Friend needs advice before buying a mac computer.

[JoEw]

Hey, I have a friend who recently turned 16 and he has a 500 dollar budget from his dad to get a mac, a mac laptop to be exact. Of course it won't be new but he wants to know what specs he should get or generation of model he should get for 500 dollars. He also wants to know what the best place is to buy one. (Craigslist, Ebay?) or is there a website where people only sell mac stuff?

 

[Hellhammer]

Craigslist is probably the best place if there are deals on his area. Otherwise eBay is the best solution. If he can raise his budget to 760$, he could get a refurb MacBook which comes with warranty

 

[MacHamster68]

i too would advice to raise the budget ,maybe he can source the other $260 from the grandparents or so ,as applecare is recommended
and stay clear from all to cheap ! "1st gen. MacBooks" and (15 inch MBP 's)
there is a reason why some sell them so cheap , they had logicboard problems ( MBP's bad nvidia GPU)
and the ones who did not have a replacement by apple now may fail any day and are a write of financially then ,

thats why prices for them drop rapidly ,usually you find that same type (age) MacBook among others with dead screens
here a old article
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1049921/inquirer-confirms-apple-macbook-pros-have-nvidia-bad-bump-material

so it is worth to spend the extra cash and get a refurbished one from apple where you have full warranty and he should get apple care on christmas ....
then he is on the safe side
or if he goes for the bigger 17 inch Macbook Pro's which had not really been affected to my knowledge( in case he cant source the extra cash)