Macbook second hand

I personally would not purchase a second hand laptop. Desktops maybe.

The new pros have moved on significantly. The new model has a glass gesture control touchpad, unibody aluminium deisgn and two graphics cards.

Suffice to say its a lot better than old models.

May advice, always buy a laptop new, and get apple care as well.

One other thing if you are in anyway concerned with education then you can get education discount from the applestore. there is also a refurb store there as well with some cracking bargains (yes I know this goes against what I said above but they do have a full years warranty)

As Gary says, get Apple care. My daughter's four year old iBook has had two new dvd drives, a new screen and a new motherboard. She is quite rough with her possessions!

My PowerBook's screen died after two years. My son's Macbook's battery was replaced. Get Apple care.

I strongly second Apple care, worth every penny if anything goes wrong. I only needed it once, but it saved me a lot of money compared to what the cost would have been without Apple care

good luck

quote:

Originally posted by prawne:
Are there any benefits to buying a brand new mac book (pro) as compared to one that is a couple of years old for use as a source?
If so, would they be worth the extra cost
Is there anything one should be aware of if buying a secondhand macbook
Thoughts appreciated

Sean

I would buy an 1 or 2 year old MacBook (pro) or a Mac Mini because sonically they are the same as the new unibody ones and the saving would be significant in some cases. A Mac Mini is a better option in my view.

Of course, something can go wrong with your laptop and it is just a game of probability. My old PPC PowerBook still works pretty well after ~5+ years.

Yeah, but the new MBPs are SO COOL! (typed on an "old" one).

If you are looking to get one a bit cheaper, always watch the Refurb section of the Apple online store.

Roy.

we use a macbook and a 24in Imac both new , i just couldnt buy a second hand mac, no matter who had used it before.......i got stitched up once never again.

Also search out for previous version models - you can often save £400 or so and you are only a little bit behind the bleeding edge.

Buying at the bleeding edge is just about the most expensive way of buying computer stuff.

AS for buying a second hand Mac - in 2004 I bought a secondhand G5 Powermac Dual 2.0 and sold it in January this year for £600 - replaced a hard drive and a video card during the 4.5 years that I owned it.

They do tend to hold their value a lot more than a pc but thats probably due to them being of a high spec to start with.

I bought my macbook pro last year off ebay and when I got it it had a damaged screen, but one phone call to apple, quoted serial number, screen was replaced free of charge and turned around in 10 days too, so no complaints from me.

Ryan

If only using for audio duties, simply get the oldest/cheapest one with a digital output.

First gen Mac Mini should fit the bill.

Dont worry about RAM, HD size, or anything. ANY stock Mac will play just fine right out of the box.