Refurb MacBooks for $949, MBP for $1,299

I wouldn't touch a refurbished Apple portable. You may be getting a lower priced Mac, but you could also be getting more than you bargained for... and that's no bargain. When buying refurbs it's important to keep in mind these were products returned to Apple for one reason or another. These systems may have serious issues, and often Apple's quality assurance test boil down to plugging the unit it.. if it powers on the slap it into a box and resell it at store.apple.com

My advice: don't be penny wise and pound foolish. Spend a bit more and get a brand new unit. You'll be doing yourself a favor.

An MBP for $1300? Hey, not all of us have the extra $700 sitting around to get a full new machine, which is hardly guaranteed to be problem-free anyways.

Unless you have stats. that refurbs. are worse than regular machines on average, you're just speculating.

A black MacBook, actually. It was $300 off the price, and the hard drive was advertised as 120GB but came as 160GB. I got a steal. And it works great. And it's still covered with a 1 year warranty just like a new MB. I always buy refurb...

I have bought several Apple refurbs over the years and never had any problems with them. Like mentioned above they still come with the full 1 year warranty and the option to buy Applecare to extend it to 3 years. The price can't be beat and sometimes come with extra perks. I bought a powerbook once that was supposed to have a combo drive that came with a superdrive and last fall I bought a Macbook for my wife that was supposed to have 512 mb of Ram that came with a gig.

i wish i had bought a refurb macbook pro. i mean, it could've really saved me a lot of money but i got mine new due to the fact it came with a free ipod nano on one of their deals last year. i would definitely buy a refurb next time around, and use the savings to upgrade the ram!

Uh - Guess what ?

Those refurbished Apple products ALL come with a Full Warranty from the date of purchase_

So you might as well spend a little less - 'cause if something does go bad on it - it's just like if it were new out-of-the-box_ Take it to an Apple Authorized spot and they will fix it [under warranty] for free - it covers parts and labor for a year_

And Guess What Else ? There's more you say - no couldn't be_ But YES I tell you_ You can also get the extended Apple Care Coverage on it if you like_ So now you have 3 years part and labor [for free] on a refurbished / used product_ Not freakin' bad - since in the fine print - they tell you if they can't fix it they replace it_

Hmm....Yeah that sucks - I'd rather go get a $400 PC based laptop - that's brand new and can't run squat_ But it's new and kinda shiney_

Wait - nah - I'd still rather buy refurbished Macs straight from Apple before I spent $2 on anything PC_