Good buy?

[fencerspinley]

Hey guys I am just about to purchase my first Mac but don't have enough money to buy new. I was looking on craigslist and found what seems like a pretty good deal but was wondering if this is a good buy or if i should just move on. I plan I running a few diagnostic tests when i check it out and also make sure the serial number on the case matches the one in the mac. I'm also going to bring a flash drive with coconut battery to test the battery and all usb ports. Maybe a cd also to test the disk drive. is there anything I'm forgetting? The physical condition is amazing from what i can tell from the pictures. one of my main concerns is that it is from 2011, is a 2011 macbook pro even worth it in 2014? Its listed for 700 but i cant see myself paying that for a used machine. What should I offer him if everything checks out? My main use for the laptop will be running Ableton Live so I would definitely upgrade the ram. Please let me know if what I am looking at is worth it. Spencer.

The Specs
Early 2011 MacBook Pro 15"
Intel core i7 processor
4 GB of memory
500 GB hard drive
new battery
Lion 10.7.5

 

[T5BRICK]

I'd avoid the 2011 models, they have an abnormally high GPU failure rate.

 

[fencerspinley]

I'm pretty sure anything from 2012 is out of my budget and might just be worth buying a new one. Is the performance different drastic from a 2011 to 2010?

 

[lokster]

if you can find a 2010 model, a few upgrades in the right direction will make your laptop on par with the more recent MacBooks

 

[MagicBoy]

2010 is dual core, the 2011 is quad.

The 2011 is a very capable machine, but as previously mentioned they're not worth the risk due to the GPU issues.

 

[fencerspinley]

That's what i was thinking with the quad core. Has anyone ever used Ableton on a dual core machine?

 

[maflynn]

The 2011 is a very capable machine, but as previously mentioned they're not worth the risk due to the GPU issues.

Agreed, avoid the 2011 model if you can. FWIW, though the 2010 MBP also had dGPU issues as well, so I'd recommend crossing that off the list of potential Macs to buy.

 

[fencerspinley]

Is the gpu a problem with 13" 2011 Macs as well or is it all 2011 models?

 

[MagicBoy]

The 13" is fine as it uses Intel graphics on the CPU.

The 15" and 17" models have an additional AMD discrete GPU for higher graphics performance.