Should I buy a refurbished macbook thats not from apple?

[rocksyluv]

My mom knows a computer guy who is selling the older version black macbook for $600. He runs some kind of computer repair business, and it would be kind of suspicious if it weren't for the fact that my mom knows him. The problem is I don't really know how to get it checked out to make sure it is legitimate. If i take it to an apple store or an apple retail store can they help me check it out? Should I even buy it? :confused:

[DannyBres]

i wouldnt. how much are you saving on an apple store refurb?

[rocksyluv]

Forgot to mention, I want to buy it to get used to a mac before I get a new one next year and also because my laptop is fried. Then i was hoping to sell it again or something.

[SnowLeopard2008]

Could you go to his store and play around with it? Turn it on, wait for it to boot. Then go to the apple icon in the left hand upper corner and click About this mac. If is says OS X Version 10.5.x then that means it has Leopard. And check the memory (RAM) and then click more info. It will pop up system profiler and you can click tab by tab and see what hardware it has.

[rocksyluv]

Could you go to his store and play around with it? Turn it on, wait for it to boot. Then go to the apple icon in the left hand upper corner and click About this mac. If is says OS X Version 10.5.x then that means it has Leopard. And check the memory (RAM) and then click more info. It will pop up system profiler and you can click tab by tab and see what hardware it has.

My mother is bringing it home tonight... What should else should check?

[arthursiew]

First of all, check to see if it's actually a MacBook. Then, you might want to check the specs and the box. If it includes the box, check the manual and you'll probably find out whether it's real or fake. Most likely, it's going to be real.