To buy or not to buy, is it even a question?

[druportelli]

Hi! I'm completely new to mac, newer than new: I've never even touched one. But I've been saving up for ages to buy my partner one for her birthday (I'm mental, I know). Now I have the opportunity to buy this refurbished one (specs below) for a brilliant price, but I'm not sure if it's one of those 'too good to be true' deals. My partner is a Fine Art student and would need the Mac for photoshop. Do you guys recon it would be a good buy or should I go for something else?

Thanks!

Dru.

P.S. Her birthday is in less than a week so I'm a little tight on time :/

SPECS:

Processors: 1 (2 Cores) Architecture: 64-Bit

Geekbench 2 (32): 2969 Geekbench 2 (64): 3345

Geekbench 3 (32): 1102 Geekbench 3 (32): 1891

Geekbench 3 (64): 1324 Geekbench 3 (64): 2283

Processor Speed: 2.33 GHz Processor Type: Core 2 Duo (T7600)

Details: The Intel "Core 2 Duo" (T7600) processor includes two independent processor "cores" on a single silicon chip.

Turbo Boost: N/A Custom Speeds: N/A

Processor Upgrade: Soldered FPU: Integrated

System Bus Speed: 667 MHz Cache Bus Speed: 2.33 GHz (Built-in)

ROM/Firmware Type: EFI EFI Architecture: 32-Bit

L1 Cache: 32k/32k L2/L3 Cache: 4 MB (on chip)

RAM Type: PC2-5300 DDR2 Min. RAM Speed: 667 MHz

Details: Supports 667 MHz PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM.

Standard RAM: 2 GB Maximum RAM: 4 GB*





Motherboard RAM: None RAM Slots: 2

Video Card: Radeon X1600 VRAM Type: GDDR3 SDRAM

Details: The ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256 MB of GDDR3 SDRAM uses a 16 lane PCI Express bus.

Standard VRAM: 256 MB Maximum VRAM: 256 MB

Built-in Display: 15.4" Widescreen Native Resolution: 1440x900

Details: 15.4" color "matte" widescreen TFT active-matrix display with a 1440 by 900 native resolution. A "glossy" display also was available as a custom configuration.


Apple reports that the system also supports "1280 by 800, 1152 by 720, 1024 by 640, and 800 by 500 at 16:10 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 at 4:3 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 at 4:3 aspect ratio stretched; 720 by 480 at 3:2 aspect ratio, [and] 720 by 480 at 3:2 aspect ratio stretched."

2nd Display Support: Dual/Mirroring 2nd Max. Resolution: 2560x1600

Details: Simultaneously supports native resolution on the internal display and a maximum of 2560x1600 on an external display.

 

[nightcap965]

Hi! I'm completely new to mac, newer than new: I've never even touched one. But I've been saving up for ages to buy my partner one for her birthday (I'm mental, I know). Now I have the opportunity to buy this refurbished one (specs below) for a brilliant price, but I'm not sure if it's one of those 'too good to be true' deals. My partner is a Fine Art student and would need the Mac for photoshop. Do you guys recon it would be a good buy or should I go for something else?

Thanks!

Dru.

Do not touch this ancient relic with a ten foot mouse cord. It's a very old Mac that won't run the software your partner needs.

 

[firedept]

I believe this is a Late 2006 15" MBP you are looking at. Yes it will run Photoshop, but it will struggle. Even if you max out the RAM and change the HDD to an SSD, the computer is at the end of its life. I would consider looking for something a little newer and maybe upgrade the hard drive to an SSD.

I have a 2010 13" MBP with an SSD & 8 GB RAM. Photoshop can even struggle a bit with larger files on this machine and it has a couple good years left in it. Smaller files are not an issue. It still handles it though. 13" is still plenty of screen space when using PS.

Maybe consider a 13" which will be a little cheaper, but will afford you a newer MBP. Look for something with an SSD and minimum 4 GB RAM. You can find 2010 MBP's around for about $300-400 in decent shape, then have it upgraded cheaply which will last at least a couple years. Even 2011's.