Upgrade or just buy AppleCare?

[silverblack]

If the MB is serving my needs, I'd just keep it. You always lose money from any buy-sell action. If you feel like wasting money indeed, use the money to go buy yourself a cheap pc. It'll make you really appreciate the MB that you have - in some way that could be money well spent

 

[jshelton]

I'd say keep the Macbook and replace the HD to a 320GB+ 7200 RPM drive for about $85. You're definitely not going to sell it for the same price you bought it for. And honestly, the early 08' MacBooks aren't bad for everyday usage. If you desperately NEED the faster memory and upgraded intergrated graphics card, then sell it.

Oh, for the 08' MacBooks and earlier models, you definitely should get Applecare. The topcase cracks like no other. You can pick one up for about $125 on eBay or Craigslist.

Where can I find a 320GB 7200RPM HD for 85 bones???

I'm not doubting you, I'm just curious. That sounds great!

 

[brop52]

Where can I find a 320GB 7200RPM HD for 85 bones???

I'm not doubting you, I'm just curious. That sounds great!

Hitachi 7k320 from OWC $79.97 with $4.99 shipping comes to $84.96. Unfortunately you missed out on all the Hitachi rebates. The same HDD used to be $59.99 after $20 rebate at Newegg. Now they aren't even selling it anymore. Your other option is to go with this Fujitsu 7k320 at Newegg for $79.99 and free shipping. Or a WD for $89.99 or a Seagate for $89.99. Plus you can get $5 cash back plus 2% at Newegg.

 

[jpk32092]

I have a early 2008 white Macbook 2.4ghz that I am very happy with. [...] I upgraded the memory to 4GB and still have the 160GB HDD which is sufficient. [...] It is in perfect condition.

Only a year old, you're happy with it, you just upgraded it, perfect condition... and you want to upgrade?

 

[unixfool]

Why would someone pay $1300 for such an old machine?

Anyway, no education discounts do not apply for refurbs. Just wait for the summer and get an iPod out of it during the summer promo and sell that too.

How do you figure its old? It could be less than a year old or it could've been bought yesterday for all we know (and yeah, they still make polys).

Just wondering how someone determines that such hardware is "such an old machine". It's almost the exact same hardware as an aluminum MB. Cases make machines old nowadays???

 

[brop52]

How do you figure its old? It could be less than a year old or it could've been bought yesterday for all we know (and yeah, they still make polys).

Just wondering how someone determines that such hardware is "such an old machine". It's almost the exact same hardware as an aluminum MB. Cases make machines old nowadays???

When you can buy something brand new from Apple for the same price why would you buy a used machine when it has inferior specs and may or may not not have any Applecare left? A 2.1GHz machine is from Feb 2008 or after, but since there is only 4GB of RAM (worth about $40), I don't see how it can be priced at $1300 when a much better 2GHz PCB machine is now sold for $999 or the Alum model for $1299. Either that or get a refurb Alum 2GHz for $1099, pay for new DDR3 RAM at $55, Applecare at $125 how can you justify $1300 for a used machine?

I'm not saying there is something wrong with the PCB MB I'm just saying they don't make the 2.1GHz MB and it uses an old graphics system so they definitely don't make any of the 2.1s anymore. The new White PCB MB is only $999 for a better system. You can't justify the $1300 for the 2.1GHz model.

 

[unixfool]

When you can buy something brand new from Apple for the same price why would you buy a used machine when it has inferior specs and may or may not not have any Applecare left? A 2.1GHz machine is from Feb 2008 or after, but since there is only 4GB of RAM (worth about $40), I don't see how it can be priced at $1300 when a much better 2GHz PCB machine is now sold for $999 or the Alum model for $1299. Either that or get a refurb Alum 2GHz for $1099, pay for new DDR3 RAM at $55, Applecare at $125 how can you justify $1300 for a used machine?

I'm not saying there is something wrong with the PCB MB I'm just saying they don't make the 2.1GHz MB and it uses an old graphics system so they definitely don't make any of the 2.1s anymore. The new White PCB MB is only $999 for a better system. You can't justify the $1300 for the 2.1GHz model.

I'm not talking about price and technology comparisons based on the amount of time that has been passed (you didn't mention that in your original postings anyway).

What I'm talking about is HARDWARE TO HARDWARE in the present, as in right now. There is no real difference between a Macbook that was bought from Apple within a year ago and a Macbook that was bought yesterday (from Apple). Even after your above comments, I'm still at a loss as to how someone can judge that a system is old, especially when the poster that you responded to didn't mention what type of hardware he had or when he'd bought it. Too many people nowadays just thinks that a last generation of ANYTHING build is old news. The simple fact is that when comparing a last gen Macbook (with latest revision for that gen) with a current gen, you're just flat out not going to see much of a difference in hardware installed. Really, I could care less (and most people won't care less) about cost between a year ago and now...if they did, they'd more than likely be buying refurbs.

Yeah, generalizations suck.

 

[brop52]

My post you were quoting previously is a response to the individual that was going to sell their 2.1GHz White MB with 4GB of RAM, AppleCare, a Combo Drive, and a 120GB HDD for $1300. All I was saying is that machine isn't worth that and I don't know why someone would buy it for that much. I'm not saying it is a bad machine I'm just saying it has lost some value when a brand new machine can be bought for less and is better. It doesn't matter how old a machine is. I would always assume a used machine not from Apple is going to be sold for less than a brand new machine from Apple because there is an inherent loss of value due to it being used and the fact that there are no guarantees buying from another user vs. buying from Apple. The people that don't care about the price are likely the ones buying old machines for higher than what a brand new one is worth. That is their decision and it artificially increases the resale value for Macs. Something I'm happy about because it makes selling something that much easier. (Though I don't usually sell my Macs because I use them until they are no longer enough for my needs). I did sell my external iSight for more than what I paid for it two years after the fact.