I'm not new here. Bought our first three years ago. But I am new to the refurbished systems and just want to give it "thumbs up". The new MacBook will replace a G3 iBook and a 5 year old Dell Inspiron notebook, but I'll keep the iBook around for guests' web browsing.

Some points about the purchase:

1. Apple quoted 5 days to ship, but they shipped same day. The MacBook arrived two days later with free shipping.

2. It looks and works perfectly.

3. They list the base models, but appear to ship the configuration that was returned, so you can do better than the description. My system came with 2GB of RAM rather than 1GB, which Apple normally sells for $150.

4. Alas, I've ordered 4GB from Crucial.com for $130. So I didn't benefit from the additional memory.

5. Unit didn't come with any unadvertised software (such as the games, comicbook designer, and Omnioutliner that came with our other systems). Doesn't matter to me since I use none of them.

6. I saved $100 off of the educational price, which is $200 of full retail. Not including the bonus memory. Unless you need a system with an optional larger disk drive, this is certainly the way to go.

7. Extra bonuses I didn't expect when I decided to buy -- free recycling of up to to two pieces of equipment (byebye Inspiron, but a desktop I'm retiring will go to a local charity), $100 credit toward a printer purchase -- I'll keep the printer around until one of my current ones quits, $30 off .MAC plus a 2 month free trial -- I decided to go with .MAC for a year just to see how it works syncing and using back-to-my-mac.

8. With a refurb the Applecare isn't auto-enrolled.

I haven't purchased a refurbed Mac, but I did buy several refurb iPods from Apple's Website on a few occasions for some giveaways my company was doing, and my experience syncs with talmy's. Other than receiving these things in a "plain brown wrapper" i.e. not in the original retail packaging, you'd never know cosmetically or functionally that these things weren't new.

I didn't receive any bonus offers on the iPods, but I'm gonna consider an Apple refurb the next time I want upgrade my Mac.

This is good to hear. I've got a refurbed MacBook, iMac and iPod Shuffle from Apple inbound at this time.

Another "thumbs up" for refurbished systems from Apple. I have purchased several refurbished computers from the Apple online store:

12" iBook G3
12" iBook G4
17" iMac G5
Airport Express

All of them were cosmetically as good as new. All have been at least as reliable as a new machine. The iBook G3 and the iMac G5 needed new logic boards during the warranty period, caused by typical problems that plagued those particular models. I have no complaints. I'll purchased refurbished again when it meets my needs.

Wish I could say the same...just shipped a 24" iMac Extreme back to Apple after 2 frustrating days online/onphone with Apple tech support. They couldn't stop the 'freezing' issue and even after a complete re-install still had the problem so back it went.
What a PITA after installing all my software and .Mac backups. Grrrr.
I will think twice before trying the 'refurb' stuff again.

Jim

Can happen with new Macs, also. When I bought my wife's iMac, the unit I brought home from the vendor was DOA. After a quick check with Apple, the unit was replaced the next day, and we've had no problem with the replacement going on 3 1/2 years.

I love the "free upgrades" you can get if you're lucky. I picked up a refurb 2.4 MBP/256 MB VRAM/glossy screen the day the new models where announced. With the "friends and family" discount, it was $1530, $590 cheaper than it was the day before. And it came with 4 GB of RAM and a 200 GB 7200 RPM hard drive. I was a little wishy washy about the purchase as I really wanted the new model with the 512 VRAM, but was thrilled once I booted it up and saw the extras.

Further to my earlier post re the referb 24" iMac extreme...after doing as I was told and sending it back via UPS drop off, ( 40.00 gas return ), 12 days later I get a credit note in the mail from Apple for 124.48. Pretty good for a 24"imac eh? Especially since I paid 2,500.00 for it from Apple only 2 weeks earlier.
When I called, ( and called, and called, and called...), the nice lady in Austin TX told me that there must have been some kind of 'miss-understanding' and that another RFB 24" had been shipped to me instead of a refund. And, that it would arrive tomorrow. I was to return that and when they received it they would process the refund for THAT one, and my credit card would indicate the return following another 5-8 business days.
Total time out the 2,500.00...one month. For 2 days of installation of software, drivers, complete re-installation of the OS, etc., numerous hours on the phone with tech support and customer support....not even a gosh we're sorry for your trouble. Ouch.

jw

Hi folks,

Just need your opinion. Is there that much of a difference between the Penryn and the old Santa Rosa CPU?

Other than probably a little better battery life and running a little cooler, I don't think you would notice much difference in "real world" performance between the two.

Just an add-on to my post... I'm considering both of these. Want a stronger CPU; won't be gaming; will use iLife a LOT. Even for some "professional" photography I do (weddings and baby pics). That's the maximum extent of the "hard work" I'd have this unit do. Being able to use photo editing software or video editing (Final Cut Express, etc.) would be good, however the speed of those apps is not of consequence. As long as they work...

Thanks.

Thanks Bmer... If I can spend the extra cash, would it still be a good idea to get the "latest and greatest", or should I save my cash and maybe use it for RAM, etc.? I would buy more RAM for either machine, regardless...

Thanks.

Oh... I guess I should add that running cool is important to me... My HP is pretty much unbearable to have on my lap... It crashes all the time...

Thanks!

I would go with the latest one then. You will want to load that up with 4G of RAM also if you plan on doing video/graphics work.

Thanks Bmer. That's the way I was leaning... just needed that push...