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

Considering an upgrade to the White Macbook

K

kevin1182

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 8, 2005
56
0
Hey everyone,

Not sure if you had seen this deal, but it is pretty appealing:

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0305909

I am considering upgrading my Rev A core duo 2.0 ghz white macbook to this one for two different reasons. The first is performance, and the second is that my Apple Care runs out in about 2 months and I don't want to be left with a paper weight if something breaks the day after the warranty expires. If you could help with any of the following questions that would be great!

1. What would be a guess at how much I could get for the Rev A, core duo 2.0 ghz Macbook with a 120 gb hard drive (would put my current 500 gb in the new computer and use the 120 gb from the newer Macbook) and 2 gb of ram? It is in good shape, but like I said Apple Care expires soon so maybe that would scare away some buyers. I was guessing I could get $500 for it but that might be generous?

2. How much of a performance increase would the new machine be? I assume the core 2 Duo is a bit of an improvement over the core duo, and also the graphics card is a bit better I believe? I would put 4 gb of ram in the new machine so that would also help its performance as well.

Thank you for any assistance you can provide! Basically I am seeing this as a good opportunity to get a modest improvement in speed along with a machine with a warranty, all for hopefully around $300 (taking into account the sale of the old machine), but I don't want to make the purchase on a whim and either feel there is very little performance increase or find that I can't sell my old machine for a reasonable amount of money.

Thanks!

Kevin
 
No idea on the value of your old laptop. That's always a crapshoot IMHO depending on the true condition of the system as well as what someone is willing to pay. These days the value is probably a bit less than usual. The challenge is, can you find someone to buy yours for $500 if they can buy a new one for $800? Would you? Just like a car's trade-in value, you may be overvaluing your old laptop.

As for the performance, it would be a significant increase - although how much will depend on what you're doing with it. The C2D is significantly more powerful in everyday use than the CD. The nVidia chipset is much more powerful and gives performance much closer to a discrete video card, way better than the intel graphics capabilities. Overall I think you would be very impressed with the performance increases compared to your old laptop.

It's definitely a worthwhile upgrade. I'm curious what your old one sells for, as I have a blackbook that I would consider selling off and getting a new whitebook to replace it, given this price point.
 
Very good point, it really is a crapshoot. I certainly would not pay $500 for my old one knowing how cheap the new ones are, but maybe someone is. Thanks for the information on the performance increase, I agree that it would probably be quite substantial. I will let you know what I end up doing and if I sell it how much I get for it!

Thanks,

Kevin
 
Some other points that you touched on but I feel that they are performance enhancements worth mentioning:

Warranty - New machine means a new warranty with the ability to purchase AppleCare so that you can keep a working machine well past the expiration date of your old MacBook.

RAM - Your current machine is limited to 2GB of RAM and the new machine is capable of at least 4GB.

Also, your Core Duo is 32-bit and the not-to-distant future has a 64-bit OS (Snow Leopard) in store. This doesn't mean that your MacBook won't work anymore. It merely means that you wouldn't be able to take full advantage of the capabilities offered in the new OS. The new MacBook would step you up to Core 2 Duo and 64-bit. -GDF
 
I have no idea how prices are in the US, but I sold my macbook core duo 1.83Ghz with 2GB ram and 60GB harddrive, in perfect condition, for €600 a few months ago (and had multiple people wanting to pay this price). I then bought the new one for about €850 with student discount.

The reasons I upgraded:
- OS X Leopard (I had tiger, which ran fine)
- iLife '08 (I had '06)
- CPU runs cooler, thus less fan noise
- Faster CPU
- Ability to handle 4GB RAM (vs 2GB)
- New warranty (store warranty was going to expire a month later)
- Better GPU
- Bigger harddrive (although I already had a 120GB 7200rpm one)
 
Thanks guys. The warranty was definitely a consideration too, I would hate for a logic board problem or something to happen just after the warranty period ended and make the computer worth essentially nothing.

The performance increase seems quite nice, and I think I will try and sell it and see what happens. Hopefully I can find some eager buyers as well! I think I will advertise for 600$ and go from there ... if I could pull that off and upgrade to a new white Macbook with full warranty and everything for ~$200 that would be a heck of a deal!

Thanks for your suggestions,

Kevin
 
I actually purchased one of these from Microcenter. I had been looking for an inexpensive computer for my dad since his PC is old and his birthday and fathers day are coming up in June. This seemed like the bast Apple laptop deal out there. The refurb store is more expensive than this deal.

My father uses a PC and is used to a larger screen so I'm not sure how he'll like the Macbook. I'm an Apple user and since I take care of his computer I went with the Macbook. If he doesn't like the Macbook and wants to stick with a PC, how much do you think I could sell it for in about 3 months?
 
clyde2801 said:
Keep the one you've got and roll the dice. If you get another year or two out of it, that's another year or two to save up for whatever new hotness Apple will be coming up with.
Click to expand...

That is a good opinion as well, and something I considered. I figure the next few Macbook revisions will be a lot like the current aluminum version but with updated hardware components, and I actually am not that enamored with the new design. But it may be worth another trip to the Apple store to see the new aluminum one again because if I decide I like it much better then your plan would make a great deal of sense!

Thanks,

Kevin
 
If your current laptop does what you need it to do, I'd keep it. I've got a c2d 2.16 MB, and hope to keep it from 2007-2011. It's not easy when there's lots of marketing pressure to upgrade, but the truth is that I don't need one. Maybe your condition is similar.
 
heatmiser said:
If your current laptop does what you need it to do, I'd keep it. I've got a c2d 2.16 MB, and hope to keep it from 2007-2011. It's not easy when there's lots of marketing pressure to upgrade, but the truth is that I don't need one. Maybe your condition is similar.
Click to expand...

I do agree with that the only thing that concerns me is if something were to go wrong with the computer after the warranty expires and then it is worth next to nothing. But I guess there aren't too too many things that would go wrong that would be too expensive to fix (logic board, screen, etc)?
 
You're doing the best thing by sell/buy. Sell the notebook before warranty expires giving the buyer a chance to renew and you not spending $150-$200 you would have normally to extend applecare and spend it toward a new MB. Do your research and I suggest craigslist. I sold/bought my old MB and current MB from there.

I sold the 2.16ghz Rev. C Blackbook w/ GMA950 for $850 cash. Turned around and bought the Unibody MB for $900 cash. Can't beat that. Research and sell and save.

So what I'm saying is, yes DO upgrade to the newest macbook, in the end it'll be worth the money you spend toward the new upgrade...

better processor, newer machine, wayyyy better graphics, FSB, bigger HDD, just newer **** in general = better, good luck
 
I wish I had thought of doing this before, I'm going to be doing the same upgrade, but I'm coming from a 2.4 160gb x3100 with an expired warranty.
 
relativist said:
I wish I had thought of doing this before, I'm going to be doing the same upgrade, but I'm coming from a 2.4 160gb x3100 with an expired warranty.
Click to expand...

You can still try. My applecare had expired but I opted to get a TAP from CompUSA when I purchased my MB that was still under warranty, but hey who knows, if you're willing to pay up a bit more to get the upgraded MB, it's a good way to go.
 
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