WTB WA Used MacBook - Pro 15" preferred but anything 2012 or newer possibly

[Joe13]

My wife starts back to school for a 3 year mostly online Masters program soon and our current computers are too outdated.

Looking for a 15" Mac (or maybe a 13" Air for the right deal). Basically looking for the best specs for the lowest price that will last her thru the course without becoming obsolete part way thru.

Dealing with CL scammers and flakes so thought I'd long shot it here since everyone here is pretty great.

Willing to travel an hour or more for the right situation.

Thanks.

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[Member 34319]

Best Buy just had the MacBook Air on sale for 699 down from 999.

They usually have sales on Apple products quite often.

 

[Joe13]

Best Buy just had the MacBook Air on sale for 699 down from 999.

They usually have sales on Apple products quite often.

Thanks, I'll take a look.

 

[Kruel J]

And as a student she gets a discount at BB as well, @Joe13

 

[The Heretic]

Apple usually has discontinued and refurbished models in their online store. They have the same warranty as a new computer.

Refurbished Mac

Sometimes there are some pretty decent deals there, it just depends on what they have at the moment, so if you have some time you can check back to see what they have.

 

[Kruel J]

Joe, if it doesn't have to bee "portable" you can find Mac Mini's for good prices used. I have two of them that I got for great prices.

 

[Joe13]

Thanks everyone for the ideas.

Trying to go as low as we can so those are some great options.

I've dealt with a scam involving "accidentally posted in the wrong state but I can ship it to you from North Dakota" and it being to good of a deal to one that's good at $450 but can't seem to get them to commit to a time to see it in south Portland.

Last thing she needs is a problem laptop but finances are always a juggle so I've kicked in anything she's put away for me and hopefully we can get one before it starts in 9 days but she has my daughters old one that could scrape by for a few weeks to find a smoking deal if possible.

 

[Joe13]

Joe, if it doesn't have to bee "portable" you can find Mac Mini's for good prices used. I have two of them that I got for great prices.

Gotta be a laptop unfortunately. 2 evenings at Clark and so she can take it to work for making use of down time.

 

[Kruel J]

Gotta be a laptop unfortunately. 2 evenings at Clark and so she can take it to work for making use of down time.

Gotcha, I was kinda figuring.

 

[Member 34319]

Best Buy just had the MacBook Air on sale for 699 down from 999.

They usually have sales on Apple products quite often.

Just checked, looks like the sale is over for the airs and they are running a sale on the pros.

Joe, if it doesn't have to bee "portable" you can find Mac Mini's for good prices used. I have two of them that I got for great prices.

I hope they freaking update the mini sometime soon. I've got an eight year old iMac that could use replacing.

Also. Apple sells refurbished products on Amazon for decent prices, but be careful as so does a lot of third party sellers.

 

[Kruel J]

Just checked, looks like the sale is over for the airs and they are running a sale on the pros.



I hope they freaking update the mini sometime soon. I've got an eight year old iMac that could use replacing.

Also. Apple sells refurbished products on Amazon for decent prices, but be careful as so does a lot of third party sellers.

Same! I've been waiting for an updated Mini for so long! I'm running a late 2012 at my office and a late 2014 at home that's as maxed out as it can be had for. But even still, it's time for a new one, Apple!

 

[ZigZagZeke]

Gotta be a laptop unfortunately. 2 evenings at Clark and so she can take it to work for making use of down time.

Apple has a refurbished model with the same warranty as a new one for $800 here:

Refurbished MacBook Air 13" - Apple Certified Refurbished Notebook Computers

Their refurbished models is all we ever buy.

 

[The Heretic]

Just checked, looks like the sale is over for the airs and they are running a sale on the pros.

The new MB Pros are only slightly larger than the MBAs, but weigh more. My next one will probably be a MBPro as I can get it with more memory/etc.

I prefer OSX over Windows of any flavor or Linux. I run OSX for months without rebooting - maybe reboot about twice a year if that. Windows I have to reboot at least once a week - my employer's IT policies enforce that, but I would have to anyway just to keep the laptop working. Lately it has become so unstable that any Office app stops responding if I walk away from the machine more than 30 minutes.

