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buying a macbook laptop on ebay?

Started by buttock,

33 posts in this topic

Smokinghawk

Smokinghawk

Posted
Posted
Apple will usually ship for free anyway. I bought my 24" iMac just last month...I went for the refurbished model, and it's AWESOME. Not a scratch, dent, or blemish anywhere--mint condition. So do check Apple online for refurb models; they're great.

 

That's a sweet system! (thumbs u

 

So far, I am LOVING it. I'm not experienced with Mac, but I just decided to take the plunge. I was tired of constant viruses, spyware, adware, driver conflicts, IRC conflicts, "security patch" updates, on and on. This machine works beautifully. I open Photoshop CS, and 4 seconds later...Photoshop opens! On my PC, I open Photoshop...and go get a snack, flip channels, catch up on TIVO, then come back and hope it hasn't frozen. And this massive screen!

 

Anyway, back to the point: refurbs are VERY worth considering. They are not "used"; Apple replaces so much of it with new hardware that it's identical to new, and they're mint condition.

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PhiGam-migration

PhiGam-migration

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CAN"T BELIEVE I MISSED THIS THREAD!!

 

i'm an apple technician, and to be 100% honest, NOW is the time to score a used macbook on ebay...ever since the new aluminum unibody macbooks came out recently, just about everyone who bought a macbook within the last year is trying to dump there's and score the new ones..

 

i've scored three apple laptops on feebay (fixed and flipped two of them) over the past two years..here are a couple of the things i would look at if buying a used macbook on feebay to keep for myself:

 

1) get one with APP already attached, or one purchased within the last year (so it is still eligible for APP). Ask the seller for the serial number of the machine and punch it into the search warranty field on apple.com/support to make sure it is covered or still available for coverage.

2) although this seems simple, look for one which has a picture of the computer actually TURNED ON..you'd be surprised at some of the scammers out there..if they show the computer with an image on the display and it arrives with a bad LCD or video card, you're covered...a buddy of mine bought an ibook a few years back which only had pictures of the machine closed...the seller worded the auction in a sneaky way where he didn't say it was functioning 100% properly (said it powered on, and chimed), but also didn't say that it had a bad LCD. The iBook showed up with no image on the screen (bad LCD)...it turned on and passed POST (chimed) but you could only see the image via an external monitor. He surprisingly lost that paypal dispute

3) don't be afraid to buy from lower feedback sellers (only 100 or so total)...it's no different buying machines from normal people than it is buying from a power seller or someone with massive feedback, as long as the system is newer.

 

 

hope this helps..

 

 

to Mr. COMICBOOK guy or the dude who is looking to spend 1100-1500 on a mac laptop....i would go with a used 15' Macbook Pro ( 2.2/2.4 GHz Intel Core2duo) or buck up and score one of the new high end aluminum macbooks..

 

the 2.33 GHz Intel Core2duo Macbook Pro was the nicest laptop i ever owned (until i traded it in for my macbook air).

 

APPLE RULES!!

 

 

edit:

I wasn't going to originally post this, but i guess it can't hurt my career at apple...two specific things to look for on white or black macbooks only (NOT MACBOOK PROS):

 

1) if you stumble across a macbook where the only defect is a broken or missing key/cracked or discolored top case...watch that auction...cracked top cases are a known issue and can be replaced for free, regardless of warrany status at any apple store, if you ask. Lots of people don't know this and these macbooks usually sell for 50-150 less than similar macbooks.

2) if you see any macbooks which state that they boot to a flashing question mark...watch that auction as well. The flashing question mark just means that the systems boot files can't be found, and is usually indicative of a bad HD. This is another one of the lesser-known 'Known Issues' which will be replaced for free at any apple store, regardless of warranty status. In a horrible engineering design, some powerful magnets (the same ones which hold your display clamshell to your bottom case when closed) were placed too close to the HDs in macbooks...that's right...if you have a bad HD in a macbook, you can get it replaced for free if you ask for it...

 

happy holidays, mac-boardees :)

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PhiGam-migration

PhiGam-migration

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Thanks PhiGam, I had in mind the 13 inch Macbook unibody aluminum 2.4 gh.

is this a good one?

 

YES!!...if you have the cash for it, it is DEFINITELY worth the extra few hundred to get this one as opposed to the lower end aluminum unibody 2.0 macbook...

 

the 2.4 ghz aluminum macbook is speedy as hell with its new 1067 frontside bus, and the new nvidia 9400 video cards are SHARP!! The glass track pad also feels nice on the fingertips :)

 

if i didn't already own 4 macs, i would DEFINITELY get the higher end macbook (2.4)...its missing only a few features that the low end macbook pro doesn't have for $500 cheaper...

 

hope that helps :)

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Smokinghawk

Smokinghawk

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Thanks for posting! I'm still trying to figure out all the ways a Mac works. I'm baffled by some things because I'm so used to PC, but I hope it'll come with time (for example, why no "cut" in right-click? Why does turning on Time Capsule require the external drive to be blank? I have a 500gb ED with only 30gb of data on it; why can't TC create its space in the remaining 470 GB? And stuff like that...)

 

 

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PhiGam-migration

PhiGam-migration

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why no 'cut' in the right click? well...command+x is quicker for me..

 

time capsule doesn't require a blank disk, it requires a properly formatted/partitioned disk...

 

just to be safe, toss your 30 gbs of stuff on your desktop before performing the following actions:

 

plug your 500 gb external into your mac, go to applications/utilities and open up disk utility..select your external drive and select 'partition'...add one partition (with the '+' near the bottom left of the window) and re-size the new partition to your liking with a GUID partition (under options in the bottom left of window) with a Mac OS X extended journal format, and voila! oh yeah, don't forget to name your new partition..

 

you'll be all set to go..

 

if my instructions aren't clear enough, go to apple.com/support and do a search for disk partitioning

 

stay cool (:

 

 

 

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buttock

buttock

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why no 'cut' in the right click? well...command+x is quicker for me..

 

 

I'm big on keystrokes as they're so much quicker. Most of the people I work with still highlight entire pages with the mouse, go to the dropdown menu, select copy, and repeat all over again. Just Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V - it's much easier.

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