Hi guys,

i've been using mac notebooks for the past five years and was thinking of getting an iMac to use for main word processing unit, storing of my photos and music. It will be used as my main desktop as my old PC is now nearing its end. I also have the current MBP for work.

Anyway, I am contemplating between the 24" 2.4Ghz refurbs previous model which is under 1800 and a brand new 2.8Ghz which I can get for under 2300. I will upgrade whichever to 4gb rams myself. So i guess the main concern is whether to get a refurb which is 0.8ghz slower or get a newer one.

Another thing that is bugging me is that, I don't usually keep my macs for long. I like to sell them when a new model comes out that justifies buying (ie. transition from my old ibook to the first gen mbp) and would like to sell at a good value for my potential next purchase.

What are you guys thoughts about this?

And as silly as it sounds, does refurbs macs come with its original boxes?

Get the refurb. Use my sig.

And no, they usually don't come in original boxes. Plain brown box in my experience.

The difference between 2.8 and 2.4 is only 400MHz, not 800MHz.

See this thread:
Refurbished Macs - Bargain or Hell in Shiny White Box?

Ive bought refurbs in the past, they have always come in original boxes.

Not only that, they come in their original boxes totally sealed, like new. (at least the one time I bought refurb)

Mine came in an original box, but a lot don't. Was really cool opening the shipping box, to find an original packaged Mac. Was just like buying it from the shops...

Then buy refurbished. You'll lose significantly more buying new.

I bought my imac in April or May of this year and it came in a big brown box with naught a clue that it was a mac package of goodness. Luck of the draw maybe? My refurb ipod came in a white box with apple on it, but not in the original packaging.

thanks for help guys.

i read on another forum that some guy bought a refurb 24" 2.4ghz but got a 24" 2.8ghz instead.

what are chances? haha

Try your luck. It has been known to happen sometimes, getting better specs than what you ordered.

But most of the time, you will get what you order. If you happen to get upgraded RAM, graphics, CPU, etc, good for you! Luck of the draw and it is another reason why I like to shop at the refurb store (use my sig ).

It's a mystery until it arrives.

Buy new. Nothing like getting a brand new spanking mac. Has got that smell.

I've purchased my last few Macs refurb and will probably never buy one retail again.

Oh, refurbs have that new Mac smell and have a 12 month warranty just like a new one!

If you are going to buy and MacTalk helped you in your purchased, click this link and buy it via our referral system, so MacTalk gets a cut of your purchase from Apple

LOL , I had the exact same thing. I bought the 2.4ghz spec'd 24" iMac for $1769 on saturday night. Tuesday morning i got mine delivered to me at work. Took it home, set it up, and discover:

1. My machine is 2.8ghz and not 2.4ghz
2. I have a 500gb hdd instead of 300
3. I got a wireless mighty mouse instead of wired one
4. I got a wrieless keyboard instead of wired one

The whole thing came in original box, and was exactly as it was if i got it new, with all the protecive plastic stuff on.

To say I was estatic was an understatement.

I have only ever bought Macs second hand (not even refurb) except for my MacBook which was new and have never been let down... it's a nice way to buy quality hardware...

Massive bonus! Great free processor and HDD upgrades

My MBP was a referb. It had 2gb of ram instead of 1gb. Pretty happy about that. Though i think it had a 100gb hdd instead of 120gb. Meh. I would rather more ram.

I love referb. Actually, quick question, does an education discount work on the referb store?