I am currently typing this on a 2012 MBA running OSX 10.7.5 - so old that some apps no longer support it - but it is still stable and quite useful.

 

[ZigZagZeke]

The new MB Pros are only slightly larger than the MBAs, but weigh more. My next one will probably be a MBPro as I can get it with more memory/etc.

I prefer OSX over Windows of any flavor or Linux. I run OSX for months without rebooting - maybe reboot about twice a year if that. Windows I have to reboot at least once a week - my employer's IT policies enforce that, but I would have to anyway just to keep the laptop working. Lately it has become so unstable that any Office app stops responding if I walk away from the machine more than 30 minutes.

I am currently typing this on a 2012 MBA running OSX 10.7.5 - so old that some apps no longer support it - but it is still stable and quite useful.

I finally got a new (refurbished) MBPro this year. My 2008 Macbook would not have been able to run TurboTax next year because it will require the very latest OS next year. That alone would not have forced me to get a new one, but the track pad was finally getting unreliable after only 10 years.

 

[Kruel J]

I'm a Mac guy. I used Winblows for years and finally made the switch to Mac about 6 years ago. Man, I'm glad I did. No more freezes, blue screens. The darned things just work.

 

[Member 34319]

I'm a Mac guy. I used Winblows for years and finally made the switch to Mac about 6 years ago. Man, I'm glad I did. No more freezes, blue screens. The darned things just work.

Tell me about it. I have an older MacBook with the old Apple G4 processor. Besides the battery not holding a charge, it still runs like the day I bought it. Sadly they stopped supporting it and it seems to have a hard time surfing the web anymore. But using it with Word or what not is just fine. The thing must be 10-12 years old. You simply can not say that about anything running windows.

 

[Joe13]

Tell me about it. I have an older MacBook with the old Apple G4 processor. Besides the battery not holding a charge, it still runs like the day I bought it. Sadly they stopped supporting it and it seems to have a hard time surfing the web anymore. But using it with Word or what not is just fine. The thing must be 10-12 years old. You simply can not say that about anything running windows.

^^this

 

[The Heretic]

Tell me about it. I have an older MacBook with the old Apple G4 processor. Besides the battery not holding a charge, it still runs like the day I bought it. Sadly they stopped supporting it and it seems to have a hard time surfing the web anymore. But using it with Word or what not is just fine. The thing must be 10-12 years old. You simply can not say that about anything running windows.

Ditto - but I haven't used that in years because of the limited memory. Someday it may prove useful as a controller for a security system or something like that. All the Windows machines I used to have I donated to a guy who recycles them for charities.

I've used computers since the early 80s. Started with a Timex Sinclair, then an Apple II at college, then an IBM XT and used the original Macs at the library in Salem to do my resumes and cover letters. Then on and on. I've written code for Linux, QNX, DOS, CPM, Windows, Mac OS 7, 8 and 9, and OSX in five different programming languages.

OSX is still my preference and probably will be until I die unless somebody comes out with something more stable and useful. It isn't perfect, not by a long shot, but it has everything else that I have tried beat.

 

[Joe13]

Mid 2012
Core i7 2.3GHz
16gig ram
500gig Hard drive (not an SSD)
15"
Very good battery
Very good condition and clean

$450


Best deal by a few hundred I could find for her. Should be plenty to get her thru 3+ years of school.




Thanks for all of the recommendations and help.

Ultimately the flaky CL guy finally started communicating and set a time. Was just about to tell him to take a hike if he flaked again but thankfully the whole thing isn't done and over with... it like buying a car and not one of my favorite things to do lol.

Now to dump the old "fresh" OS and reinstall everything from scratch and I'll feel like I've taken care of things as best I could before Monday when I go gang busters on the tattoo parlor remodel.

 

[The Heretic]

That is a pretty good deal IMO. Replace the HD with an SSD and it should zoom. The 16 GB of RAM will help a lot too.