Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Buying a used MPB 17"

A

-Axiom-

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 15, 2009
7
0
I met a guy that works for apple that is selling his year and a half old 17" MBP for 1700$. It seems to be in mint condition, it looks new.

These are the specs for it. Do you guys think its a good deal? I am mainly going to be using this for music production.

3 GB DDR2 667MHz SDRAM (2 x 1GB) Max is 3GB
500GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
17-inch (diagonal), 1680 x 1050 resolution, TFT widescreen
• ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256MB of GDDR3 SDRAM and dual-link DVI (Supports up to a 30" HD Display at 2560x1600)
• 8x SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
• One FireWire 400, one FireWire 800, three USB 2.0 ports, and Express Card/ 34 slot
• Built-in iSight camera, DVI, VGA (Requires DVI-VGA Adapter)
• Combined optical digital input/audio line in, combined optical digital output/headphone out, stereo speakers, microphone
• Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit Ethernet)
• Built-in 802.11 a, b, g and n Airport Extreme card (2.4GHz and 5GHz spectrum)
• Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
• Full-size back-lit illuminated keyboard with ambient light sensor, scrolling trackpad
 
Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Make sure you get to see the computer first before handing over any cash
 
What's the processor speed. If that's a good deal, I'd think I would sell my current machine, check eBay for the going rates. Remember, that if you bought a newer one (less then a year old) you could get Apple Care.
 
thegoldenmackid said:
What's the processor speed. If that's a good deal, I'd think I would sell my current machine, check eBay for the going rates. Remember, that if you bought a newer one (less then a year old) you could get Apple Care.
Click to expand...

Processor is 2.33.
 
-Axiom- said:
I met a guy that works for apple that is selling his year and a half old 17" MBP for 1700$. It seems to be in mint condition, it looks new.

These are the specs for it. Do you guys think its a good deal? I am mainly going to be using this for music production.

3 GB DDR2 667MHz SDRAM (2 x 1GB) Max is 3GB
500GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
17-inch (diagonal), 1680 x 1050 resolution, TFT widescreen
• ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256MB of GDDR3 SDRAM and dual-link DVI (Supports up to a 30" HD Display at 2560x1600)
• 8x SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
• One FireWire 400, one FireWire 800, three USB 2.0 ports, and Express Card/ 34 slot
• Built-in iSight camera, DVI, VGA (Requires DVI-VGA Adapter)
• Combined optical digital input/audio line in, combined optical digital output/headphone out, stereo speakers, microphone
• Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit Ethernet)
• Built-in 802.11 a, b, g and n Airport Extreme card (2.4GHz and 5GHz spectrum)
• Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
• Full-size back-lit illuminated keyboard with ambient light sensor, scrolling trackpad
Click to expand...
The 17" unibody from early 2009 is only $1949 it has much better specs and is one hell of a good deal!
 
The only possible downside I can see at this point is that it doesn't have an express card (or does it?).

Would this refurb come with warranty/applecare ect.?
 
I heard that the newer MBPs are more geared for video/visual production rather than audio. Does this have any truth?
 
THanks for the laugh!

-Axiom- said:
The only possible downside I can see at this point is that it doesn't have an express card (or does it?).

Would this refurb come with warranty/applecare ect.?
Click to expand...

LOL, you're about to plunk down $1700 and you haven't done any research?
Too lazy to even click around on apple's site to find the details about the refurb? :p
 
Have you visited www.apple.com? Believe it or not they have product info on there. :p

The 13" MacBook Pros really aren't Pro. They don't have digital audio in, and don't have dedicated graphics. They got back Firewire, but that really just puts them back on par with older MacBooks. Don't let Apple fool you.
 
macrumorsMaster said:
LOL, you're about to plunk down $1700 and you haven't done any research?
Too lazy to even click around on apple's site to find the details about the refurb? :p
Click to expand...

I did research. I will admit I can be lazy :eek: but I must have missed the part about the warranty.
 
I dont think you should get it, its used you dont know whats wrong with it. I think you should buy the new model and sell it later if you want to upgrade, i am not a big fan of buying used stuff at all.
 
crazycat said:
I dont think you should get it, its used you dont know whats wrong with it. I think you should buy the new model and sell it later if you want to upgrade, i am not a big fan of buying used stuff at all.
Click to expand...

I am meeting him at the apple store and I am going to have everything checked out on it.
 
-Axiom- said:
I am meeting him at the apple store and I am going to have everything checked out on it.
Click to expand...

Okay let me tell you a story that i was a witness to. I know this friend on mine who would come to my house, he owned a pc laptop that he would always carry around with him. He would always go to the room upstairs for 1-2 hours and lock the door, nobody thought anything of it. One day another friend used his laptop to download a few stuff, to his surprise the laptops hard drive was full. Thats back when laptops had around 80GB hard drives, so he looked into the C drive to find space for his download. To cut a long story short there was about 100MB worth of space left the rest was porn, and yes the keyboard was a bit sticky.

I am not saying thats whats going on in your case but i hear of people taking there laptops into the toilets with them and doing strange stuff. I rather spend a few more hundreds and make sure i get a "brand new" laptop.

My 2c.
 
-Axiom- said:
I heard that the newer MBPs are more geared for video/visual production rather than audio. Does this have any truth?
Click to expand...
The 13", but that's more like...let's rebrand the unibody MacBook

adamfishercox said:
Have you visited www.apple.com? Believe it or not they have product info on there. :p

The 13" MacBook Pros really aren't Pro. They don't have digital audio in, and don't have dedicated graphics. They got back Firewire, but that really just puts them back on par with older MacBooks. Don't let Apple fool you.
Click to expand...
Umm...anyone involved in audio would not care about a digital in port.
 
I bought that machine year and a half ago brand new for $2100. It's a great machine and will do everything you need it to. It's also better looking than the new black-keyboard machines, IMO.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back