Advice Re Buying Refurbished Imac

[monkeygirl 10]

Hi All

 

I have used a Macbook for years. Due to the current crisis, I am having to work from home and have found quickly that sitting at my table with a Macbook is not good for my back! I realise too that I need the screen further away.

 

i was looking into buying a keyboard and mouse etc and then thought about whether it would be worth a short term investment into a refurbished iMac that i would use purely for my work stuff. This would need the capability to basically do calls by Zoom, editing in Pages and a program called Scrivener.

 

I have seen a couple of iMacs on ebay and I wondered it people thought these were good buys for the limited use I need it for and with a view to me selling hopefully in 4 months time (I'm in that high risk group). I don't want to and can't afford to spend much as I'm self employed but trying to find ways to work as best I can through this. I put the specs of the two I've found below. See what you think and if you know of any issues with these models

 

£159.99

Apple	Custom Bundle:	No
Release Year:	2008	Series:	Apple iMac
Type:	All-in-One	Processor Speed:	2.26 GHz - 2.4 GHz
Processor:	Intel Core 2 Duo	Memory:	8GB
Hard Drive Capacity:	250 GB	Modified Item:	No
MPN:	MB323BA	Non-Domestic Product:	No
Storage Type:	HDD (Hard Disk Drive)	Model:	APPLE IMAC
Screen Size:	20 in	Operating System:	Mac OS X 10.11, El Capitan
EAN:  Brand:  Apple Custom Bundle:  No Release Year:  2008 Series:  Apple iMac Type:  All-in-One Processor Speed:  2.26 GHz - 2.4 GHz Processor:  Intel Core 2 Duo Memory:  4GB Hard Drive Capacity:  250 GB Modified Item:  No MPN:  MB323BA Non-Domestic Product:  No Storage Type:  HDD (Hard Disk Drive) Model:  APPLE IMAC Screen Size:  20 in Operating System:  Mac OS X 10.11, El Capitan   This one is one for £128.99. They both have 12 months warranty	0885909207428   The other one :

[the_bloke 17]

I wouldn't touch that with a bargepole; it's 12 years old and can't be upgraded beyond the version of Mac OS X it's already running.

 

You'd be better off buying a cheap mouse and keyboard (you don't need Apple ones) and a monitor, altogether for less than one of those eBay Macs.

[zach 233]

Refurbished on eBay and other used sales platforms can mean at little as a wipe down and a quick air dust, basically on old PC with 5 minutes spent making it look better.

 

It can be very different buying a genuine Apple refurb but the price also reflects that. The one you list is old and will be quite slow. The warranty is only as good as the people giving it, they may disappear in 2 weeks, and so does your warranty. Plus they are not small or light and could be quite expensive for an RTB (Return to Base) warranty.

 

Does your mac have HDMI out? It might be as easy as buying a HDMI lead and using your TV or buy a cheap bigger monitor.

 

I'm not trying to be all doom and gloom, just saying as it is...or can be.

[monkeygirl 10]

That's really helpful advice - thanks. 😊 Glad I asked. I've got a mid 2012 MAcBook Pro. It doesn't have a HDMI  port but I bought an HDMI adapter for several years ago so that is do-able. Any recommendations for monitors, keyboard and mouse  that would work well. Nothing looking for an especially big screen. I just need to improve my set up so I can work from it. Thanks!

[zach 233]

11 minutes ago, monkeygirl said:

That's really helpful advice - thanks. 😊 Glad I asked. I've got a mid 2012 MAcBook Pro. It doesn't have a HDMI  port but I bought an HDMI adapter for several years ago so that is do-able. Any recommendations for monitors, keyboard and mouse  that would work well. Nothing looking for an especially big screen. I just need to improve my set up so I can work from it. Thanks!

As the_bloke said, you don't need to buy Apple so it's just a case of looking at things in your price range. 20" is considered quite small for monitors/TVs. And the next question would be, a monitor or TV if you want to re-purpose when things settle down. I've bought AOC, Dell and HP monitors in the past, all seemed to work well but again, it comes down to cost.

 

Have a look over these suppliers and see what you find

 

Scan

Ebuyer

Aria

Currys/PC World or John Lewis ( for a TV)

 

There's a lot more but that will give you a start.

[MrRobot 10]

55 minutes ago, zach said:

Refurbished on eBay and other used sales platforms can mean at little as a wipe down and a quick air dust, basically on old PC with 5 minutes spent making it look better.

 

It can be very different buying a genuine Apple refurb but the price also reflects that. The one you list is old and will be quite slow. The warranty is only as good as the people giving it, they may disappear in 2 weeks, and so does your warranty. Plus they are not small or light and could be quite expensive for an RTB (Return to Base) warranty.

 

Does your mac have HDMI out? It might be as easy as buying a HDMI lead and using your TV or buy a cheap bigger monitor.

 

I'm not trying to be all doom and gloom, just saying as it is...or can be.

My bold, I'm assuming that's a joke lol. Ebuyer is good for monitors, keyboard etc.

[zach 233]

13 hours ago, MrRobot said:

I'm assuming that's a joke lol.

No.