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Buying a Macbook off Craigslist, anything I should test?

D

DaveSchneid

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 14, 2008
24
0
I'm buying a macbook off Craigslist tonight, and while I dont think the guy is trying to rip me off, as he's doing a fresh install and he's not a kid, but you never know. Aside from just watching the computer boot up, is there anything else I should look for, test, or ask about before I hand over the cash. (I'm new to the mac thing, and suspect I'll be here often once I start trying to figure out OSX)

By the way I'm getting a 2.0 Duel Core with 2 Gigs of RAM for 700$. Only an 80 GB HDD but I dont care as I'd be upgrading to 320 no matter if I got it new or not. This seemed like a fair price to me, anyone think it's a bad idea?
 
Make sure you exchange in person in a well populated placed.

And do these tests during the exchange; check for screen issues, keyboard, touchpad, scratches; somethings can be overlooked if he has warranty left; make sure you check for liquid damage even if the machine works well.

I guess the price is okay if the machine is good.
 
May seem kind of obvious, but I would use "About This Mac" to make sure that you're getting everything you're paying for.
 
Thanks for the advise, typing this from the new macbook right now. It's in great shape, and running smooth. Now I just have to buy a new hard drive. On a side note, any chance my friends leopard restore disk for his new macbook would work on this Rev B model?
 
DaveSchneid said:
Thanks for the advise, typing this from the new macbook right now. It's in great shape, and running smooth. Now I just have to buy a new hard drive. On a side note, any chance my friends leopard restore disk for his new macbook would work on this Rev B model?
Click to expand...

Your seller should give you the Restore DVDs. He has to. It's part of the OS X license agreement.
 
DaveSchneid said:
On a side note, any chance my friends leopard restore disk for his new macbook would work on this Rev B model?
Click to expand...


Not likely. The newer restore discs (from 10.4 up I believe) have a bit of code that prevents it from being installed on anything except that model of computer. It uses the model identifier such as "Macbook 2,1" (which you can find out in System Profile) to restrict it to that specific model. Its easy to get around but that requires some knowledge on OS X internals, an external HD or a blank DVD.

Oh, and its against the licence agreement too. Not that I would advocate or have experience in circumventing. Buy yer own copy of 10.5 says me.
 
I bought an iMac G5 with Panther and it's restore disks only work with it. The same is true with my G4.
 
fov86 said:
Guys,
Buying a 17" Mac Book Pro 2,66ghz, 4gb RAM, 512mb Nvidia, For 2450 bucks.
Apparently its sealed and the Serial Code checks out with Apple.
Any thoughts?

concerning this thread I also had someone tell me he had Craigslist insurance. watch out!

Thanks
Click to expand...

no such thing as craigslist insurance.
A sealed box could be full of rocks. definitely a scam.
 
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