Hi all -

I'm considering purchasing a MacBook Pro for work. I'm looking at purchasing a refurbished (aka "used with 90 day warranty") 1.83GHz for $1180 which I'm pretty sure is a Core Duo. The low purchase price and matte screen are powerful draws for me.

My other option is a $1700 refurbished MacBook Pro from Apple, which is a 2.2 GHz Core 2 Duo.

Is there a compelling reason to get one but not the other? The $500 price difference is making it tough to justify new tech, but some of that will disappear when I upgrade the old one to have enough memory, etc. I know the Core 2 Duo is true 64-bit, but I'm not sure that actually means anything in terms of real applications.

Thanks -
EEMac

One other difference between the two is the LED backlighting on the newer one, it gets longer battery runtime per charge.

I assume that the 90 day warranty is not from Apple, so you might also want to consider how much trouble it might be to get warranty repairs.

I've found the speed differences between the Core Duo and the Core 2 Duo to be quite a bit. So much so that I'm looking to upgrade my MacBook to a C2D soon.

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M1 2020 Mac mini (16G 2T) • Ventura 13.x • Dual 25" Acer 1440p LCDs • M1 2020 13" MBAir (256G 8G) •

No FW 800.

First gen had heating problems (but probably would have shown up by now on this one)

Current gen can take 4GB of RAM, vs 2 GB for that one.

If this is going to be your PRIMARY machine, I'd think about popping for the extra bucks. If you can wait, there may be an announcement at Macworld that will lower prices for used C2D machines.

I would never buy a refurbed with only a 90 Day warranty!
As somebody has already stated, it is not an Apple refurb.

BGnR

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Oh, and the older CDs have been going on Ebay for as low as $800 or so, IIRC, but somewhat scuffed and no warranty.

That is not a good price. Last December, I purchased a MBP with a 2GHz core duo from the apple refurb store for $1199 (fed employee discount).

I'd be hesitant with only a 3 month warranty. Where are you looking at purchasing it?

The previous generation MacBook Pro 2.16 GHz models are still showing up as refurbs. They go for $1499. Max RAM is 3 GB instead of the 4 GB refurbs of the current generation MBP's can take. Have not seen anything farther back than those for several weeks in the refurbs, but they may have shown up and sold out very early in the morning. Not currently shopping seriously for one, so have not been staying up until the usual 4 AM ET when the refurbs have been restocked recently most mornings after getting home from work at 1 AM or so.

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Thanks for all the good advice! It's from Wegener Media, which has certainly been in business for a while. However, posters are correct that the putative 90 day warranty is probably not worth the $400 difference between eBay and "refurbished" _to me_. (I have no experience with Wegener products, refurbished or otherwise.) I'll check eBay and a few other sites before purchasing. It sounds like I won't regret the Apple refurb if I go that route, so it'll take a fair chunk of savings to make me look elsewhere. Thanks again!

I have Core Duo 1.83GHz machine which I'm looking to sell. It still has 6 months of its original Apple warranty on it. I'm sure that I can sweeten the deal in other ways as well. PM me if you're interested.

(I've been meaning to eBay it)

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new $1299 macbook would kick it to the curb...

im staring at a macbook right now, if the gloss screen poses no issue -- even though i look at matte screens all day

however, if it was my primary screen, no way because of the size...

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Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.