and new if I'm gonna be the one beating it up.

[Jim Watson]

You don't often get 2/3 off on a used gun.

[Grey]

Macs are notorious for using old outdated hardware in their premium line ups.

I would just buy a Chromebook and call it a day.

[hufnagel]

I buy a lot of off-lease corporate machines; stuff that's 12-18 months old. The pricing discount on them is stellar.

[LJP]

Per my nephew (who works in the industry and makes far more than I do at a much younger age), that is a 2009 model and doesn’t support current versions of MacOS. He suggests no older than a 2012 model.

He is my go-to when I have tech questions.

[revchuck38]

I buy a lot of off-lease corporate machines; stuff that's 12-18 months old. The pricing discount on them is stellar.

This. The laptop I'm working on now I bought in '14 and is still going strong. It's handled Windows updates through the current one with no problems. When it dies, I'll get another refurb.

[Greg]

Macs are notorious for using old outdated hardware in their premium line ups.

I would just buy a Chromebook and call it a day.

Google is evil.

Refurb computers are perfectly fine for internet browsing and office applications. If you aren't up to speed on replacing hardware components, get the warranty and max out the RAM.