Wootalyzer's Pricing Post! - The price of today's woot item is saved here for future reference
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Apple 17" MacBook Pro
$1479.99 + $5 Standard OR $15 Two-Day OR $17 One-Day Shipping
Condition: Refurbished

*DISCLAIMER* Wootalyzer! is in no way affiliated with Woot!, and this post may not always be here!

Was $1,719 at Apple.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC846LL/A

Seems like a good price compared to the 17" macbook pros Apple has on the refurb area of their site.

What is there to say, except that
1. at this size, your entire lap, and part of the sofa can now have that toasty feeling after 10 straight hours of Minecraft, and
2. you can soak up all that spare time you have trying to find a computer briefcase and sleeve that will fit it.

Spec sheet from Everymac.

Decent, not great, price for a 17" MBP.

I'm holding out for a 15" Sandy Bridge to replace my 2.6 ghz Penryn C2D. Almost five years old and its still going strong... Only reason I really want a new one is I'm starting to hit the limits of the max 6 gb ram that my old MBP supports.

Not eligible for OS X Mountain Lion Up-to-Date Program

I have this laptop and it's been by far the best laptop I've owned. I know 17" is too big of a laptop for some, but I just can't go smaller for my main laptop. Disappointed that the 17" is no longer available, so I'd snatch this one up if you want a MacBook and want a big screen.

This laptop does not feel too big at all, and it still feels like new to me ... my last HP crapped out in just a little over a year.

I don't use it for games, but do a lot of video and photo work, and it's superb. Also run Windows with Parallels which works fairly well ... it's really hard to like Windows when it's side by side with OSX. But I'm a convert, went completely anti-Apple to all Apple.

And so begins the Apple/PC "debate." Listen folks, both have their place in the world and we all have different experiences. I own PC's because they work for me and I take care of them. I still know that Apple makes a quality product and has a purpose in the world. Personally, I've had the same 5th Gen iPod for years now and it still works just as well as the day I got it. Apple charges what they do because thats what folks think the product is worth. And maybe it is to them! No need to get all worked up over it. MacBooks are quality computers that function well and I see nothing wrong with having a little variety in the world. Just my two cents.

I've owned Apple products in the past, and honestly only ended up feeling silly for buying into the over-marketed hype.

Now I do my best to find products with comparable features, and usually end up finding laptops with excellent specs, brand new, for $500. Sure the screens aren't 17", but at least I don't pay too much just because I needed to help pay for the advertising.

Also, with a lower price tag the freedom is there to purchase a new laptop much more frequently. Since laptops are notoriously bad at upgrading, this is an added benefit instead of feeling like you need to make your 1800 dollar laptop last a few more years.

gravityisweak wrote:Wow, I feel bad for anyone who pays that much for a refurbished laptop. Or any laptop for that matter. They really drank the Apple Kool-Aid.

The thing is, Apple refurbs are a pretty safe bet (and I never buy anybody else's refurbs anywhere else, except for my Woot-off refurb Roku player which is great). The Apple refurbs I've had in the past were essentially new and with no more problems than new products...sometimes fewer problems. As long as this Woot is actually an Apple refurb it should be great, if it was refurbished by somebody else I'd be wary.

I can't live with a laptop over 15", though.

I suspect there are going to be a lot of Wooters whose grandkids tell them it's not cool to be using a Windows XP computer anymore, who link them to this site, then wind up spending a small fortune on this computer only to receive it and realize they have absolutely no idea how to use it. Then the grandkids suddenly are too busy to help them learn to use it even though they were the ones that suggested it in the first place.

A refurbished MacBook Pro costs $1500? This is no fault of Woot, (Apple is free to set their price to whatever) but anyone who buys this really needs to have a clear understanding of what they are buying.

Does grandma really need the best computer ever made to check her AOL mail 4 times a week? Is it worth grandpa having a major freak out when he can't find the blue "e" to get to his "Yahoo"?

You kids should be ashamed of yourselves, trying to get them to buy this computer just so you don't have to suffer embarrassment when your friends see your grandparent's 2003 Dell Windows XP tower with 15" CRT monitor, that they are completely happy with even though they haven't renewed their Norton Antivirus since 2005.

