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Should I purchase old macbook pro?

J

JohnFloyd

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 8, 2009
9
0
After a lot of google search, I found this website, and hope you guys can help me out! Its my first time posting here, so please be gentle :D

A friend of mine has a apple macbook pro 15" machine, that he wants to sell, because he wants the newer ones.

This is the specification of his computer (as he gave me):

2.4GHz Santa Rosa Intel Core 2 Duo
6GB system RAM
OSX 10.5.6
8x SuperDrive
8600GT M Nvidia Graphics with 256MB RAM
160GB Hard Drive
15" Matte display (LED backlit)
1.3MP Isight camera (integrated)
AppleCare expires on June 2010.

He had purchased it in June 2007.

A month ago, he had his CD drive and display replaced by Apple. CD drive and the camera were malfunctioning.

He is asking for $600 for it.... it seems a little expensive considering how there are so many brand new computers being sold for like $500...

Do you think this is a good machine, and is it worth $600?

thanks
 
ahhhh $600 is an amazing price!! Your friend must really consider you a good friend. :)

Sure there are other brand new $500 computers out there...but what are they? netbooks?

This macbook pro with a beautiful matte screen and led backlit would destroy any of those.
 
Man for 600 dollars either that thing was stolen or you are a good friend of the opposite sex because that deal is crazy. The applecare alone means that you will have warranty protection longer than brand new machines purchased at the apple store today.
 
thanks for the replies guys.

i still kind of find it hard to spend $600 on a TWO YEAR OLD machine! I know macs are expensive than PCs, so i guess im looking for a little rationalization.

Also he had to change the display and cd drive on his machine- so I don't know how reliable the laptop might be.

The laptop looks great, and i know my friend loves this machine (and knows about computers), thats why I am interested in it. So you think that this computer still has parts that would last me for two years from now? I know things get obsolete pretty quickly, so as long as I can get 2 years worth of good use from it....

thanks again
 
With only 4 GB RAM they usually sell for $1200 or $1300 on Craig's List or eBay. Probably worth extra $150 for the 6 GB of RAM which is a 4 GB DIMM and 2 GB DIMM. Probably real friend to sell for that little. I think you should take him to dinner at Morton's!

Nice Mac.
 
What Scottsdale said.

MacBook Pros retain VERY high resale values. Just go look on Craigslist and eBay for the current market value and you'll see that is an incredibly good price. The market values 2 year old MBPs higher than brand new consumer grade notebooks. That should tell you something.
 
Given that Applecare is valid till 2010; I will gladly buy this off your friend for $600 assuming he is not cheating you with a laptop that he spilled coffee on it or something (cos applecare doesnt cover such abuses)
 
I know for a fact that he did not spill anything on the laptop, or abused it. He really takes care of the laptop.

Just to be a devil's advocate- he had to replace the disk drive and the entire top cover (with the screen).... doesn't that mean the computer is beginning to show its age, and several more parts are going to go bad soon?

Also it has matte screen which is old technology, all the mac computers now have the glossy screen, which I've heard is a lot better.

thanks for your help.
 
No computers have problems all the time. Just because the screen went bad and the cd, doesnt mean its showing its age. That computer will last you another 2 years EASY. I would buy it anyway. Come 6 months if you want to sell, you will get ALL your money back and then some!

Where do you live? Cause if you dont buy it I will! And ill pay more! haha
 
tMac85 said:
No computers have problems all the time. Just because the screen went bad and the cd, doesnt mean its showing its age. That computer will last you another 2 years EASY. I would buy it anyway. Come 6 months if you want to sell, you will get ALL your money back and then some!

Where do you live? Cause if you dont buy it I will! And ill pay more! haha
Click to expand...

Hands off! Sorry man, dibs on this if the TS doesn't want it should go to the people who posted on the thread first. :)
 
JohnFloyd said:
thanks for the replies guys.

i still kind of find it hard to spend $600 on a TWO YEAR OLD machine! I know macs are expensive than PCs, so i guess im looking for a little rationalization.

