Need advice-refurb MB2.0 ($799) yay or nay

[therealdt]

There were two refurb MB on Apple.com for 799. They had 1GB, 80 GB, and the combo drive. I haven't pulled the trigger, yet. I'm being hesitant since they been around since 07, right?

My needs are surfing, music, little movie watching, just the basics. Is this a good start or just shell out an extra $150 for the refurb MB 2.4, 2GB, 160GB (don't care as everything will be stored external) and the superdrive.


Thanks

 

[descartes]

do you need the superdrive? if not go for the cheaper one. it is a solid computer and will fit your needs.

 

[mlblacy]

There were two refurb MB on Apple.com for 799. They had 1GB, 80 GB, and the combo drive. I haven't pulled the trigger, yet. I'm being hesitant since they been around since 07, right?

My needs are surfing, music, little movie watching, just the basics. Is this a good start or just shell out an extra $150 for the refurb MB 2.4, 2GB, 160GB (don't care as everything will be stored external) and the superdrive.


Thanks

Hey, I agonized over the exact same decision for a few weeks, except mine was worse because I had to buy 2 at the same time. I ended up snagging 2 of the 799's, and am pleased with the decision. A piece of advice is do your soul-searching now, while you are not pressed for time. That way when they do pop-up, you can just click the "buy" button quickly... as they they tend to sell out within minutes of their appearance. Also, I noticed they often tended to pop up around 6:30-7M EST... which runs counter to what most folks will tell you the updates are made.

Take the savings and get some of the essentials & extras. Crucial has a 2gb RAM kit for around $35.00, you can find a deal on AppleCare from Amazon for $199 ($50 bucks off). If you are more motivated there are ponzi-scheme like discounts through Ebay & live.com... there are quite a few threads under Buying Advice here in the forums.

Want to protect the laptop? AppleSacs make fairly inexpensive (around $30)
cases, that are stylish & functional (bought 2). Incase makes a good hard case (soft-touch rubberized plastic), for around $49 (yikes). Buy them from Apple and save the shipping costs of around $10 from Encase (although Apple usually only has the purple & black stocked online, they also come in red & frost/white).

good luck with your decision...

cheers,
michael

 

[therealdt]

@mlblacy

Yep, they do sell quicky. Good advice. I want to get at least 4 years out the laptop. I'll take this advice and wait to see what my gut says.


Thanks

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I'd actually shelling out the proverbial $150 extra and going for the refurb MB 2.4, with the 160 HDD, and indeed, maxing out the RAM subsequently. Both are excellent computers, and the prices of both are extremely competitive, but you are getting a more "modern" (ie, a little more future-proofed) machine for not that much extra cash. This may be a consideration worthy of note if you a) plan to kep it for several years, or b) sell it at any time soon, in order to upgrade. Your call.

Cheers and good luck

 

[ChrisN]

There were two refurb MB on Apple.com for 799. They had 1GB, 80 GB, and the combo drive. I haven't pulled the trigger, yet. I'm being hesitant since they been around since 07, right?

My needs are surfing, music, little movie watching, just the basics. Is this a good start or just shell out an extra $150 for the refurb MB 2.4, 2GB, 160GB (don't care as everything will be stored external) and the superdrive.


Thanks

I have the first one and it works fine but you need to upgrade memory to 2gb and I think you should update hdd (I've been too lazy though) It works fine but it does get hot after an hour of use.

ChrisN

but for 150 more i would say go for the bumped up version

 

[descartes]

for less than $150 you should be able to get the ram increase and a larger hd if you upgrade yourself.

 

[QCassidy352]

would this be the 2.0 with the x3100 graphics chipset (i.e. the "low-end santa rosa" macbook)? If so, that's a pretty good price, and a pretty good computer. If it's one of the older ones with the napa chipset/GMA 950 graphics, I wouldn't go for it.

It's quite confusing because there have been macbooks at 2.0 Ghz in 5 out of the 6 generations.

 

[therealdt]

update

I didn't feel the need to start a new thread. My lady used her government discount and got me the new Whitebook. I'm on her now (the Whitebook ). She was impressed that the Mac played music on the startup. I have some threads bookmarked that have what apps are good. So, I'm happy. Oh, I also ordered another 2GB via Newegg, this is more than enough for what I need.