Apple :: ACD Refurb For The Macbook
Sep 28, 2009Pulled the trigger on an 24" ACD refurb for the macbook. i must say...this thing is completely gorgeous, and makes writing papers SO much easier on the eyes.
View 10 RepliesPulled the trigger on an 24" ACD refurb for the macbook. i must say...this thing is completely gorgeous, and makes writing papers SO much easier on the eyes.
View 10 RepliesSo I'm definitely getting a 13" Macbook or Macbook Pro. Apple has some great prices on refurbs so that's probably the route I'll be going however I'm having trouble discerning the difference between the 13" Aluminum Unibody standard macbook and the 13" Unibody Macbook Pro. From what I've read they both have the upgraded screen, they're obviously both unibody, both have the large button-less trackpad, and both have the 9400m. They even have the same dimensions and the only difference I can see between the images is a slightly different case bevel (also the firewire and sd card ports, both are useless to me).
Unfortunately, none of the Apple stores or BestBuys in the area have a non-pro unibody 13" Macbook for me to actually handle and compare. So, basically, what makes the pro version with the slower cpu and smaller hard drive at the same price point worth it?
I wanted to buy open box refurb not used MacBook pro 15 models. 15-inch: 2.4GHz
15-inch: 2.53GHz
15-inch: 2.66GHz
17-inch: 2.53GHz
Intel Core i5Intel Core i5Intel Core i7Intel Core i5
4GB Memory4GB Memory4GB Memory4GB Memory
320GB hard drive1500GB hard drive1500GB hard drive1500GB hard drive1
SD card slotSD card slotSD card slotExpressCard/34 slot
Built-in battery (8-9 hour)2Built-in battery (8-9 hour)2Built-in battery (8-9 hour)2Built-in battery (8-9 hour)2
Intel HD GraphicsIntel HD GraphicsIntel HD GraphicsIntel HD Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with 256MBNVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with 256MBNVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with 512MBNVIDIA GeForce GT 330M
To start I should remind everyone that i'm not a mac user. I have never owned a mac or used OSX properly before today. As such, my opinions should be taken as coming from someone who has much knowledge and experience as far as PC's are concerned, but who is a total mac n00b.
First Impressions
When I first walked over to the Macbooks I was quite taken aback. The build quality is out of this world. In fact, I immediately walked over to the latest PC laptops to compare and immediately thought "manufacturing FAIL". Really, the Macbooks are italian sports cars, and PC's are 30 year old farm tractors to use the typical "car analogy".
The Macbook
I really only had any interest in the Macbook when I first went to the Apple stand, but came away with the intention of buying a MacBook Pro. Let me explain:
The MacBook's build quality is awesome. It's solid, no creaking plastic or flexable build, completely and utterly solid. Awesome.............
I have been speculating over this prospect giving the direction that Apple took with the starting price of the 24" iMac (upgrade everything else and downgrade the VRAM).
I mean, this is something I would like to see, but I wonder if it is a smart move on Apple's part given how much they make off the current MBP's with the so called Apple Tax.
And, if they made this move, one has to wonder if it still would be considered a Pro.
This is going to be my very first Mac. I'm really excited about it, but I don't know which one I should go for... I narrowed it down to these two models. Which one should I go for and why?
View 10 Replies View RelatedI bought a black macbook this summer and every night when I'm in bed trying to do work I can barely see which keys is which. Obviously this wouldn't be a cheap fix but is there a way or is it possible to install the new light up keys of the new macbooks onto a pre-remodel macbook?
View 10 Replies View RelatedI downloaded this updated for my unibody Macbook Pro, and I think it's pretty vital. However, it gave me this error when I tried to install it: "You cannot install Macbook, Macbook Pro software update on this volume. This update requires Mac OS X 10.5.5 or newer." Now don't tell me that I have selected the wrong partition to install the update, or that I need to update my OS to 10.5.5 because I already have 10.5.6 and I chose the Macintosh HD partition to install the update.
View 6 Replies View RelatedIf I make an image of my hdd from my white macbook with disk utility onto a hard drive I take out of a unibody macbook pro will it work and boot properly?
I will do this by taking the 250gb hdd out of the unibody macbook pro and putting it into a sata external usb hdd enclosure, then making an image of my current 120gb white macbook and writing the image onto the 250gb. After, I plan to put the 250gb hdd back into the macbook pro and boot it up normally as if everything from my white macbook was just copied onto the macbook pro.
