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    Choosing used..

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by mawil1013, Sep 7, 2010.

  1. mawil1013

    mawil1013 Newbie

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    Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, I'm in the market for a used 'Apple' laptop for the first time, pc or laptop.

    I'm on a budget so looking at something 2-3 years old but a laptop that would have been considered top of the line went introduced.

    Can anyone suggest what I should be looking for and even where to look for good deals on used?

    Thanks! Mike
     
    mawil1013, Sep 7, 2010
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  2. cdnalsi

    cdnalsi Food for the funky people

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    cdnalsi, Sep 7, 2010
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  3. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

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    what kind of price range are you looking at?
     
    doh123, Sep 7, 2010
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  4. diver110

    diver110 Notebook Evangelist

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    FWIW, I found the 15 inch MBP not worth buying used. There was not enough of a discount over new. Of course, if you are on a budget and can't afford new, that may not be relevant. I ended up getting a 17 inch on ebay with a discount that made buying used make sense.

    If you are going older, try to find a unit where the owner bought the 3 year warranty and there is some warranty time left. They exist on ebay.
     
    diver110, Sep 7, 2010
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  5. masterchef341

    masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook

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    my suggestion is to set a dollar budget before deciding to buy a particular laptop or going new/used.
     
    masterchef341, Sep 7, 2010
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  6. jaybit

    jaybit Notebook Geek

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    Went through craiglist this pass summer. Saved $700 on my i5 17" MBP
    You could say I got lucky.
     
    jaybit, Sep 7, 2010
    #6
  7. sulkorp

    sulkorp Notebook Deity

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    Stay away from any that have 8600s, they will die eventually, and if out of applecare it will be an expensive fix.
     
    sulkorp, Sep 8, 2010
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  8. TheRocketmac

    TheRocketmac Notebook Geek

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    I bought my late-08 MBP used for $1499 last year.
    Came with a 1-year warranty (same as the new ones) and I slapped AppleCare on it.

    Not disappointed with it at all.
     
    TheRocketmac, Sep 10, 2010
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  9. mawil1013

    mawil1013 Newbie

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    Crap! even used macs are too expensive!
    michael
     
    mawil1013, Sep 10, 2010
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  10. cdnalsi

    cdnalsi Food for the funky people

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    This one's not that expensive.

    And neither is this one, or this one. :)
     
    cdnalsi, Sep 10, 2010
    #10
  11. ClearSkies

    ClearSkies Well no, I'm still here..

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    It would help if you mentioned what the budget you're working with (in your first post) might be.....

    If $850-900 is still prohibitive (and for many people it is, esp in the current economy), and you really want Mac, then your next best bet for a slightly lower price would probably be eBay. That option, however, should be taken with caution (reputable seller with good feedback, etc).
     
    ClearSkies, Sep 10, 2010
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  12. TheRocketmac

    TheRocketmac Notebook Geek

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    Expensive is all relative. At the time, it was the only 15" laptop that was <1" in height, with a dual-core CPU over 2.0GHz that also had 6MB L2 cache, Intel VT and 64bit instruction set.

    :D
     
    TheRocketmac, Sep 10, 2010
    #12
  13. masterchef341

    masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook

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    again. set a budget, then decide what you want. seriously. otherwise you are just using arbitrary feeler judgements of what is expensive and what is not.

    1. budget
    2. find suitable item
    3. purchase

    the order is important.
     
    masterchef341, Sep 10, 2010
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  14. PopRoxMimo3

    PopRoxMimo3 Notebook Deity

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    best buy credit card... 18 months to pay it off. and you can always sell it off at your remaining balance 12 months down the road.
     
    PopRoxMimo3, Sep 11, 2010
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