Just bought a used Macbook

[Patrick946]

I just bought a used Black Macbook!

I was actually going to post about this a few days ago before I bought it, but I couldn't register here (I realized that the confirmation message was sent to my spam box, duh). I got it off Craigslist for $500, and I think I got a pretty good deal:

2.0 Ghz Core Duo
2 Gig RAM
160 Gig HDD
OSX 10.5

There are a few minor scratches on the lid, but otherwise it looks like it's in pretty good shape. The guy that I bought it from said that he replaced the battery a year ago, and the battery menu said that there were 3.5 hours left. I only have two problems with it:

-He didn't have the boot disks. They would have been for Tiger anyway, but it would be nice to have them just in case.

-The screen looks good when it's turned on, but when it's off I can see an image of the keyboard.

I was inclined not to complain considering the price, but I'm curious to see if these will be problems down the road. What do you you guys think?

 

[andalusia]

I think that's an awesome deal, congrats on finding it!

-The screen looks good when it's turned on, but when it's off I can see an image of the keyboard.

This is not a problem... What does it matter when it's turned off? Does it affect you? Do you practise typing whilst your laptop is shut down and the reflection of your fingers puts you off?

It shouldn't make a difference, I wouldn't complain. Just be happy You have a fab machine!

 

[Patrick946]

This is not a problem... What does it matter when it's turned off? Does it affect you? Do you practise typing whilst your laptop is shut down and the reflection of your fingers puts you off?

Too true!

I think that I must be looking for something to be wrong with it, it seems like too good of a deal.

 

[GfulDedFan]

Core Duo or Core 2 Duo? The Core Duo's were released in May '06 and if it's Core 2 Duo, it's newer. The Core Duo is maxed out at 2GB Ram and a newer model will handle 3.3GB to 4GB.

 

[Patrick946]

I think it's a Core Duo, but to be honest I'm not entirely sure. I checked in system profiler to see that the specs were correct when I bought it, but I can't remember if there was a 2 or not. I'll look again after work.

EDIT: it's a Core Duo, not Core 2 Duo. Are there any particular problems associated with the earlier chips, or is it just a performance thing?

 

[firewater]

I sold the same model for $800 , so yea its a great deal plus you can always replace the screen. Check this website if you ever need anything replace. http://www.myservice.com/

 

[NewMacbookPlz]

I think it's a Core Duo, but to be honest I'm not entirely sure. I checked in system profiler to see that the specs were correct when I bought it, but I can't remember if there was a 2 or not. I'll look again after work.

EDIT: it's a Core Duo, not Core 2 Duo. Are there any particular problems associated with the earlier chips, or is it just a performance thing?

It's just a performance deal. The CoreDuo is the older chip type, with a chipset limited at 2GB RAM as stated earlier.

 

[GfulDedFan]

EDIT: it's a Core Duo, not Core 2 Duo. Are there any particular problems associated with the earlier chips, or is it just a performance thing?

It's certainly shadowed by today's machines but it performs quite well. I was merely pointing out a unique limitation in that model for your future reference. I still use my first gen quite a bit although I'm considering passing it on to my daughter to replace her 12" PB for med school.

 

[Patrick946]

2 updates:

I talked to the guy who I bought it from, and he is going to send me the first disk that came with the computer (#2 is lost), and the Leopard install disks!

Of course there's bad news to go along with this: twice when turning the computer on, it went to a white/grey screen and stayed there rather than showing the apple logo and going to OSX. Both times I was able to start it in safe mode, and then restart it and it went through the normal startup sequence when restarted. Based on what I could find through google, this might be related to the memory that the previous owner installed. What do you guys think?

EDIT: I made a thread about this in the mac basics and help thread.