How much to sell an old macbook for?

[oakiegu007]

Hi Everyone

My girlfriend currently has a G4 that's around 3+ years old. It's starting to go and she needs the hard drive replaced. It will cost 300 dollars. I told her at this point, that's silly to put into a computer that old (just my opinion). I have no intention on upgrading, but it just so happens that I DO have a macbook, and while it may not pay for her to ugprade, since she doesn't need any of the nicer features, we decided maybe it might be a good idea for her to buy this one off of me, and I get a new macbook. We're trying to figure out the market value for my old macbook, to see if it's worth it. I don't want to see her put 300 dollars into her computer that the mac guys said won't last much more than a year anyway and has multiple problems.

So here's what I have.

It's the Macbook Core Duo. NOT the 2. One of the first of it's kind i guess
It has a superdrive, not a combo drive. I have it upgraded to leopard and it has an 80GB HD, not a 60.
It was the top of the line macbook (at the time) 2GHZblack one. I've upgraded it to 2GB of ram and I also have around a year and a half left of the apple protection plan.

So, I give her a year and a half old computer, with a protection plan so she doesn't have to worry, extra ram, and she doesn't have to freak about her computer that's on the fritz. She's a writer, and not exactly a tech freak, and I worry about her losing everything because her computer is about to go. 300 bucks for a new hard drive? I can't rationalize that for a computer her age with problems that it has.

On that note, would an upgrade for me be worth it? Is there a noticeable difference between my first generation macbook intel core duo and the new processors?

 

[techound1]

Completed listings on ebay will give you a fair value idea for your machine.

$300 for a new HD??? Heck, I'll do that one for you! It should be able to be done for much, much less than that.

All of that aside, I think she'll love the new intel and it will serve her well for 4-5 years, based on your description of her use.

Yes, the C2D's seem zippier to me, but then they can take more RAM. For yourself, go for a refurb one with aftermarket ram and you'll save a couppla hundred bucks easy.

 

[eXan]

What country do you live in? I suggest you look at local site where people buy/sell their stuff to get the general idea of price for it.

You are asking if its worth to upgrade to a faster MacBook, but you never told us how you use it. If you're just browsing net and writing papers, there's no point in upgrading, etc.

 

[mperkins37]

I'd research it on ebay & see what they are going for there.
It will give you a good idea as to what people are willing to spend.

 

[Jayrod]

Check out http://www.mac2sell.net
It is basically a Mac appraisal website.

 

[taylorwilsdon]

Unless you're friends more then in a relationship, don't sell the damn thing to her! Give it to her.

If you can't afford that, it should only be $50 or so to replace the hard drive in her current computer if you just check ifixit for step by step on drive replacement.

 

[oakiegu007]

i don't think i'm being clear

her computer is slowly falling apart. it's not worth mcuh to begin with. i can't "give " her my computer. it has nothing to do with a relationship. number one, she won't let me, number 2, i siimply can't afford it. i don't want a new computer, shes' the one that does. i can't give her mine and buy another

if her computer will only last a year or so more, she needs one for the next few years for school. my macbook is more than adequate for that.

i do, however, game, and i am an amateur, yet avid photographer, that works with a lot of RAW files and find it extremely slow to do so, so it would be somewhat silly for her to buy a new macbookk but make sense for me...but i wasn't looking to upgrade, she just needs a new computer...so i'm not going to just give her mine. we're both grad students...i can't afford that and she refuses to take it as a gift, i offered multiple times.
let's not make this about ethics please.

 

[ben.mcmahan]

i've run into the same dilemma with my sister - as she wanted to buy my laptop from me (ibook g4 12" 1.33) when i was thinking about upping to an intel laptop.

The problem is I didnt fee comfortable asking FMV for the laptop from family, so either i had to give her such a deal, that it wouldnt really offset the cost of my new computer after price/tax/shipping, or i had to try and squeeze the max out of her (which neither of us were comfortable with).

I suggest finding a 'very fair' middle ground, and err on selling it to her a bit below FMV...of course this makes no sense financially to you, since you could sell it for more someplace else, and it sounds like you dont 'need' a computer, however nice it would be. It just depends on how much of a favor you are willing to do for her, and how much she is willing to accept.

I ended up keeping my ibook, btw. and now she has saved up enough to get a new computer (which she is very excited about).

best of luck
b

 

[alecgold]

well, it does make sense to upgrade for you and her to move to your macbook. But changing the drive wouldn't need to cost as much. I just bought my mbp 17" hi-res and upgraded to 320Gb for 105. I've got a 80Gb drive laying around. \although it is sata, and I dunno what is needed in a G4.
So 200 bucks for mounting a hard drive is expensive, even in my book, and I use/bought this computer as a business item.
I think 300 bucks for a MB is a nice price, the older models sell overhere for anything between 450 and 700. Checking local sale/buy/ebay sites is a sensible thing to do.