To The Moon And Back

Have any of you had a bad experience with refurbished Apple products? A friend will be coming home this May so I want to take advantage of the free shipping.

Here is what I’m eyeing:

Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
15.4-inch widescreen display
2GB memory
120GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 128MB of GDDR3 memory
Built-in iSight Camera

Imagine, you can have a Macbook Pro for only $1499? I wonder how good (or bad) refurbished products are?

I can also go for something cheaper.

Refurbished MacBook 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - White
13.3-inch glossy widescreen display
1GB memory
80GB hard drive
Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Built-in iSight camera

This one is for only $799.

They are both certified Apple refurbished products and covered by Apple’s one year limited warranty.

Apple Certified Refurbished Products are pre-owned Apple products that undergo Apple’s stringent refurbishment process prior to being offered for sale. These products have been returned under Apple’s Return and Refund Policies. While only some units are returned due to technical issues, all units undergo Apple’s stringent quality refurbishment process

It’s not that I don’t trust Apple. In fact, I love them to bits. I just need to research on what other customers say about refurbished products because even if we’re talking about $800 here, it’s still a huge amount of money.

I’ve never had a Mac. I’ve played with my boss’ Macbook Pro before while he was having lunch. There was this one time when I spent two hours using my client’s while presenting a design. I’ve also touched the new Macbook Air from an Apple store. And on those three times, my need to have one increased tenfold.

I don’t just want it. I need it. As a graphics / web designer, owning multiple computers is a must for browser compatibility. I already have two but both of them are using the Windows platform so there’s no way that I can check what my designs look like on a Firefox, Safari in Mac. I always rely on my colleagues who use Mac so they can check if my websites are working properly on their browsers. It sucks, and not exactly convenient.

I won’t go for Macbooks since I already have my trusted HP laptop. What I really need is a high powered machine that can run multiple graphic applications while running a web server. It needs to have more than 2GB of memory and a minimum of 250GB hard drive. The monitor has to be very huge so I can check how my website looks like on all resolutions.

Having browsed through all the possibilities, it boils down to the perfect option - a 20 inch iMac.

At $1100, I can have all these and more:
2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
1GB memory (upgradable up to 4GB)
250GB hard drive1
8x double-layer SuperDrive
ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB memory

Slim, all-in-one design
Setting new standards for elegance and simplicity, the all-new, all-in-one iMac packs all its components — from processor to video camera — into an astoundingly thin, anodized aluminum frame.

Intel Core 2 processor
At speeds up to 2.8GHz, the advanced dual-core Intel processors that power every iMac are faster than ever — delivering greater performance for everything from enhancing photos to playing games and more.

Dazzling displays
Your photos, movies, and games will come to life in rich, vivid color thanks to the new glossy widescreen display on every iMac.

Should I continue dreaming or just go right ahead and ask my boss if he can buy me one? He was the one who introduced me to iMacs so I guess if I convince him how I really need it, he might just consider getting one for me. In fact, his old iMac will do. I will use this to improve my designs which at the end of the day, is really just for the company’s sake.