Get a refurbished MacBook Air for $999
If you were tantalized by the razor-thin MacBook Air when it debuted a year ago but disheartened by its price, here's good news: the online Apple Store is selling refurbished MacBook Air laptops for as little as $999 shipped. To put that in perspective, the least-expensive new Air sells for $1,799.
The $999 model sports a 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, an 80GB hard drive, and all the other standard Air features: 802.11n, a built-in Webcam, a 13.3-inch display, and so on. Read CNET's review for all the details.
Needless to say, you don't get an optical drive, which has been one of the major MacBook Air complaints since day one. You do, however, get a full one-year warranty, same as with new models.
Wow, is that tempting. I always thought the MacBook Air was way cool, but way overpriced. At $999, it's definitely more reasonable. The lack of a DVD drive doesn't bother me in the slightest, but I'm not wild about the small hard drive. What about you? Is this the nudge you need to grab some Air?
Rick Broida, a technology writer for nearly 20 years, is the author of more than a dozen books. In addition to writing CNET's The Cheapskate blog, he oversees BNET's Business Hacks. Rick is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CBS Interactive. Disclosure. Deals found on The Cheapskate are subject to availability, expiration, and other terms determined by sellers. Follow Rick on Twitter at cheapskateblog. 
Is this the previous gen Mac Air?
How is the battery life?
Is it possible to install Windows (a la bootcamp) without an optical drive? I don't have any other Apple storage products or computers to mount an optical drive from.
Thanks Rick!
The battery life seems to be comparable to my Thinkpad X41 at 4 hours full blast
You can mount the optical drive remotely over the network using a PC. I do not know about Boot Camp as I use OSX on my Mac Air and windows on my X41 as one is personal and the other is corporate.
It's a nice catch -- that IS a low price -- but the integrated graphics processor comes close to killing the deal for me. When you can't play any modern games on one of the sweetest industrial designs in a while, that's a toughie.
And the single USB port? Argh.
It'll still start conversations in coffee houses, I'm sure.
BTW, the external DVD drive is $99 in the Apple Store, and probably cheaper on eBay. Not sure how you'd install Windows without one, unless you have a disk image of Windows (which would mean its sourcing was a little shady).
Battery: 4-5 hours based on Cnet and Apple. Most people say 3 hours or so.
And no, I don't think you can install Windows via Remote Disc. The problem is that XP has no idea of Remote Disc. I'm not to sure on this though.
do u always post negative comments.
The air is one of the coolest laptops ever. since you are most likely NOT poweruser, photo and movie editing (although you can do that on the Air, just slower)
Looks like NO one is asking you.....
[CNET Editor's note: Personal attack deleted.]
1) Anything man made will break; it's not perfect.
2) When you make millions (or even thousands) of anything, you will have a certain number of them fail.
These are facts of life.
I CAN HOLD IT WITH ONE HAND WHEN IM IN BED OR WALKING AROUND THE HOUSE WITH IT OTHER THEN THAT NO GREAT SHAKES , BUT I WOULD NOT TRADE IT IN FOR ANYTHING
I look forward to a lighter backpack when i'm on the road :-)
I converted to Mac 3 years ago when I picked up a 6 month old 12" Powerbook 1.5 Ghz G4 (still using it as my primary home computer with regular uptimes of 60 days), followed last year by a new Black MacBook for the wife. I wanted to get a silver MacBook for Christmas in 08 but was swayed by a HP tx2500 series 12" laptop from Costco in Late Nov. After putting up with a small touchpad, cheapo keyboard, fragile feeling, the occasional Vista and hardware related freezes and reboots, constant OS and AV pop ups and updates, I found myself returning time and again to the 3.5 year old G4; then the hard drive died on the HP.
I think a grand is a fair price to pay if this turns out to be a stable, like new machine, that will last me 3 years. I'll hit it hard when it arrives and if it proves worthy of keeping I'll get the extended Apple Care warranty, if not, I'll trade it for a new MacBook in the first 2 weeks. I just saw I can sell my Powerbook for $400 on Craigslist as I also have the old iSight for it.
I guess what I'm saying is that buying an Apple is just like buying a Toyota. Once you get past the sticker shock you'll see a reliable, well designed and engineered product that keeps it's value relative to other brands.
I'd like to add that for the last 10 years I've been professionally supporting, on-site, corporate DELLs, HPs, and other clones. When I get home the last thing I want to do is more PC support. Businesses, with custom and legacy apps, need PCs, at home I do not, I need something that does not need constant maintenance, tweaks, etc.
But, I really want:
1. A Blu-ray burner (or, at least a player)
2. HDMI port
3. Firewire.
4. SSD instead of a hard drive.
- by mgwatson January 29, 2009 12:22 PM PST
- still overpriced.
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