[chrislaf]

Received my refurbed Black MacBook 2nd Generation on Thursday to replace my venerable Pismo. It looks brand new-no scratches or blemishes (as far as I can tell). It runs perfectly. I think I got an excellent deal (CAN$1189). I bought a first generation refurbed black MacBook for my wife in February and it came in brand new condition as well. Also last Christmas we bought refurbed ipods-again they came in brand new condition and haven't had any problems.
Not sure if this is the norm but have been very pleased with the Apple refurbished computers and ipods we have purchased. As long as refurbished units are available I don't think I will ever buy a new unit again.
The only minor hiccup I had is I ordered a black macbook at the beginning of April and Apple sent me a white one. They were good about it and credited my credit card (although it took almost a whole month for the credit to go through). I opted for the credit because I predicted that there would be an update in the Macbook and lo and behold there was which dropped the price on the 2nd gen refurbed macbook.
Enjoying the amazing speed increase in my new macbook.
Chris

[Kuffara]

I heartily agree. My refurbished 3rd gen iPod lasted twice as long as the new one did.

[jer10]

Same here, I have a refurb Macbook 2GHz C2D and a refurb IPod Nano (2nd gen) and they both looked and work like new. The only drawback is that you don't get the fancy box with the Macbook, but it's not worth an extra $200. Happy refurb customer.

[estumpges]

I completely agree as well. I've been a happy owner of a PowerMac G5 for nearly 3 years now. It didn't ship with up to date iLife software but I got on the phone with Apple and they sent me out the latest version.
The only real downside to buying refurbished is that you may not be able to find the exact machine you are looking for. Any time you can find something referbished that you are looking for, I'd say it's definitely worth the saved money.

[radnuf]

I have a refurbished PB and 20in monitor.
Have you seen the $499 refurbished 20in monitor on the Apple site? Might be time to double up.

[maflynn]

Really I wonder what's up with that. I'll have to take a look but I also wonder if they're unloading inventory in preparation for a refresh

[radnuf]

That was my first thought. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[maflynn]

The mark down is huge, they're really looking to push them out the door.
I was thinking of getting a second 23" display or a single 30" display. Know with the price that I'm seeing here, its tough to pass up even if apple is going to refresh the line.