Best Bang for Buck used Macbook

[txnoob]

I'm actually using my Husband's account to ask this since he's supposedly
busy at work today. But I see he's posted here....hmmm!?!

(to skip straight to question, read last paragraph)

Anyway, he's been pushing me to "try Mac" for a while. Ocassionally I will
browse a page or two on his Mac Mini and it didn't seem as foreign as I
thought it would. I've seen him use iMovie, which I'm very jealous of (lots of
video of our 9 mo old), and iWeb. It seems to have so many great apps that
act much more refined. I love the almost non existant (but still there) virus
threat. So, I'm willing to give it all a try.

This is my dilema, I have been spoiled with a 17" screen on my current Laptop
which is on a laptop cart that I can move all over the house. I know we can't
afford a 17" Macbook Pro and honestly most likely not even the 15". I have
looked at the 13" screens in the Apple store and it seems useable. There are a
few pages I go to regularly I can see will require some extra scrolling. I'm just
paranoid that if I get a 13" I'm going to freak after a few days because of my
missing screen real estate.

The question is, of the Apple 13" - 15" Notebooks with Intel chips, where will my best
value be? I will be buying used. I want something that will last a couple years
(even if I have to put some memory in it), but all I really do is browse the
internet (lots of FLASH & You Tube), email, basic photo editing, Open
Office, etc. I'm not into photoshop or any other specialized programs.

Thanks

PS. I got his permission to do this! 🙂

 

[Andy348]

I went from a 21" monitor down to a 13" MacBook. I had the same fears of hating the smaller real estate but I hardly notice it.

We'd probably need your budget, but I'd recommend a White MacBook. You could go with the new unibodies, but the only advantage would be better graphics which you'd hardly notice only using flash & video.

Best bet would be the refurbished store, and upgrade the ram to 4GB.

 

[J&JPolangin]

...your best bet is the whitebook I have in my sig... a 2.0 Ghz 9400M Nvidia model = $749 at the apple refurb store when they pop up and I upgraded the RAM to 800 Mhz PC6400 RAM and a 320 HDD shipped from newegg for $98.

I got it a little cheaper from the on base PX so total it cost me $843 and then the only difference would be the .13 of the most current CPU = not a big deal.

Good luck with your purchase and I have a 24" monitor I hook up to as well when needed...

 

[txnoob]

Budget. I'd say about $600 tops. Is Gainsaver a reputable company? They have used Macbooks, black & white for around $500.

 

[iSchule]

Budget. I'd say about $600 tops. Is Gainsaver a reputable company? They have used Macbooks, black & white for around $500.

Stay away from gain saver! Its really risky to buy from there. I almost bought from there. Don't do it. Try powermax they are really good!

 

[txnoob]

Stay away from gain saver! Its really risky to buy from there. I almost bought from there. Don't do it. Try powermax they are really good!

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[techound1]

Do a forum search on gainsaver - or any other used company - before you buy. Chances are, if they've been around, somebody here has dealt with them.

The apple refub store has had the basic white macbooks for as low as $799. If you grab the free-after-rebate printer and then resell it, you can drop your net cost to $740, which is topping out your budget a bit but the one-year factory warranty may be worth it for you.

 

[amfbutler]

I Agree- Say No to Gainsaver!

Stay away from gain saver! Its really risky to buy from there. I almost bought from there. Don't do it. Try powermax they are really good!

It seems like this is the general consensus on this website, but Gainsaver is a big ripoff! They sent me a faulty iMac that broke a little after owning it for thirty days. They wouldn't take it back, even though it was apparent they sent me a lemon iMac because I hadn't bought the extended warranty.

boo! I wish I had read the comments on this site before I bought mine! Don't make the same mistake!🙁