Used Macbook 17 Early 2011 - An offer I can´t refuse?

[Grassgreen]

There´s a macbook 17 inch early 2011 version with upgraded 8gb memory. Its well taken care of and low charging cycles.
The seller wants approx. 1300$

Is this a good price?

Thanks

 

[Jambalaya]

Not to me. Quite old and unless you really need the big screen I don't see the attraction.

 

[TiberioG]

I have the same MacBook pro 17" bought in early 2011 with custom configuration: SSD, 8 GB RAM 2.3Ghz
I payed it 3000€, after 2 years the BGA of the GPU it has broken, I have had reballing for 250€
It's a very good mac: the big screen is amazing (but if it were an IPS panel it would be better) and also a lot of them are suffering GPU issues.

 

[dmccloud]

You can probably get a more recent 15" MBP (maybe even a first-gen rMBP) for that price, and get a better lifespan out of it.

 

[Gav Mack]

Not to me. Quite old and unless you really need the big screen I don't see the attraction.

To a fan of real estate and upgradeable parts, huge battery it was always going to be my next MBP.

I watched and waited on eBay for months, until I snapped up a late 2011 17 for 860 bucks equivalent a fortnight ago. Spent nearly 200 bucks on 16gb ram kit from crucial and after selling my 2010 17 made about 120 bucks profit.

I immediately stripped mine down and repasted/lapped the heatsinks with AS-5 and got a 20C drop in temps for both the CPU and GPU to prolong its life. These sandy bridge chips get damn hot and the GPU's, especially in the early 2011's 15 inch are failing in droves now after a couple of years. If it does go will get my GPU replaced with a fresh lead soldered one so it lasts as Apples replacement logic boards seem to fail a lot and only offer a 90 day warranty.

With my 1tb 840 evo it boots OSX in under 10 seconds, windows 7 about 18 to fully load the desktop. Not bad for a big old bird and ideal for my uses.

 

[matthewadams]

I'd recommend to stay away. mainly because of the GPU issue, which I am convinced doesnt solely relate to the "high temperatures" (mine were rather low all the time and despite additionally replacing the thermal paste, the failure occurred anyway).
got the gpu replaced and then sold it off (after the gpu replacement on a friends machine failed again after 6 months).. which sucks, because apart from that it was a great machine.
i am now on a 15 rmbp but having had an SSD on my previous 2011 mbp - performancewise there's hardly any difference (at least on day-to-day use - excluding gaming).

 

[Naimfan]

If you're near a Microcenter they have refurbished 17" 2.3 HR AG MBPs for $1379.

I lucked out and got an open box one for $925. (!). Full Apple warranty too, as MC is an authorized reseller.

 

[Jambalaya]

To a fan of real estate and upgradeable parts, huge battery it was always going to be my next MBP.

I watched and waited on eBay for months, until I snapped up a late 2011 17 for 860 bucks equivalent a fortnight ago. Spent nearly 200 bucks on 16gb ram kit from crucial and after selling my 2010 17 made about 120 bucks profit.

I immediately stripped mine down and repasted/lapped the heatsinks with AS-5 and got a 20C drop in temps for both the CPU and GPU to prolong its life. These sandy bridge chips get damn hot and the GPU's, especially in the early 2011's 15 inch are failing in droves now after a couple of years. If it does go will get my GPU replaced with a fresh lead soldered one so it lasts as Apples replacement logic boards seem to fail a lot and only offer a 90 day warranty.

With my 1tb 840 evo it boots OSX in under 10 seconds, windows 7 about 18 to fully load the desktop. Not bad for a big old bird and ideal for my uses.

Interesting, thanks for sharing.

 

[Gav Mack]

Interesting, thanks for sharing.

I'm in the UK too - it was £500 for the MBP and £120 for the ram. Setup an eBay search for MacBook Pro 17 and wait for the moment. Mine was a listing from a new eBayer with zero feedback and a very confusing description. She wanted it sold quick so took the listing off and I bombed round the M25 next morning