Recommendation on a MacBook

[blindkangaroo]

I've never been a Mac owner before and have been without a laptop for a while now and getting kinda desperate to buy another one. As much as I would love to go a purchase a new 13-inch Air it's just not in my budget right now. Mainly because I dislike all the cheap plastic Windows notebooks I've been looking at getting an older Macbook. Questions that I have is that I occasionally do some work from home which mainly consists of some kind of remote connection to a customers server but I also need to run a few VM's (VirtualBox) as a test environment. How well would a 2007/08 MacBook hold up? Budget is limited and I was looking at the pre-unibody models mainly for the ability to replace parts myself including the battery.

Any thoughts/opinions?

Cheers,
B

 

[simsaladimbamba]

2007 and early 2008 models will limit you to a maximum of 6 GB of DDR2 RAM and S-ATA 1.5 Gbps (S-ATA I) for connecting SSDs (still plenty of fast).
Late 2008 and 2009 and 2010 models can use 8 to 16 GB of RAM, the HDD is easily replaced with an SSD and even though the battery is not user replaceable, it is still replaceable via Apple. It does not cost more, and if you can get your hands on a CERTIFIED Apple battery, you can even do it yourself.

As you did not state your budget, we can only recommend the 11" MacBook Air, 13" MacBook Air, 13" MacBook, 13" MacBook Pro, 15" MacBook Pro and 17" MacBook Pro.

 

[blindkangaroo]

So when it comes to budget like everyone else I'm looking to get everything for nothing but I'd say it's around $400-$500 and really looking to get the most "bang for my buck." I'm attracted to the MacBooks because of build quality and they seem to stay relevant long after and similar generation Windows machine stops being useful.

 

[HIMAN1998]

I would recommend the late 2008 MacBook (not Pro unless you can get one in your price range). I am currently using one, and it's build quality surpasses my friend's late 2009 unibody polycarbonate MacBook. It surpasses all Windows laptops I've had in build quality, also, and I was a ThinkPad user before. Depending on what you do, I would recommend at least 4GB RAM. I run 2GB on mine currently (just ordered 8GB for it) and it holds me back. I have the 2GHz model, but it doesn't have the backlit keyboard, but that really doesn't matter to me. Just another thing to suck battery. The keyboard is quieter than any laptop I've owned, and I type hard. I need a new battery, mine is showing it's age. I got it used from someone and they never used it on battery, got it with 35 cycles on the battery. Now there's 43 and my health is 86%. I might just get a second battery for a spare. I run Mountain Lion on it. I recommend any of the aluminum unibodies.