I've had my 17" MBP for 5+ years now and still works great...used daily. Worth the dough yo. ;)

jstanley1 wrote:I suspect there are going to be a lot of Wooters whose grandkids tell them it's not cool to be using a Windows XP computer anymore, who link them to this site, then wind up spending a small fortune on this computer only to receive it and realize they have absolutely no idea how to use it. Then the grandkids suddenly are too busy to help them learn to use it even though they were the ones that suggested it in the first place.

Actually, I've seen a lot of forum posts over the years from people saying a major reason they got a family member a Mac was because they knew it would significantly reduce their role as the family tech support desk.

What's the deal with 17" laptops? Not that I'm an Apple fan but it seems like most of your deals are on 17". I'm looking for a 14-15 high specs and maybe I'm missing them outside of wootoffs but seems like I never see them. I have an old 17" and I HATE the size... My HP has lasted me 6 years but is starting to have some issues but I want to drop to 15 and non-Apple.

So it IS Apple that is doing the refurb? I must've missed that while reading it.

hydrotheace wrote:And so begins the Apple/PC "debate."

What "debate"? And who's "worked up" about it, before you posted? Was this reply all ready in the queue 3 years ago or something? Because it sounds very dated. ;)

gravityisweak wrote:
Also, with a lower price tag the freedom is there to purchase a new laptop much more frequently. Since laptops are notoriously bad at upgrading, this is an added benefit instead of feeling like you need to make your 1800 dollar laptop last a few more years.

I wanted to chime in on this. I spent $1200 on a laptop (not a mac) a little over 2 years ago. I wanted the best of the best, it was top of the line and still plays new releases on high settings. If I could do it over again, I'd much rather have gotten a mid-range and have $600 for a new laptop whenever that one died. Don't get me wrong,, I love this laptop, it's served me well since I've had it except for one issue which the Dell tech came to my house to fix, but Like you said as far as upgrades go, I feel like I probably would've been better off buying a mid-range laptop instead of top of the line.

mthomtech wrote:I have this laptop and it's been by far the best laptop I've owned....I'm a convert, went completely anti-Apple to all Apple.

I'm curious. Since you converted from PC to Apple, what are the main advantages you see? Buying an Apple laptop for $1500 vs. buying what appears to me a computer with better specs (larger hard drive, etc.) for around $400 is a huge difference. What are the big advantages?

Thanks!

Only a fool would pay $1500 for this outdated refurb piece of crap? Check the specs!! It has a circa-2010 Core i7 (dual core). Jeez quad core has been available for the last 2 yrs!! Can't believe they want $1500 for this? Take your $1500 and buy an Asus G75VW you silly Apple fanboys!!!

I snagged one of these the other day at $1319 on woot. It's my first Mac. It is big but I like the big screen size. I have a work laptop designated for travel. That one gets replaced for free yearly ;-)

Bottom line is it's a lot of machine for the price. I'm going to play with it for another week to make sure I like it.

These will be sold out by 12pm.

frantix wrote:What's the deal with 17" laptops? Not that I'm an Apple fan but it seems like most of your deals are on 17". I'm looking for a 14-15 high specs and maybe I'm missing them outside of wootoffs but seems like I never see them. I have an old 17" and I HATE the size... My HP has lasted me 6 years but is starting to have some issues but I want to drop to 15 and non-Apple.

I agree with you about the 17" deals all the time. But these 17" Macbook Pro's are of a different order as far as size goes than your standard HP or Dell or Toshiba or whatever refurb they usually have on here.

If you're looking for a Apple laptop with a high resolution, high gamut screen like my current Dell XPS 15, these are as close as you're going to get outside of the 15" retinas. And those have all kinds of compatibility issues if you want to use anything other than OSX.

As you can see here (http://laptops.techcrunch.com/compare/29-113/XPS-15-L502X-vs-MacBook-Pro-17-Inch-Thunderbolt) this 17" is only .47" wider and .11" wider than my 15" (the 17" is thinner but that's obvious).

If this was a quad core instead of a dual core I might get it. And it looks like that might not be too far off. As Apple seems to be using Woot to clear out their inventory. They just had the i5 model from 2008 at the beginning of the month (http://www.woot.com/offers/apple-macbook-pro-17-19), and now this 2010 model so hopefully the 2011 models are up in the not too distant future.

I've owned two HP 17" laptops priced 33% lower than this and had overheating and power cord issues on both in spite of different generations.

