Is Apple's 24" refurb imac a good deall? Could it be new?

vapour said:

I am looking at the refurb 24" imac on Apples store and I am wondering if at $1589 it's a good deall? Also Could it be new? I watched the Apple store for a month prior to the new imac update, and there were never any refurb 24" units. Then right after the update they list the 24" model. This makes me think they could be new models being blown out. What do you think?

Click to expand...

I did the same, and have been to the same conclusion as you. I think they are brand new ones.

At that price, you get a good deal, and the new models are not very much faster than the older ones. So I think it is a good deal.

meall said:

I did the same, and have been to the same conclusion as you. I think they are brand new ones.

At that price, you get a good deal, and the new models are not very much faster than the older ones. So I think it is a good deal.

Click to expand...

Did you buy one then? How did it look when it showed up?

Thanks

I bet these are refurbs -- they might still come in the brown boxes, rather than the white ones. But who knows. The B&M (Brick and Mortar) Apple Stores are clearing them out -- but sold out quickly -- so I doubt it would be brand new ones from them. The US Apple Online store also had 24" iMacs refurbed before the new aluminum ones came out -- which suggests Apple had an inventory of refurbed 24"ers already.

The only way I think you'd get one that still has a white retail box, is because the retail stores still have their old display models and any customer returns that they have now sent back to the website to sell (since they don't do firesales anymore) - those would still have their white boxes.

ya, they could very well be new. Even if they are not, the refurbs tend to be perfectly good machines. A refurb may be better than new since they some times come with extras (more RAM, etc). Not sure that a new one would.

I considered this 24" refurb the other night, but decided to buy a new Al 24". It is a lot more money, but I wanted some of the new features. E.g. The 500 Gig HD, 256 megs on the video card, iLife 08, new keyboard and of course the faster processor at 2.8Ghz. For me, those were worth the extra money. Your budget and your wants will guide you on what to buy.

I've been looking at the refurbs too. Even if it is a "new" iMac it will still come in the brown box. Does anyone know how much faster the Al iMac will be at encodeing video for iPod and apple tv? Thats what killing me with my G4 mini right now. If the new 20" high level will be much faster the the old 24" I'de be better off to get it for the extra 50 bucks.

Thanks for the input. The other factor for me is that I am a student. This gets me another $100 of the new imac and a new ipod with rebate. The pain is I have to pay for the ipod up front, but then I could sell it for probably another $150. I just don't know if I want the hassle of going that route. Still the difference in the final tally is probably only about $130.00 Spec wise the older machine is fine for me.

vapour said:

Did you buy one then? How did it look when it showed up?

Thanks

Click to expand...

I did not buy one, as I am waiting for Leopard to come. Sure at that price, I'll have Leopard for the same price as the new iMac when I buy it, but...

Now I'm even thinking of a new mini. The C2D in those makes them very interesting.

Mad Mac said:

I've been looking at the refurbs too. Even if it is a "new" iMac it will still come in the brown box. Does anyone know how much faster the Al iMac will be at encoding video for iPod and apple tv? Thats what killing me with my G4 mini right now. If the new 20" high level will be much faster the the old 24" I'de be better off to get it for the extra 50 bucks.

Click to expand...

Well, the clock speeds alone will help you -- the old 24" is 2.16Ghz, the new 20" mid-range is 2.4Ghz. The new ATI Cards in the Aluminum iMacs have h264 Decoding built into them, but I'm not sure if that will help in terms of iPod/AppleTV encoding. Haven't seen any info published on that.

EDIT: Here's some comparisons between the iMac 2.33Ghz and new iMac 2.8Ghz.

iMac Aluminum versus Others - part 2

this looks like a great deal to me. it depends on what you're going to use it for. i mean, it's a pretty darned fast machine and reliable (it's a mac afterall) so you really can't lose on it.

Plus, these were $2199 before... just about $600 less.

i might just get one and wall mount it upstairs with blue tooth. i'm a stay at home dad so it would be PERFECT for a lot of things.

<sigh> looks like i'm about to click....buy

doh!

quick question

Hi,

I'm going to slightly chg this thread or interject for a sec b/c i can't see to post a new msg. i do everything right and it won't show up yet if i 'reply', i'm good to go.

so here i go :

if i buy a refurb 24" er, do i break the warranty by cracking it open to change the HD and add RAM?

Cheers,
Keebler

keebler27 said:

Hi,

I'm going to slightly chg this thread or interject for a sec b/c i can't see to post a new msg. i do everything right and it won't show up yet if i 'reply', i'm good to go.

so here i go :

if i buy a refurb 24" er, do i break the warranty by cracking it open to change the HD and add RAM?

Cheers,
Keebler

Click to expand...

RAM is a user replaceable part. No problem here.

HD normally is Apple Tech only. And opening the iMac is not very easy. So it all depends on your ability. But for warranty, I would say, place back the original disk in before you return it, and it should be ok.

meall said:

RAM is a user replaceable part. No problem here.

HD normally is Apple Tech only. And opening the iMac is not very easy. So it all depends on your ability. But for warranty, I would say, place back the original disk in before you return it, and it should be ok.

Click to expand...

k..thanks for the info. my ability is probably good enough, but i'm not sure i want to mess with the warranty. time will tell as to what i do

I just order the 24". I'll drive myself nuts with the "did I do the right thing" talk untill it gets here. Then I'll fall in love with it and all will be well.

good job mad mac.

i'm hedging b/n the 24" and the 20" refurbs. trying to find out if the graphics card on the 24" is that much better than the one on the 20". if it's not, i might take the hit on that, plus only 4" difference and $390 cheaper, for the 20".

Then i can upgrade the RAM without spending too much.

decisions...decisions..

keebler27 said:

good job mad mac.

i'm hedging b/n the 24" and the 20" refurbs. trying to find out if the graphics card on the 24" is that much better than the one on the 20". if it's not, i might take the hit on that, plus only 4" difference and $390 cheaper, for the 20".

Then i can upgrade the RAM without spending too much.

decisions...decisions..

Click to expand...

I think the nvidia card on the 24" is better than the x1600 on the 20" -- but it all depends on what you're using it for. If you do compositing and gaming, the card will matter. For All other tasks, it's probably not a big deal:

Macworld: Review: 24-inch iMac Core 2 Duo/2.16GHz

Doubt it's new. Apple offers excess disco'd price dropped stock to independent Apple resellers (like Carbon etc.) throughout the channel. In most cases, they are scooped up. Apple would have to additionally drop the price to sell it as refurb - that doesn't make any sense if it's new, especially for the online store where it uses the same warehouse to ship to the retailers. I understand if the Brick and Mortar Apple stores were selling them out as in store specials instead of shipping it back to the warehouse for liquidation.