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What do you do w/ your old MacBooks?

S

Salgonza

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 17, 2009
13
0
After upgrading to a new Macbook or bigger one or whatever the case may have been. What do you do w/ your old one?

Im no where near getting rid of mine i just got my uMB in March. Of course right before the Macbook Pro 13 came out. (don't remind me)

I was just curious. I know that my pc laptop that I had before this one is sitting on a shelf collecting dust.
 
Resale values of macs are generally higher than those of PCs. For the last six or seven years, I have upgraded my macbook or mackbook pro each year, and sold the old one for >80% of the price of the new one. ( I keep them in great conditions and keep all the boxes, and accessories, which helps fetch a much higher price on ebay)

However due to the lack of matte screen last year, I kept my Early 2008 MBP and still have it. I know you can now get the matte option now, but my MBP is doing fine for the moment currently.
 
I just keep my G4 iBook sitting around in the odd case I need an old file that I may not have transferred off, or in case an extra laptop is needed for whatever reason.
 
I sell the old one to recoup some of the cost on buying the newer model. I wouldn't be able to buy the new one if I didn't do that. :D
 
Salgonza said:
Im no where near getting rid of mine i just got my uMB in March. Of course right before the Macbook Pro 13 came out. (don't remind me)
Click to expand...

I never understood why people with the 13" uMB want the 13" uMBP. It's almost the same thing, except with an SD card slot and FW port (and if you needed that, you surely wouldn't have gotten the uMB in the first place!); besides that, it's mostly the name that's different. :)
 
RMo said:
I never understood why people with the 13" uMB want the 13" uMBP. It's almost the same thing, except with an SD card slot and FW port (and if you needed that, you surely wouldn't have gotten the uMB in the first place!); besides that, it's mostly the name that's different. :)
Click to expand...

Also longer battery and much nicer screen.
 
Yup, the longer and battery and better screen were definately a kick in the balls.
 
Well let's see:

I gave my Blackbook to my wife, and it's now her main computer.

The iBook G4 I keep around for those occasions where I need to run a Classic application, which happens regularly.

My iBook G3 died. No possibility of resuscitation.

The Powerbook 1400 I drag out once in a while when I want to play with OS 9, and recently it came in handy when the iBook G4 was out of service for a while.

I used to boot the PB 100 on occasion, just to amaze myself that I actually once did useful work on it. But since the HD died a couple years ago it's not too much fun to boot from floppy.

In short, I've kept all my running Apple laptops around. I have sold a couple of my desktop systems, which I kind of regret.
 
I keep my iBook G4, 1.3 ghz, 1.25 mb ram, in closet and bring it out now and then to keep it working, It's a 2nd backup in case my 24" iMa and 13" mbp die. It still works fine and I don't feel it's worth trying to sell.
 
My Blackbook is current in charge of playing iTunes music and movies (connected to a projector). Essentially, it just sits next to the speakers.
 
I've had 3 mac notebooks. 1 iBook which broke so I decided to screw it all to hell and i took it apart which was a fun project. Then my powerbook 12inch was robbed :)(), and insurance paid for my blackbook which I plan to upgrade soon.
 
UltraNEO* said:
For those people who keep and store their old Laptops...
Do you from time to time give your batteries some exercises?
Click to expand...

The only old laptop I have is my old HP laptop, which I mostly just kept around so I could have a Windows machine if I ever needed it (which was rarely then and never now)--plus there were some scratches, a broken CD/DVD drive, and a broken PCMCIA card slot cover that I think would reduce the resale value...so I just decided to keep it. :)

Anyway, my intent was to use it and "exercise" the battery--but I didn't. Now it lasts about 30 seconds, but I don't care that much since I rarely use it, anyway, and finding a power source usually isn't a problem. I actually haven't used it in months and wouldn't be surprised if the battery was now down to about 20 seconds and counting.
 
I've only upgraded once, from a WhiteBook. That, I gave to my dad to keep in his garage shop for writing. I plan to keep my current MB for the entirety of university, which would be 8 years (7 if I give up my social life =P). That'll probably be too long for it to be resold at any meaningful value, but you never know. If I can't get a good price, I'll wipe it and send it in to be recycled.
 
Salgonza said:
Yup, the longer and battery and better screen were definately a kick in the balls.
Click to expand...

No, getting a computer with a crappy screen after paying $1200 was a kick in the balls. Apple covertly releasing a newer model with improved screen without admitting fault was a second kick in the balls. Releasing the same model with a pro moniker with improved battery and even nicer screen still was a ball stomp. :eek:

Seriously, I'm satisfied with the 9c8c screen on my used 2.4 umb. If anyone has a original umb and is unhappy with the screen (cough 9c89 cough) I'd suggest getting a couple of black and white movies on dvd and taking them with you to an genius bar visit. I had a 9c89 screened model replaced because even the genius could tell the contrast was utter crap.

I'm not suggesting this for people who were originally satisfied with their screens and simply want a free upgrade to a new one because they heard the screens were better. My issue with the 1st release of the umb's was that the screen quality was unacceptable for a $1200+ machine, period. Apple shouldn't get a free pass.
 
...when and if the machines in my sig get old, the iMac will go to TV server duty (currently held by a 10+ yr old Dell 8100 P4) and the whitebook will go to arm chair living room duty (currently held by an 8+ yr old Toshiba laptop and a 6+ yr old Sony Vaio laptop)...:D
 
clyde2801 said:
No, getting a computer with a crappy screen after paying $1200 was a kick in the balls. Apple covertly releasing a newer model with improved screen without admitting fault was a second kick in the balls. Releasing the same model with a pro moniker with improved battery and even nicer screen still was a ball stomp. :eek:

Seriously, I'm satisfied with the 9c8c screen on my used 2.4 umb. If anyone has a original umb and is unhappy with the screen (cough 9c89 cough) I'd suggest getting a couple of black and white movies on dvd and taking them with you to an genius bar visit. I had a 9c89 screened model replaced because even the genius could tell the contrast was utter crap.

I'm not suggesting this for people who were originally satisfied with their screens and simply want a free upgrade to a new one because they heard the screens were better. My issue with the 1st release of the umb's was that the screen quality was unacceptable for a $1200+ machine, period. Apple shouldn't get a free pass.
Click to expand...

When did you do this? I also have the 2.4 umb with the 9c89 model screen and have been unhappy with it. I've been trying to manage by telling myself that it's not too bad. However, after seeing the "silent" upgrade screens and the newer pro 13" screens, it's getting harder to continue to tell myself this. I got my machine at Christmas, so I'm still within the 1yr Apple warranty.
 
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