Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

possibly buying a 15" mbp (used) tonight... please advise

3

355922

Cancelled
Original poster
Aug 30, 2009
322
112
Hi all,

I think im about to purchase a used 15" mbp in great condition bought in laTE august. its a 2.8, 500gig 5400 hd, 1ghz frnt side buss, 4g ram, its the loaded model. Apple Care is included and ive verified that buy checking apple.com

asking price was 2200, ive offered 2000.

My question is do you think this is a good deal? I know that the mac buying guide says that this is in mid cycle. And ive read that there are some discovered possible bad graphics cards.

Im just looking for someone to sway me either direction as I want to get one, think this is a good deal but just dont know what i should do. BTW this would be my first mac.

Please share any thoughts or opinions i will take it all in!
 
I'd say it's a fairly good deal, but you have to consider how desperately you need certain things. Basically, is 250gb, and .4Ghz worth upwards of $800-$1000 to you?

Because I just bought an amazing used MBP 15 inch 2.4 Ghz, with 4 gigs of ram and a 250 gb hd for 1200. with applecare. And that's not like, a super amazing deal. it's pretty standard.

Basically, is the small amount of speed that important to you? I think my 2.4 ghz screams. I consistently run 10-20 applications as a designer/developer, and am more than impressed with the speed. I think the 4 gb ram is a big thing. So.. that's my suggestion. If you need the speed, go for it, it's a reasonable price for a nice computer. Alternatively, get another nice computer for much cheaper that can do all of the same things.

I actually opted for the previous unibody design so that I could use the express card slot. and a removable battery. Two mistakes i think apple has made recently.
 
I have practically the exact same system that you are thinking of purchasing. I have the late 2009 model (with SD Card slot) however mine I custom built to have a 500 GB HD @ 7200 RPM. The rest of the specs that you named is what I have. I will tell you that I am very impressed with my computer and don't regret it. I custom made mine new and received a discount total price of $2,178 (due to my job). If you have never owned a Mac I would suggest that you first go the apple.com and click on "Mac" and go through some of the video tutorials and see if it is something that you think you will like (as far as OS). I used to be a dedicated Windows person however since I made the switch, I haven't looked back and have been totally satisfied. Don't get me wrong, I still ALSO have Windows on my Mac (purchased from royaldiscount.com-great software site) also for those games and other software that are windows based running in both Bootcamp and Parallels 4.0.

If you have never owned a Mac and are not used to how it works then you will be frustrated with it at first for a while until you get the hang of it but once you do get the hang of it then you will wonder why you ever liked Windows to begin with.

You are more than welcome to email me directly if you have any questions on what something is or how to do something in a Mac. - jstate1983@yahoo.com

Cheers
 
smearedblue said:
I'd say it's a fairly good deal, but you have to consider how desperately you need certain things. Basically, is 250gb, and .4Ghz worth upwards of $800-$1000 to you?

Because I just bought an amazing used MBP 15 inch 2.4 Ghz, with 4 gigs of ram and a 250 gb hd for 1200. with applecare. And that's not like, a super amazing deal. it's pretty standard.

Basically, is the small amount of speed that important to you? I think my 2.4 ghz screams. I consistently run 10-20 applications as a designer/developer, and am more than impressed with the speed. I think the 4 gb ram is a big thing. So.. that's my suggestion. If you need the speed, go for it, it's a reasonable price for a nice computer. Alternatively, get another nice computer for much cheaper that can do all of the same things.

I actually opted for the previous unibody design so that I could use the express card slot. and a removable battery. Two mistakes i think apple has made recently.
Click to expand...

In addition, could use the extra savings to get a good SSD.
 
smearedblue said:
I'd say it's a fairly good deal, but you have to consider how desperately you need certain things. Basically, is 250gb, and .4Ghz worth upwards of $800-$1000 to you?

Because I just bought an amazing used MBP 15 inch 2.4 Ghz, with 4 gigs of ram and a 250 gb hd for 1200. with applecare. And that's not like, a super amazing deal. it's pretty standard.

Basically, is the small amount of speed that important to you? I think my 2.4 ghz screams. I consistently run 10-20 applications as a designer/developer, and am more than impressed with the speed. I think the 4 gb ram is a big thing. So.. that's my suggestion. If you need the speed, go for it, it's a reasonable price for a nice computer. Alternatively, get another nice computer for much cheaper that can do all of the same things.

I actually opted for the previous unibody design so that I could use the express card slot. and a removable battery. Two mistakes i think apple has made recently.
Click to expand...

you make some great points. right now im running a dell 1720, loaded with a 2.2 ghz... ive just always tried to buy the top spec model so that it lasts as long as possible. and wow, no express card slot? i thought that was a given. hmmm

you got me thinking! thanks
 
jstate1983 said:
I have practically the exact same system that you are thinking of purchasing. I have the late 2009 model (with SD Card slot) however mine I custom built to have a 500 GB HD @ 7200 RPM. The rest of the specs that you named is what I have. I will tell you that I am very impressed with my computer and don't regret it. I custom made mine new and received a discount total price of $2,178 (due to my job). If you have never owned a Mac I would suggest that you first go the apple.com and click on "Mac" and go through some of the video tutorials and see if it is something that you think you will like (as far as OS). I used to be a dedicated Windows person however since I made the switch, I haven't looked back and have been totally satisfied. Don't get me wrong, I still ALSO have Windows on my Mac (purchased from royaldiscount.com-great software site) also for those games and other software that are windows based running in both Bootcamp and Parallels 4.0.

If you have never owned a Mac and are not used to how it works then you will be frustrated with it at first for a while until you get the hang of it but once you do get the hang of it then you will wonder why you ever liked Windows to begin with.

You are more than welcome to email me directly if you have any questions on what something is or how to do something in a Mac. - jstate1983@yahoo.com

Cheers
Click to expand...

hey thanks alot! appreciate it. you may be hearing from me in the future!
 
so i passed on buying it. im going to research this further... thanks for the help
 
It could be an alright buy depending how you look at it. For instance i just bought that same model today. It is $2,299 at the apple store but with the student discount i got it for $2,099. Maybe you want to pick up a new one for the same price if you are a student, of course.
 
MacsOnAnabolics said:
It could be an alright buy depending how you look at it. For instance i just bought that same model today. It is $2,299 at the apple store but with the student discount i got it for $2,099. Maybe you want to pick up a new one for the same price if you are a student, of course.
Click to expand...


was that w/ apple care? did you get any software? and if you did does the student discount apply to software or just hardware?
 
That is a great question! As far as I know the student discount only extends to new hardware and Applecare serive. $200 for the Mbp and $110 for Applecare. The only software I bought was iWork and COD4.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back