What should I check for on a used blackbook before buying it??

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I'm about to buy a used black macbook from someone I don't know. I know there is a risk when buying used because the computer could look and function good at first, and then completely fail in like a month and I would be screwed because of no warranty. I'm going to go look at it today. It is 30 months old, 2.0 Ghz, 120 Gig Hard drive, 2 GB RAM, superdrive.


What should I look for other than the following:

Battery - I told him to download Coconut Battery, and health is 93% and cycles is 115.
RAM - how do I check if it is apple ram or some third party?
Dead Pixels
Optical Drive - How do I check if it can burn a dvd without actually burning one? I know it should be able to, but I just want to know if there is something wrong with it.

The reason I want to check everything is because he is selling it for a pretty low price.

 

[techound1]

The only problem with 3rd party ram (and somebody correct me if I'm wrong here) will show up as a kernel panic at boot or not too terribly long after boot. If the computer will run for 15 mins with the ram, you should be fine. If it turns out to be an issue, it's a relatively easy fix, especially if the machine is cheap.

Give the hard drive a listen for any odd clicking or clunking, but again, it's a relatively easy fix if it poos the bed.

I'd look for signs of liquid spills - sticky stuff or dried droplets around any entry hole in the case.

Good luck with the buy!