Was curious what is the difference between the short-lived aluminum macbooks and macbook pros. Only thing i could spot is the illuminated keyboard.
View 8 Replies View RelatedShe has a white macbook with leopard I think, and has a separate partition in which she has boot camp, she uses specialized software that can only run in windows (doesnt run in vm). She got a new macbook air but wants to keep everything intact.
Do programs like duper clone drives with all files intact, including partitions? Keep in mind that the windows side is more important, installation of this software can only be done remotely from Russia, so it's a bit of a hassle if we screw up, we have to contact IT at a specific time and get them to do it.
Would I have to take the drive of the macbook air out? Or can i just clone to an external hard drive and then move that to the mba hard drive, in target disc mode or something.
I really love the black color of MB404, but is it good? does it crack easily?(is it plastic?)
Hows screen quality?
What do you think? which one should i buy?
I really wanted to buy Alu one before i hear about slanted keys and loose battery covers(i know %99 of them don't have that, but it's hard to risk when there's no way to fix it in here), because there's no Mac center in my country and i'm SO picky.
I've been looking at basicly two models, both got almost the exact same price tag here in Norway, so I'm not sure which one to go for.
The first ones is a MacBook Pro 15" with High-resolution 1650x1080 glossy screen, featuring the top of the line Intel Core i7-620M CPU the other is a MacBook Pro 17" with even higher resolution (1920x1200) glossy screen, featuring the slightly slower Intel Core i5-540M.
I don't list the other specifications as I don't really care about them, I already got a pair of 4GB 1600MHz CL7 (2x2GB) DIM's and a Intel X25-M 80GB SSD that I'll be using anyway.
There will be lots of movies and series played on my MacBook Pro, that's why I don't really considering paying a premium for the anti-glare screen, even though I love anti-glare and tend to struggle with glossy screens I don't see the point in actually paying more for it. And when watching movies and series, in often very dark rooms the glossy screen actually have some advantages.
The hard thing to decide here is slicker and lighter, with smaller screen and lower resolution, but better CPU versus the bigger, more heavy but featuring bigger screen and Full-HD+ resolution but slower CPU.....................
I love the way it looks and feels so far, but I think I have a problem.
1.The screen is really dark. My current comp e1505 on the lowest setting is brighter than it.
I tried messing with dcp to no avail, toggling on/off the ambient light sensor .....
Thinking about getting one of these refurbed Inspiron 1420's from Dell Outlet
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Is it a big deal to buy an EBay laptop that has no service tag number? The seller's rep is very good
View 10 Replies View RelatedI am looking to replace my aging 700m with either a Dell D420 or D430. The laptop is 90% for travel so I am mostly concerned about battery life. I'd like to make it cross country on one charge if possible.
I usually load up a bunch of DivX movies/TV shows on the drive and entertain myself on flights, etc. I do use it a bit for work on the road, but I'm not doing anything crazy so processing power is not much of a concern. Email, remote desktop, etc.
From those with either a D420 or D430, what kind of battery life can I expect from a 6 or 9 cell battery? I would prefer the 6 cell since it does not stick out, but 9 cell is ok since the machine is so small. I'm not opposed to taking a second battery as that is what I do with my 700m right now.
Which OS is going to yield more battery life? XP, Vista or 7?
The battery is clearly a refurb. I believe refurbished batteries are just fine, so long as they are built by reputable & knowledgeable folks who are using newly made replacement cells.
But this battery will only charge to 47%. The 5-light strip on the back lights two lights only (no blinking). A handful of programs all say the battery us at 47%.
I think this may be an issue with the smart board inside the battery. Is this something that gets calibrated through the bios? How do you run "battery learning"? (...or is it shot?) ..
I just received my E6500 from the outlet after having returned a new studio 17.
1. Was I supposed to receive any sort of owners manual with this thing?
There are a handful of disks but no manual save for a small warranty booklet.
2. It has XP on it and I think it came with the ability to put vista business on it. I am not particularly wedded to xp, should I just go ahead and put vista on? Is vista closer interface wise to whatever the next generation of windows is (windows 7)?
3. This E6500 has the 1440x900 led screen as did my studio 17. The screen on the 17 was absolutely brilliant but the screen on this E6500 seems more fuzzy or dull. Not as sharp and vibrant as the screen on the 17. To be perfectly honest, the screen on this E6500 doesn't seem that much nicer than the one on my 2001 Latitude.
