Mad Mac Dilemma

So I've been a Mac hater for some time now, arguing to my fullest with Mac fan boys whenever I can. But now, I've been looking around for a nice portable laptop (don't bother telling me about regular macbooks, i'd rather just get a dv5), that's thin, durable and powerful. So I've been looking for the Old Gen Macbook pros (not the unibody casing, the silver aluminum ones with core 2 duos) and I have a few questions.

1.) I need price checks on these following specs:

a.)15.4 inch
2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4 GB DDR2 SDRAM
250GB storage
GeForce 8600M GT

b.)2.5 ghz core 2 duo
4 gb ram
512 NVIDIA 8600 GT
250 gb hard drive
(wants $1700, apple care till july 09)

c.) 2.2ghz
4 gig rams
250 gig hard drive
nvidia 8600
(2 years left of apple care, wants $1500)

2.) Is there anyway to just "click" on the mousepad, and it will click? Instead of using the dedicated buttons to click?

3.) As it's one huge heat sink, should I be expecting the computer to be lukewarm when its idle? Or will it be completely cold when idle/word processing?

4.) How's performance in vista? (drivers, battery life etc.)

5.) How's the screens quality? I really want a matte screen as I've started to despise glossy screens since they blind me in class

6.) What's performance like? I really want the 2.5 gigz one as I love power. What settings should I be expecting COD4/5, Bioshock, WoW, and crysis to run at?

7.) I'm buying it second hand. How would I go about checking that everything is in perfect working order, no problems inside computer/whatever?

8.) also, is the battery user replaceable? and is it covered by applecare?

Overall, I'm really worried about the heat the laptop puts off, as I hate touching lukewarm touchpads while word processing. Sorry for the long post guys, thanks

 

For some of the prices, check out the refurb section in the apple store.

2) you can tap click on the touchpad, and technically theres only one button to click
3)Mine gets warm on idle use. Although i do have a hardshell, and i think that might raise the idle temps a bit. Either that, or i just run it on cloth stuff all the time.
4)vista iono. generally windows the battery life is worse compared to osx.
5)no complains on the matte screen. its led backlit, love my screen, and would never get a glossy version.
6)I've played all the games on the list. If not in native res, then in 1280 on med to med-high. Can take some tweaking to find the best balance, but it still looks good to me
7)i dunno. check the case is in still good condition. ask if the logic boards been replaced. check the cycles on the battery. It still has warranty left, and apple is good so theyll replace stuff if its broken or whatever. but dunno about cosmetic damage(for free that is).

The heat isnt an issue for me. theres nothing under the touchpad to generate heat. The only spots where theres heat for me is the exhaust, and sometimes over the hdd, but not touchpad or keys.

Also the 2.2 is really pushing it for 1500. im pretty sure you can get a refurb better one for around that price.

 

Ughh I hate lukewarm touchpads... they make me sick. Is there anyway to do some wordprocessing without the laptop getting warm?

 

I'm afraid not. I am actually quite dissapointed at how warm it gets just doing regular task. Mine is 2.5 GHz early 2008 model (not the unibody one). Just browsing, itune-ing, and using MS 2008 makes it quite warm already. I left it on a cooler when i'm home. It's still a little too warm for my liking to use it on your lap, even while doing simple tasks (I know I know, it's a notebook not a LAPTOP! same diff )

 

I think that just turned me off from getting a mac

 

If heat really concerns you, you might be better of getting the new unibody mac, apparently it's a lot cooler and easier on the lap/wrist/palm , that's what i heard at least.

 

pretty hard to get a laptop that doesn't burn nowadays. I got a thinkpad t500, jsut web browsing/youtubing its perfectly cool, when i play a graphics intensive game it lights up like a stove n gets burnin hot, impossible to use on ur lap without cooking ur legs.

 

Yeah but it's also a lot more expensive

I would never get a regular brand new Mac. Only reason I want the old alum macbook is because it's powerful, thin, and it's in my price range.

Yes, the t500 gets hot while gaming, but the Mac is lukewarm while doing not even close to being system intense tasks

 

in all honesty, the laptop is the same temperate as my body.

so when my hands are resting on it, it doesnt seem like much. Its actually a little bit colder then my body temp.

Hope that helps give you a reference of the temp.

 

Well I have an intensely annoying sweating problem so that may not be the case for me

Every minute spent staring at craigslist postings is making me crave one. But I'm looking for a 2.5 gig/512 vram one.

What do those go for second hand?

 

If you're looking for a computer that's fairly cool, you should head over to an Apple store and try out the unibody MacBook Pro. I have the unibody Macbook and even on heavy load the aluminum handrest is slightly cold to touch, and my hands are almost always cold. Underside is just barely toasty, but the temperature is more than tolerable - comfortable, even. Then again, I have the 2.4 GHz Macbook, so I can't speak for the Pro model even though temperatures should be similar.

 

Problem is is that I'd never spend that much on a laptop (on ANYTHING electronic really), so I'm forced to buy a second hand MBP.

 

Where are you located? I got mine for about $1600+tax, 2 weeks after the unibody release. You could probably get the 2.5 ghz unibody for 2300 at craigslist (my friend got one, brand new in box, for that price). I'm in Canada btw, and everything is in CAD.

 

The 2.53 gigahertz model goes for $1599.00 refurbed from Apple, but the idiots wanted to sell me his for $1700, and it's from april. The max I'm willing to pay is $1400-$1450

 

If heat is your main concern then you can use smc fancontrol to bump up the rpm on idle, this will keep the heat down... and the fans are still quite quiet at 3-4000rpm.
If thats still not enough then there are alot of notebook cooling pads out there that will help draw heat away from the laptop and help to drop the temps by 2-5C.
a

 

I'm really set on buying it, but just need to find one in my price range