The 17"
MacBook Pro I own has only had a USB port become unreliable in the same timeframe. Everything else is stellar, though in all fairness mine has a Solid State Drive so it is faster.

I have the Mid 2009 Version (This is the 2010 Version) and this is the best designed 17" laptop money can buy! It's not very fast (first gen i7), but has the 1920 x 1200 resolution 17" display NO OTHER laptop manufacturer makes. (Seriously I've been searching for about a year now, you have to settle for a 1920 x 1080 screen)

Also I've been Bootcamping Windows 8 on my mid 2009 and it runs fantastic. (If you use Visual Studio 2012 there is a current minor issue, just run "bcdedit /set disabledynamictick yes")

Plus MacBook Pro 17"s are the only laptops I know with a decent battery life. After 2 years of use I still get 5+ hours! My 17" Dell M6400 lasted 2 hours when I first got it and now lasts 40 minutes before hibernating.

toddbeall wrote:I'm curious. Since you converted from PC to Apple, what are the main advantages you see? Buying an Apple laptop for $1500 vs. buying what appears to me a computer with better specs (larger hard drive, etc.) for around $400 is a huge difference. What are the big advantages?

Thanks!

I have a gaming rig(windows 7, self-built) and a retina macbook pro, and there are some key differences between what apple makes and what is cheaper and more powerful.

The gaming rig is much, much faster than the macbook. Not just because it's a laptop. I use iMacs every day and they don't even compare. The parts that you can get for the price of an Apple product will completely outpace an iMac or macbook pro. With custom machines you can swap out parts constantly upgrade a piece at a time. For the most part, once you have an Apple computer, you're stuck with the same computer until you buy another. That MSI Radeon 6950 Twin Frozr III you just bought can't be put in your iMac.

On the other hand, the macbook is built MUCH better. Everything is made for everything else. Apple is primarily a hardware manufacturer, and it shows. The screens are amazing and thin, the case is a solid piece of aluminum with nifty vents on the bottom, and the body is very thin for what's inside. Ever head of CCCP for Windows? I guarantee you 90% of mac users haven't, which is another interesting plus for apple. They support most audio and video codecs naively.

I think it just comes down to what you're going to use the computer for. Sorry if this wasn't very coherent, it's 3am and I'm doing my best to stay awake!

tolgabalci wrote:I have the Mid 2009 Version (This is the 2010 Version) and this is the best designed 17" laptop money can buy! It's not very fast (first gen i7), but has the 1920 x 1200 resolution 17" display NO OTHER laptop manufacturer makes. (Seriously I've been searching for about a year now, you have to settle for a 1920 x 1080 screen)

Also I've been Bootcamping Windows 8 on my mid 2009 and it runs fantastic. (If you use Visual Studio 2012 there is a current minor issue, just run "bcdedit /set disabledynamictick yes")

Plus MacBook Pro 17"s are the only laptops I know with a decent battery life. After 2 years of use I still get 5+ hours! My 17" Dell M6400 lasted 2 hours when I first got it and now lasts 40 minutes before hibernating.

It's not the best designed 17" laptop as it's dated. Dual Core CPU, Sata II instead of SATA III and a slow graphics card hampers this one. Might want to pickup at least a mid 2011 or newer 17" macbook pro for the Quad core CPU, SATA III so your SSD's run twice as fast and the better GPU.

To simply put, a MBP of inferior specs will still be useful 5 years later, while a PC of superior specs will end up in a landfill somewhere after 3. It has everything to do with the combination of software and hardware, and not hardware alone.

Like it or not, MBPs simply last longer.

carbonium wrote:It's not the best designed 17" laptop as it's dated. Dual Core CPU, Sata II instead of SATA III and a slow graphics card hampers this one. Might want to pickup at least a mid 2011 or newer 17" macbook pro for the Quad core CPU, SATA III so your SSD's run twice as fast and the better GPU.

Obviously, what constitutes best varies by context. But best designed, and best spec'ed are two very different things.

Its not difficult to design a computer by cramming every mid-range variant of cutting edge hardware into an approximately laptop-shaped build envelope then cladding the whole thing in a hunk of plastic. ( I have an HP fitting this description, with a suck screen, and horrible driver support. HP deems this POS as "Elite", and my employer bought the BS, I guess. )

Mac 17" laptops are very solid (unibody), attractive machines, with very nice displays, good keyboards and f-ing AWESOME track pads - which I would value at $300 alone, as its my most common interface with any portable computer.