4. Refresh my memory on how I increase the pixels to get bigger text.
5. When I hit the function key and the "auto" screen brightness key the screen goes very dark. Is this supposed to be the ambient light/brightness deal?
I sold my Asus G1S last week and now i am looking to replace it with another more modern 15.4" laptop with decent graphics card and good screen. Dell m4400 and lenovo t500 both fit the bill. I am leaning more towards a refurb dell from the outlet. I am lookign for answers to a few questions to help me make up my mind:
I heard good stuff about both WXGA+ LED and WUXGA RGB-LED panels on this model. What about WUXGA CCFL panel. Where can I find specs on it? Is it any good or terribly dim like the one Lenovo uses?
Is heat a big problem with m4400? My Asus was heating up to the point that it was uncomfortable to keep on my lap and was very noisy and I kind of want to avoid that again.
How good are Dell refurbs? Am i going to get something that has been trashed before or are these just open box returns? Also is it possible to get them to give extra discount over the phone? There was a 15% off coupon a few weeks ago which is over now. What are my chances of convincing them to give me a discount?
Also, If I do order new, would it be possible to convince Dell to price match the M4400 to a T500 or W500? Did anybody ever have any success with that?
equipping 2 machines:
1-a 13" MacBook Pro, primary use will be Internet and e-mail and manipulating music files. Will my husband really notice a difference/benefit between the basic 2.26 and the 2.53GHZ (and is it worth about $250 more)? If he uses it for video downloading will that make a difference?
2- a 15" MacBook Pro- here I'm debating between the 2.66 and 2.8. My daughter uses it for Office apps, PhotoShop, music, Internet and e-mail. Again, would video downloading make a difference?
I'm planning on buying a refurb M4400 soon, and I'm wondering if the user community has any input for me. Are there any features I should make sure to get (backlit keyboard is good, I hear)? Are there any features I should be sure to avoid? Are there any problems commonly experienced that I should look out for once I get the system?
I haven't ordered it yet, but so far I think I'm looking at the T9400 cpu, 4GB RAM, FX770M gpu, CCFL WUXGA screen, ~250GB@7200RPM HD (could be 160GB or 320GB, depends on what's available). Up for debate still are 6 vs 9 cell battery, fingerprint reader (none, internal, FIPS), OS (if I can get 64-bit Vista Ultimate that'd be great, otherwise XP Pro w/ Vista Business license).
The intended usage here is software development (mostly Java, some C/C++) and gaming (Far Cry 2, CoD4/5, maybe Crysis?).
I'm in the market for a new laptop with a 13-14" display. I've looked at some others (Dell XPS 13, HP DV3510nr, Macbook) but have not been too impressed either with features, aesthetics, or build quality. The XPS 13 has the features, but build quality seems so, so; and it seems that there is some concern over how hot it runs. So, I've now been looking at the Vaio SR. Specifically, an SR 290 refurb. It wasn't quite clear to me what the advantages of ordering the SR390 would be.
So a couple of questions:
1. How are the general experiences with the Sony Outlet Refurbs?
2. SR 290 vs SR 390? I'm not a gamer. Biggest processing challenge will most likely be running photoshop CS3.
3. Any other recommendations based on the specs below?
4. From reading multiple pages of this thread, it seems people are pretty pleased with this notebook.
Its time for me to replace my aging IBM X30. Its served its purpose very well, but its time for something a bit newer. My concern is not gaming, but a machine I can do coding on, play with Linux distros, VMware stuff, etc...
Specs of the 2530 (sold through newegg.com ad is factory refurb)
Core 2 SL9300 1.6GHZ 6MB L2 cache
2GB Ram
80GB HD
Intel 4500
6 cell battery
DVD+RW
12inch Matte display (big plus)
552$ before tax and shipping
Specs of the DM3z
AMD L335
2GB ram
160GB HD
AMD 3200
6 Cell
13.3 Glossy display
I purchased an HP DV7-1273cl from Costco about a month ago. I did only, and I mean only, the windows updates and the updates listed for my model on hp.com. After those updates, I got a couple errors that automatically did a restart and boot to "No bootable device found, please insert disc and press any key" which I wasn't able to get around until I pulled out the battery. Called Costco Concierge which led to a call to HP. Long story short, this time, I ran a comprehensive hdd test which passed and HP sent me recovery discs to rule out bad recovery partition. It didn't work. i then had to send the laptop to HP service. Apparently they replaced the motherboard and scratched the living $h!t out of the top of the lid. I called Cost Con to complain about the scratches and as soon as I hung up, BSoD.
