Is it safe????

[HankTMan67]

I have a black MacBook which I love but which is showing signs of old age (battery issues, speed issues, etc.) and I'd like to upgrade. Problem is, I don't know as I want to plunk down $1,200.00 to $1,800.00 right now. I'm considering purchasing a used/refurbished MacBookPro either on eBay or Craigslist and because from what I've seen I can spend a lot less money and still get a pretty good upgrade from the OS 10.5.8/2.2 GHz/1GB/500GB machine I now have.

My questions are . . .

1) What do I look for when purchasing a used laptop?

2) Are eBay and Craigslist the only options or are there other outlets for used Macs?

3) What about Applecare? Should I only consider buying laptops that still have a warranty?

Thanks for your help guys!

 

[blueroom]

Have you looked at Apple's refurbished computers?

 

[heisenberg123]

I have a black MacBook which I love but which is showing signs of old age (battery issues, speed issues, etc.) and I'd like to upgrade. Problem is, I don't know as I want to plunk down $1,200.00 to $1,800.00 right now. I'm considering purchasing a used/refurbished MacBookPro either on eBay or Craigslist and because from what I've seen I can spend a lot less money and still get a pretty good upgrade from the OS 10.5.8/2.2 GHz/1GB/500GB machine I now have.

My questions are . . .

1) What do I look for when purchasing a used laptop?

2) Are eBay and Craigslist the only options or are there other outlets for used Macs?

3) What about Applecare? Should I only consider buying laptops that still have a warranty?

Thanks for your help guys!

have you look in the apple refurbished section

 

[sweetbrat]

I agree with the others: definitely check out the refurb part of Apple's site. Apple's refurbs come with the same 1-year warranty that all their computers have, and you can purchase Applecare to extend it to 3 years if you want. My most recent MBP is a refurb from Apple...saved a good amount and it works great. And it's much more trustworthy than getting one off eBay or Craigslist.

 

[praetorx]

I don't know how you guys find good refurb deals. To me they seem only 100-200 $$$ max cheaper than a brand new product, not worth in my opinion.

 

[ThoseBackPages]

buy new and enjoy yourself

 

[dontwalkhand]

I just bought an i5 13" MacBook Pro, and I was in the same boat as you, my 13" Black MacBook was too dated, off of the refurb store.

It is my main computer, and got a great deal on it for $929 + tax. I can add AppleCare anytime within the year, and it came with Lion already pre-installed. It looked like it was brand new from Apple (as Apple changes the chassis and battery I believe before reselling it)

 

[warvanov]

I picked up an early 2011 MBP 13" refurb a few weeks ago for $929 shortly after the new late 2011 models were introduced. I think that was a pretty good score.

 

[shortcut3d]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

You really need to trust the seller on eBay or Craigslist. On eBay see if you can get videos, SSD life, memory tests, geek bench results all current. If they are not willing to communicate those details walk away. As a seller, I've always been very upfront and share that information on $750+ eBay auctions. As far as Craigslist you can have those things demoed at pick up. Meet at Starbucks where you can get WiFi and it's safe.