A gaming laptop this isn't, but If you yearn for a truly portable 17" laptop that has non-suck screen resolution ( WUXGA is so nice for programming ) this is a great buy, even at apple exaggerated prices.

Show me a pc that has these specs, and looks even 30% as well-sorted as this one ( Aesthetics are not frivolous, think visual ergonomics ) - and I will be grateful.

Otherwise I am willing to pay a premium for something like this - Especially since I can be up and running with a unix terminal and full open-source development stack within a few minutes of boot-up.

( to be fair, yes this laptop could be much faster, and I would like to see it cheaper too - PCs are not crap, this is not a holy war )

toddbeall wrote:I'm curious. Since you converted from PC to Apple, what are the main advantages you see? Buying an Apple laptop for $1500 vs. buying what appears to me a computer with better specs (larger hard drive, etc.) for around $400 is a huge difference. What are the big advantages?

Thanks!

Basically what you get with Apple vs PC in a high end Laptop is 1)no USB 3.0 2)no eSata 3) 4gb instead of 8gb RAM 4)a display port instead instead of a common HDMI port 5)what's blu-ray? apparently blu-ray is not worthy of Apple 5) but it looks really pretty

If you are more concerned with image vs functionality this is your perfect PC. Windows by no means is perfect, but at least they welcome hardware innovations and have a far more extensive library of software. Until then, my Apple friends will keep asking me to burn their blu-rays. I do like Imovie though, I have to admit- I do own an IMAC also (my wife bought for me)- so I am familiar with the OS. Look the hardware is nice and pretty, but the truth is technology evolves, so you are better off getting a cheaper laptop and replacing it every 3 years.

Apples to Apples price comparison = refurbished to refurbished

Woot today = $1,479.99 = $5 shipping.

Apple Store = $1,719.00 + free shipping. (now out of stock
http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC846LL/A

REVIEWS

18 reviews on B&H with a five star average.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/827027-REG/Apple_MD311LL_A_17_MacBook_Pro_Notebook.html

Did quite a bit of searching this morning and did not find any new models to compare with. I did find one other refurb that was also an apple store and they too had the same price on their refurb as the one listed above from another apple store. Also, sold out. Regardless, today's Woot price is considerably less than others advertised price.

Am I the only person who thinks pretty much ALL mac products are ridiculously over priced?

gravityisweak wrote:I've owned Apple products in the past, and honestly only ended up feeling silly for buying into the over-marketed hype.

Now I do my best to find products with comparable features, and usually end up finding laptops with excellent specs, brand new, for $500. Sure the screens aren't 17", but at least I don't pay too much just because I needed to help pay for the advertising.

Also, with a lower price tag the freedom is there to purchase a new laptop much more frequently. Since laptops are notoriously bad at upgrading, this is an added benefit instead of feeling like you need to make your 1800 dollar laptop last a few more years.

I wouldn't consider it a "freedom" to purchase a new laptop more frequently but rather a requirement. A PC will fall apart much faster than an apple. I have a 2004 macbook right next to my 2011 HP and the macbook out performs the HP laptop in every aspect. The 2011 HP laptop was worth $1200 and now is worth $100 at most. the macbook cost $1000 and is still worth $500.

souplogic wrote:Obviously, what constitutes best varies by context. But best designed, and best spec'ed are two very different things.

Its not difficult to design a computer by cramming every mid-range variant of cutting edge hardware into an approximately laptop-shaped build envelope then cladding the whole thing in a hunk of plastic. ( I have an HP fitting this description, with a suck screen, and horrible driver support. HP deems this POS as "Elite", and my employer bought the BS, I guess. )

Mac 17" laptops are very solid (unibody), attractive machines, with very nice displays, good keyboards and f-ing AWESOME track pads - which I would value at $300 alone, as its my most common interface with any portable computer.

A gaming laptop this isn't, but If you yearn for a truly portable 17" laptop that has non-suck screen resolution ( WUXGA is so nice for programming ) this is a great buy, even at apple exaggerated prices.

Show me a pc that has these specs, and looks even 30% as well-sorted as this one ( Aesthetics are not frivolous, think visual ergonomics ) - and I will be grateful.

