by Tricia
I received my very first computer as a graduation present from my brother…a Macintosh Performa. That thing was so cool and it could do so much (at the time, of course). That started us off as a Mac family.
My husband needs to keep his computer up to speed and needs to upgrade to a newer and faster computer every so often. One way that we have helped curb this expense is to purchase refurbished computers through Apple. They have a strict process that they go through to ensure all refurbished products are in great running condition. We haven’t been disappointed with the quality yet.
The last time we purchased a computer we saved about $400. Before that it was around $200. That’s a significant amount and sometimes the savings are even higher if they happen to have a lot of refurbished in stock. I think they must have a lot in stock so that’s why they are having a great sale now (shh…don’t tell my husband LOL).
Right now the savings are running $500 for a refurbished PowerBook and they have a refurbished 512MB iPod shuffle w/ armband for 51% off. You can see that refurbished are a great deal over buying new. But remember, saving money with these deals only really works if you were going to buy one anyways. I have to keep reminding my husband of that 😉
Note: We weren’t aware of this fact when we bought our first refurbished computer, so I thought I would mention this. You can still purchase their AppleCare Protection Plan to extend the one-year limited warranty that already comes with each machine. That means three years of coverage is available.
As a sidenote, I gave my old Performa to my niece and nephew for them to use. Unfortunately, during a thunderstorm it was zapped by lightning and met it’s demise. Thanks to my mom who can smell a bargain a mile away, she found the exact model and now I have it for my son to use 🙂
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Hi Tricia,
I have saved even more money on computers (as well as other gadgets and things) by buying older models and used computers off of EBay. Of course, that’s not for everyone. But, it’s a great way to save, and often you get amazing deals! But, you have to really know what you want, and only buy from reputable sellers.
That’s a great point about eBay. I have looked at the ones on there before (when we knew what model we wanted) and there are some great deals, but I tend to only use eBay for smaller purchases.
Thanks for stopping by 😉