I like the Macbook Late 2009/mid 2010 (The curvy white ones you mentioned) They can go to 10.9 and they are easy to repair. You can get the bottom case and display shell replaced for free through Apple. The screens are inexpensive to replace as well.
The issues I have noticed with them other than the cosmetic display shell and the bottom case issues are, I've seen a fair amount of the LCDs develop an issue where they intermittently fade to white and then back to normal, most of the time it doesn't end up being a frequent issue. Also, the magsafe board has a tendency to get pushed back into the case, but that just requires a simple realignment. Oh, and also if you stack to much weight ontop of one that is still one, the Apple symbol will start to "burn" it's way into the screen so you can see it on the other side.
I would stay away from any of the older style Macbook Pros, too many with GPU issues.
The non retina MBP are pretty good. My only issues with them are that it is challenging to replace the magsafe board without removing the logic board, and if you break the display glass, Apple's solution is to replace the whole display assembly, which is more expensive. You can just get the glass, but it is third party and a lot of the time they have defects. However, even the older models tend to cost a fair bit more than the white 2009/2010 macbooks.
