old Apple Mac Book Pro advice needed

netdumdum

Good morning,

I wish to purchase an Apple Mac Book but cant afford one of the new models so have decided to go for one of the older ones.

I have seen them on Ebay for approx £450, the general specs are -

2.4Ghz, 4GB RAM, 15.4" screen, 200GB Hard drive, running Snow Leopard 10.6.

Just wondered if this was any good, also says Feb 08 so it is over 4 years old.

This will be my first mac and used for general use, browsing, office use, itunes etc

Many thanks.

david29dpo

Should be fine. I still use a 2004 powerbook with no problems.
Macs hold thee value very well.

fishybusiness

Be careful with Pro's that have nVidia video chips, they fail leaving you with a £400 odd repair bill.

Apple extended the warranty, I believe to 3 years (I ought to check), but you would need original purchase receipt.

Ask any potential seller if the logic board has been swapped by Apple, if so it will be ok.

Also, any of the Core 2 Duo models do make a noise when the fans spin up - it happens quite regularly, for example if watching a film. There are ways around it, but it is a pain.

I had one, you probably worked that out, I was a PC tech for a good few years, and I moved over to a non Pro Macbook. Works just fine, no hassle and reliable.

knightstyle

I am using my 4.5 year old Macbook, not Pro, all the time and it still works as it did when new. You won't get any Apple warranty, it is for 3 years and must be added in the first year.
The battery should be fine if it has been looked after, discharge fully once a month.
Buy and enjoy!

retro.kid

My main Macbook Pro is 3.5 years old - still running strong - use it every day for work / and run Windows on top of Mac OS.

My previous Macbook - Now 5.5 years old is in care of the fiance and she uses it every night for surfing / playing games etc.

Unlike a Windows laptop, older Mac kit still makes the grade.

Go for it :-)

netdumdum

fishybusiness wrote: »

Be careful with Pro's that have nVidia video chips, they fail leaving you with a £400 odd repair bill.

Apple extended the warranty, I believe to 3 years (I ought to check), but you would need original purchase receipt.

Ask any potential seller if the logic board has been swapped by Apple, if so it will be ok.

Also, any of the Core 2 Duo models do make a noise when the fans spin up - it happens quite regularly, for example if watching a film. There are ways around it, but it is a pain.

I had one, you probably worked that out, I was a PC tech for a good few years, and I moved over to a non Pro Macbook. Works just fine, no hassle and reliable.

Thanks for that, I wouldnt have known about the video chip!

gonzo127

spec wise you should have no problem with the mac you have seen, although the hard drive is a bit small (personally wouldnt be able to fit my music or pictures on a 200gb hard drive)

what i would consider is the office side of things as although iworks is generally compatable with microsoft office and is a pretty good office suite (same as libra office which might also be worth a shout) there will be things that dont work the same or quite as well as your probably used too (guessing you currently use microsoft office), especially if you are moving from one office program to the other with you files, and even if you buy microsoft office for mac it once again isnt the same as microsoft office for windows (although compatability problems shouldnt happen) and is quite expensive.

also dont be totally taken in by the 'macs dont break' malarky as they do, independant warrenty claims and help centre surveys show that on average mac's are only the 3rd or 4th most reliable computer make, and having people saying oh i have a mac thats so old and hasnt let me down is like me preaching that windows based computers never break because i have a 10 year old system which hasnt let me down either, which although i do have a system that old that hasnt let me down doesnt mean that no windows based system will break (also have older linux based systems which still work perfectly)

fishybusiness

also dont be totally taken in by the 'macs dont break' malarky as they do

r

They tend to have less operating system issues. Also, for various reasons they are less prone to virus infections, so are less 'hassle' to maintain.

buglawton

OH has a late '09 a1342 13" Macbook and frankly, the image quality for viewing photos does not compare with my late 2011 Lenovo. Plus the Apple's built in speakers are really naff for such a solid feeling machine (sound is not as good an an iPhone's speaker!), would have expected better from Apple.