Looking for MacBook buying advice

[Damian Pinder]

Hello everyone, I'd like to get a MacBook 15" and could use a little help deciding which one is the best for my use/budget.

I dont have a lot of cash to spend so a new machine is not really an option, but the older machines (2006-2008) that I find when searching the normal channels (ebay/gumtree/craigslist/etc) are priced not far from what I have spend.

In terms of useage, I generally have light domestic requirements - surfing/webmail/itunes/basic photo editing/excel/word but am just about to try my hand at a little light video work (getting a couple of small HD video camera's) so it'll need to be up for basic video editing as well as the more normal use. It's not professional AV editing, just personal use.

I appreciate that I should be looking at the most processor and memory values that I can afford so I guess my main questions are:
Are the older secondhand machines a good idea under those circumstances?
Are there any particular model years that I should be looking for (or avoiding)?
Will older models be HDMI compatable with some kind of adaptor (or is it a better idea to buy a newer machine with it onboard?)

and the biggie:

Is £500 a reasonable amount to spend (or should I forget it until I have a little more money available?)

Any advice would be apprciated....

 

[Apple2]

As long as it is a unibody model it will be fine. Stay away from the older, more boxy ones, they won't really do what you're looking for. The unibodies were made from 2008 on. They are much more durable as well.

I'd go with 4-6 gigs of RAM and at least a 500 gig HDD.

The HDMI shouldn't be a problem. Just buy an adaptor.

For price, you can get one for £500 if you look really hard. £600 - £650 is what you can expect to pay for a nice one.