Buying used, looking for some advice.

[brmaki]

I'm still using my early 2008 white Macbbook, which has served me well for the close to 6 years that I've had it. I had to replace the hard drive at one point but it's been a killer machine all together.

I'm starting to look for a new (to me) MBP, and began my search with places like themacstore etc. before moving to eBay/ Craigslist. I found a pretty decent deal on a early 2011 MBP that has some cosmetic wear, scratches and such, but nothing that looks too bad. The seller said that he has a receipt from where he took it to the Apple store in June of this year to have the hard drive replaced due to it being dropped.

Should I be right in assuming that since the hard drive was the only thing replaced when he brought it in for service that there was no other serious internal damage? I feel good about getting an older machine, saving hundreds, and still getting several years of good use out of it but I don't know if I should be more concerned about the drop.

What do you folks think?

I'll hopefully have time lated this week to check it out in person.

 

[alphaod]

It would have to be some serious drop to break a hard drive. These days hard drives have drop sensors and the only time I've broken a hard drive was hitting a running one with a hammer.

Then again it could all be perfect, but I would avoid it. Perhaps negotiate the price down.

Anyways I would find something with AppleCare.

What's the specs on the machine and how much is the seller asking?

 

[brmaki]

It's a 2.3 i5 w/ 4 gigs of RAM and a 500 gig hard drive. He's asking $750, but says the price is negotiable. I was thinking maybe $650 would be a little more fair. I guess the previous drive was the stock 320 gig that came stock in the 2011 MBPs.

He said the battery is still holding a 6+ hour charge which is a plus. I'm just hoping to find good machine for an ok price.

 

[brmaki]

It might also be worth noting that there are no dents on the body of the computer based on the pictures he sent me. I would think that indicates the drop was less severe, but I'm not sure.

 

[Astroboy907]

It might also be worth noting that there are no dents on the body of the computer based on the pictures he sent me. I would think that indicates the drop was less severe, but I'm not sure.

Could've been a failed hard drive or something, but I'd be careful. I'd run any pictures he sent through a gogle image search, I've caught a few scammers who re-used pics. Ask him for the serial # too and check it with apple.