So, I buy another refurb to see if I have better luck. Just my luck. After doing a factory recovery via the discs just to be safe, the 2nd Laptop is doing the same thing, just not as frequent. I got the "No bootable device found, please insert disc and press any key" once. It BSoD'd a couple times since Friday night. One of the BSoD said something about a Kernel Stack Page Error. At this point in my journey, I set the laptop to not automatically reboot after a BSoD. Again, the only updates I've done are the Windows updates and HP.com updates which include: BIOS update, Wireless adapter, NIC update, NVidia update (via Nvidia.com), Intel Chipset update, Webcam Software, DVD Software, MediaSmart Menu Software, Bluetooth, Essential System Updates for Windows Vista SP1. Full list of updates is at link.
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A buddy told me to try a different hdd.
So I purchased a "scratch n dent" mini 9 from the dell outlet. It arrived today. When I looked at the bottom it had a refurbished sticker on the bottom. I know on the outlet they have ordered previously new, refurbished, and scratch n dent.
Do all the scratch n dent computers come with this sticker? I figure the refurb would but didn't think the scratch n dent would as it's only a used computer..
I got a little e-shopping happy tonight, and purchased a refurbished M1330 on Dell Outlet. I previously had a M1210 and that thing was a tank, so I went ahead and went for the "newer line".
Anyhow, so I've been spending the past hours after my purchase (I know, stupid idea) on reading how the 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS and the GPU would be causes for failure and heat issues. I usually run heavy web-cam chatting programs, AutoCAD, and wanted to get back into some light computer gaming (hence the decision to purchase the NVIDIA graphics), but now grow concerned.
First, is it worth it to go ahead with my order? With the Dell Outlet coupon, the price I paid was pretty decent (around $700~), but with all the issues and the multi-page thread about GPU/NVIDIA problems, has me iffy. Yes I know there is a 1-year warranty, and yes I know there are some fix-attempts, but I just feel uncertain. The XPS line is suppose to be the best, and it should carry the comfurt of its class.
Second, since I placed my order with Dell Outlet after 5PM (PST and about 2 hours ago), and it has not yet been "shipped", is it possible even though my order has been "acknowledged and confirmed" to cancel it? And what would I be looking at in regards to getting my money back (since its already a "pending charge" on my account).
Any input is great appreciated. If I cancel the order on the M1330, I probably would be looking at a Vaio FW series I've been lurking on.
I myself have an old celeron powered inspiron 1300, 2 gig ram-upgraded myself and an old onboard Intel 900 series gfx, yada, running windows xp...
it runs on the web very quickly- but its on its last legs, powers on and off, screen flutters, it overheats ,etc .....
I am currently returning a dell studio xps 16" as its so sooo much hassle to deal with dell and the fact that i got 3 messsed up replacements in a row. i am looking to get a macbook or macbook pro. i would prefer a macbook pro (lowest model) although the cheapest method i can find is £1163 from the higher education store. is there any other way or place that sells it for less? apple seem to charge crazy prices for a low spec. een £100 would be expensive but maybe afordable. only discounts i found for the macbook/macbook pro are 14% higher education (the one i am looking to use) and 6% EPP and school discount. iv looked at the macbook but im going to use the laptop for movies, work and internet. movies on a 13.3" arnt exactly enjoyable to watch so thats why im looking for a macbook pro.
View 10 Replies View RelatedI finally decided that i am going to take my desktop HTPC from home to grad school for movies/TV and playing demanding games.
So now I cannot decide upon which notebook to get -
the base Macbook Pro 2.4 or the base Macbook Air 1.6
I am going to be mainly doing work: taking notes, photo editing, and also some light gaming (2d games and old 3d games (red orchestra, combat mission) when away from apartment) on the notebook.
So I was wondering which is a better choice for me.
The macbook pro has a faster core 2 duo cpu, but the FSB and RAM are all the same speed. Obviously the 9600mGT is 2.5x faster than the 9400M, but I am not going to need it for intensive gaming.
Also the macbook pro has a larger screen.
But the Air is so much lighter and thinner, and would be a good thing to take to libraries. And it is 200 cheaper....................