Also he had to change the display and cd drive on his machine- so I don't know how reliable the laptop might be.

The laptop looks great, and i know my friend loves this machine (and knows about computers), thats why I am interested in it. So you think that this computer still has parts that would last me for two years from now? I know things get obsolete pretty quickly, so as long as I can get 2 years worth of good use from it....

thanks again
Click to expand...

wow, you obviously havnt looked online at the prices of macs. That is a steal, most people are paying that much for a PowerBook. You could buy that mac and sell it for prob twice as much as you bought it for or maybe more. Yah, get a $600 PC and see if it lasts 2 years, or if its not dog slow and full of probs in 2 years.
 
Gah. Don't worry about the small things and just buy it already...your friend could sell that thing for MUCH more.

And not all Macs have glossy displays. Matte isn't old 'technology' by any means.

Good luck.
 
I wouldn't worry about the computer laptop lasting two years because if there are any problems, you'll probably notice them before your AppleCare runs out (and get them repaired for free). If it has multiple problems within that time, Apple should replace it with a newer model. It's a great deal as everyone says.
 
thanks a lot guys--- it seems like it is a good price. so Im going to go ahead and get it!


Can you guys recommend me what to look for when taking the machine- just to check to see if everything is in order or not?
 
If he's bought applecare, then it's come with the techtool deluxe disc to check out the hardware. Run that on the machine.

On the apple support website, there is a form to transfer applecare to a new owner. Print that up, and have him sign it. Get a copy of his original receipt as well.

That price, with applecare, is a steal!
 
clyde2801 said:
If he's bought applecare, then it's come with the techtool deluxe disc to check out the hardware. Run that on the machine.

On the apple support website, there is a form to transfer applecare to a new owner. Print that up, and have him sign it. Get a copy of his original receipt as well.

That price, with applecare, is a steal!
Click to expand...

Thats excellent info! Thanks for sharing..
 
JohnFloyd said:
After a lot of google search, I found this website, and hope you guys can help me out! Its my first time posting here, so please be gentle :D

......

6GB system RAM
OSX 10.5.6
..........
Do you think this is a good machine, and is it worth $600?

thanks
Click to expand...

Guys, isn't 4GB the maximum that that generation of Mac will use? I'm thinking of upgrading my RAM, so please let me know if the machine can see 6GB....
 
absolutely fabulous deal for that!

you'll get years of use yet

i'm still using my 12" powerbook after about 5 years, I just did a clean wipe install of leopard and it works better than the first day i used it, still cookin!
 
JohnFloyd said:
thanks for the replies guys.

i still kind of find it hard to spend $600 on a TWO YEAR OLD machine! I know macs are expensive than PCs, so i guess im looking for a little rationalization.

Also he had to change the display and cd drive on his machine- so I don't know how reliable the laptop might be.

The laptop looks great, and i know my friend loves this machine (and knows about computers), thats why I am interested in it. So you think that this computer still has parts that would last me for two years from now? I know things get obsolete pretty quickly, so as long as I can get 2 years worth of good use from it....

thanks again
Click to expand...

Ehh, i tend to agree with macs being overpriced but 600 for a 2.4ghz core 2 duo and a 8600m gt is a good deal even if it was a pc. As far as lasting for 2 years, the hardware will easily handle stuff two years from now. I have stress tested 8 year old computers and even older and its quite amazing how much they can actually run.
 
it doesnt have 6 gb ram, 4 gb is maximum. but it is a very good deal, buy it. Applecare stays with the machine so you don't need him to sign anything
 
Nvidia 8600GT

Have fun with that gpu!

(Word on the street is that it WILL fail. Just a matter of when. You might want to ask your buddy if he's selling it because he doesn't trust the 8600GT.)

;)
 
zero85ZEN said:
Have fun with that gpu!

(Word on the street is that it WILL fail. Just a matter of when. You might want to ask your buddy if he's selling it because he doesn't trust the 8600GT.)

;)
Click to expand...

yawn. yep, keep worrying about that :rolleyes:

especially since he has applecare for a long time
 
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