I have the chance to buy a mid 2008 MacBook Pro 17" 2.5Ghz for around $550. It has the Nvidia 8600M GT card which so far apparently has not given any problems to the previous owner. Am I taking a gamble? According to the serial number the laptop was manufactured in July 2008. When is the cut off point for having the card replaced if I am unfortunate for it to go. Any advice would be appreciated.
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Should I buy a mid 2008 MacBook Pro 17" with Nvidia 8600M GT Graphics?
- Thread starter britincan
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Too much activity and interest on the new MBPs, a lot of threads are getting bumped to page 2 and upwards. But to answer your question:
No. The question isn't whether the 8600M GT will fail (since almost the entire line had problems), but when. If I were you I'd pass and look for more recent ones.
No. The question isn't whether the 8600M GT will fail (since almost the entire line had problems), but when. If I were you I'd pass and look for more recent ones.
They definitely do fail pretty easily. I sold mine off in 2010 sometime, and the guy I sold it to managed to get the GPU swapped under applecare about a week before the warranty expired.
Might not be awful if you never run anything GPU-intensive on it.
Might not be awful if you never run anything GPU-intensive on it.
Thanks everyone for your comments. I think you are all confirming my feelings on the subject. It looks like the question is not if, but when it will fail. I'm going to pass on this one.