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My first mac. Is this a good deal?

L

l2yangop

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 21, 2011
11
0
I'm considering the following purchase from craigslist. I've never owned a mac. Is this a good buy for $750? What should I be weary of when buying a mac from craigslist?


High-End 13" MacBook Pro 2.53 GHz 4GB Ram (End of 2009) - $850

I'm looking to sell my very high-end 13" Macbook Pro I bought it around christmas time of 2009 and it was the absolute best 13" model Apple was selling at the time (originally cost me $1500). This is a real bargin for anyone in the market for a Macbook pro. You can not tell that this laptop has ever been used it is in near PERFECT CONDITION. Included: Macbook Pro, charger, and yakpak neoprene sleeve, installation cds, and original box. The hard drive has been wiped and the operating system freshly installed, it is ready for a new owner.

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,5
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.53 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Hard drive: 250gb
 
No would walk away, be patient and look for a Mac with the new Sandy Bridge CPU as the performance jump is significant. All in all you would be far better just save some more and buy the new model. If you are very lucky you may find a new pre speed bump 2.3 Core i5 at a modest discount.
 
Last edited:
Queen6 said:
No would walk away, be patient and look for a Mac with the new Sandy Bridge CPU as the performance jump is significant. All in all you would be far better just save some more and buy the new model. If you are very luck you may find a new pre speed bump 2.3 Core i5 at a modest discount.
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I think you're right. I may try to negotiate for $650 and if I can't get that, i'll just wait. I want, but don't NEED right now.
 
If I were you I'd either get the late 2011 model or wait for a 2012 refresh. It's not a given but being an early adopter is risky but that's just my experience.
 
$850 is not a great deal. For about $200 more, you can get a new 13" w/ 500gb hd.

$200 for 250 more GB on storage and a new laptop makes sense to me.

Now if you can get the used one for under $600, you might have a compelling deal then.
 
Lee Adama said:
$850 is not a great deal. For about $200 more, you can get a new 13" w/ 500gb hd.

$200 for 250 more GB on storage and a new laptop makes sense to me.

Now if you can get the used one for under $600, you might have a compelling deal then.
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$850 was his starting price. I got him down to $725, but I'm still not certain that is a great deal either.
 
I wouldn't pay anymore than $700 with apple care. The advances in the CPU from core 2 duo to core i5/i7 makes it worth the money to spend on a new machine.
 
I wouldn't bother.

Here are three much better options:

1. A refurbished 2.3 GHz i5 MBP from Apple for $929. Brand new, full factory warranty, 320 GB hard drive, and roughly twice as fast as the 2.53 GHz Core 2 Duo.

2. A new 2.3 GHz i5 MBP from Microcenter for $999 if you live close enough to one to buy one. Same advantages as #1, above.

3. A new 2.4 GHz i5 MBP from Apple for $1099 with student or government discount. Ever so slightly faster than the 2.3, newest technology, and a 500 GB hard drive, so it's twice as fast as the 2.53 GHz and has twice the hard drive space. Have you seen hard drive prices recently?

You could also find a 2.3 GHz i5 on Craigslist--I've seen several of them. You should be able to get one of those, in stock form, for $800-900.

Hope all that helps, and good luck!
 
If you can, I would DEFINITELY wait until the 2012 MBP comes out. It'll be a complete new redesign, and it will be probably worth the extra $200 and the wait.

blueroom said:
Confused. Since you already have a MacBook Pro how is this your first Mac?
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He's quoting the seller. He has never owned one.
 
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