Otherwise I am willing to pay a premium for something like this - Especially since I can be up and running with a unix terminal and full open-source development stack within a few minutes of boot-up.

( to be fair, yes this laptop could be much faster, and I would like to see it cheaper too - PCs are not crap, this is not a holy war )

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834127898
1) almost $500 less
2) graphics has passmark rating twice as high as whats in this Macbook
3)it has twice the RAM of the Macbook
4)double the hard drive
5) blu-ray
6)Sony I7 has 4 cores and 8 threads
7)USB 3.0
8)HDMI out instead of display port

No i-series MacBook Pro has ever looked like this. The brushed aluminum display was on Core Duo or Core 2 Duo MBP's only with front-load CD drives. All i-series MBP's with side-load CD drives have had the black-glass LCD.

I'd hate to say this... I wouldn't buy one.

gak0090 wrote:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834127898
1) almost $500 less
2) graphics has passmark rating twice as high as whats in this Macbook
3)it has twice the RAM of the Macbook
4)double the hard drive
5) blu-ray
6)Sony I7 has 4 cores and 8 threads
7)USB 3.0
8)HDMI out instead of display port

That is NOT WUXGA - which is a huge point for me, but specs and looks are very nice for sure - as to the track pad, would have to research. But thanks, that does look like a good PC for sure.

Also, I would be swapping hdd and ram if I bought this with ssd and bigger ram (these are good for 2x the official maximum). Of course that adds more to the price, and of course people who buy macs are generally over-paying. I just want to make the point that we are just a little crazy for it, not fully insane.

michaeltherrien wrote:No i-series MacBook Pro has ever looked like this. The brushed aluminum display was on Core Duo or Core 2 Duo MBP's only with front-load CD drives. All i-series MBP's with side-load CD drives have had the black-glass LCD.

I'd hate to say this... I wouldn't buy one.

The silver bezel is for the matte displays - an option for the old 17" ones.

I don't want to join in feeding the PC trolls but I just can't help but wonder, do the PCphiles really believe everything they say? I mean, I still own 5 PCs and I love my Mac and Apple products. They are my daily drivers. My PCs are for photoshop and video editing because I can build desktop machines and then upgrade them so cheaply. That said, The price of these machines is well worth what they are. Extremely high quality products with up to date hardware (if you buy the new stuff) that will last a very long time and actually maintain their resale values. An equivalent Ultrabook (Not just specs guys, one built as well as a mac) is exactly the same price (Not the cheap plastic ultrabooks the really really nice ones (and really nice machines is what Macs are)). The idea is the initial outlay of cash is higher than a cheap PC laptop. Then, every two to four years you sell it and buy another. If you do the selling part (Because used PC laptops are worthless while Mac laptops retain their value) you end up buying your next mac for 400-500 dollars. Thats cheaper by far than what you can get on the PC (equivalent hardware and build quality)for 500 dollars. Yes, you have to lay out the initial money but I like to think of that 1000 dollars as an investment in the next 10 years of Macs. That's a hundred bucks a year (plus the 500 every two to four years)to own an extremely high quality machine That if you ever decided to stop upgrading the hardware will still run for 10 years. I have never had a laptop last that long from anyone else. I just did this to get my latest mac. I sold my 15" Macbook Pro i5 with a bunch of accessories for $1200. I then went and bought an Ivybridge i7 Macbook for $1500 dollars. Hey, did I just upgrade for $300 dollars? Uhhhh, yes. You do the math. Seems a small effort and investment for something so usable and of high quality.

souplogic wrote:The silver bezel is for the matte displays - an option for the old 17" ones.

I've never seen the non-unibody matte MBP's but looks like you're right! Glad to know it's not a hacked together MBP. ("Apple Certified Hackintosh"?)

toddbeall wrote:I'm curious. Since you converted from PC to Apple, what are the main advantages you see? Buying an Apple laptop for $1500 vs. buying what appears to me a computer with better specs (larger hard drive, etc.) for around $400 is a huge difference. What are the big advantages?

Thanks!

There is none in fact as a windows/ linux user i find apple computers hardware and software horrible to use less freedom and trying to upgrade these are annoying to impossible depending on the year it was made. If you are just going to check email all day go pc.