Looking at used apple notebooks!

Hey guys, first time poster, year old reader.

My story is, I have started a small home recording studio using my iMac, and I want to go portable. I don't need much in a notebook, basically 20 gigs of HD, 2.0 usb port, and hopefully osx 10.5.

I would love to keep this around $300. On ebay I saw "refurbished" ibooks that looked pretty good for $250 I think. They also came with Microsoft Word, and Powerpoint and what not. That would be nice since I will most likely end up using this for school also, but I don't know what "refurbished" means. I always thought apple had to do that. I also saw Powerbook G4's on there for around the same price.

Anyway, I know nothing about laptops, so I was just seeing what you guys had to say about this.

jasonarp said:

My story is, I have started a small home recording studio using my iMac, and I want to go portable. I don't need much in a notebook, basically 20 gigs of HD, 2.0 usb port, and hopefully osx 10.5.

I would love to keep this around $300. On ebay I saw "refurbished" ibooks that looked pretty good for $250 I think. They also came with Microsoft Word, and Powerpoint and what not. That would be nice since I will most likely end up using this for school also, but I don't know what "refurbished" means. I always thought apple had to do that. I also saw Powerbook G4's on there for around the same price.

Anyway, I know nothing about laptops, so I was just seeing what you guys had to say about this.

Click to expand...

If you get Apple refurbished you can depend on it...and you get a 12 month warranty.

ANYBODY can "refurbish" a computer...but this sort of refurbishment has no standard meaning. It could be anything from taking a wet rag & wiping the dirt off the computers case & keyboard...to a full diagnostic of the laptop & replacing anything that is broken or worn out.

If you're thinking about buying a used computer from someone on e-Bay who says the computer is refurbished...I would be very very careful.

I'm not knocking buying used equipment...but don't expect the refurbishment these guys do to be the same as what Apple does! In fact, I have heard that a lot of the refurbished computers Apple sells are brand new computers that a customer ordered...and then decided they didn't want.

I hope this helps,

- Nick

Where can I find old laptops Apple refurbished? If that's possible.

The ebay user I'm talking about isn't a store... but he or she is selling like 15 apple laptops at a time. It looks like their buying peoples laptops off ebay, and "refurbishing" them. They came there is a "return" period though.

Here is one I was checking out-
Apple iBook Laptop Airport Card Installed DVD CDRW WOW! - eBay (item 260468993170 end time Aug-31-09 05:30:27 PDT)

jasonarp said:

Where can I find old laptops Apple refurbished? If that's possible.

The ebay user I'm talking about isn't a store... but he or she is selling like 15 apple laptops at a time. It looks like their buying peoples laptops off ebay, and "refurbishing" them. They came there is a "return" period though.

Click to expand...

To the best of my knowledge there is no such thing as Apple refurbished when we are talking a computer that's in the $300 dollar range...and 5 years old or more. Basically you won't find too much from Apple that's more than 12 months old.

Regarding the auction you linked...well the seller may not be a store...but 2168 "feedbacks" in about a 2.5 year time is a lot of transactions. I only have about 120 transactions in 9+ years.

This guy probably got all 15 laptops from a high school or university somewhere real cheap...and now he's selling them on e-Bay.

If your interested in this laptop...ask the guy a question what does he mean by refurbished. Ask him to spell out in detail what he does to refurbish these laptops.

If he answers you...I would LOVE to hear what he says (assuming what he says is true).

The guy does have a good pos. feedback rating at 99.4%.

Also remember with this being an older laptop, the battery is probably not in great shape...so if you want to use it "unplugged" much, a new battery will probably cost you at least $80....and maybe more.

I'm not sure where you're located...but you could also watch your local Craig's List for laptop deals. Then you can check it out in person before buying.

I hope this helps,

- Nick

Basically, the term "refurbished" is supposed to refer to something that has been restored to the condition it would be in when it's new. When I buy a refurbished White MacBook I expect that it's in good condition, just like new.

Well, I asked the seller what "refurbished" means to him.

First, he or she answered "Trade Secret, Thanks." So I told them that I'm not trying to get in on the action, I am interested in their computers. So I asked them to email me personally. He responds (on ebay again) with this "we have years of experience with Apple Computers. We have a staff of 3 Apple Techs. We have Apple Computers ship it from across US. We also have a staff that refurbish PC Computers. Go Luck and Thanks for the question."

I don't know what to think. They have a 3 day return policy which sounds ugly. I mean what happens on 4 day when it crashes... is that possible on a mac? ahah just kidding.

I will check out craigs list though.

Does anyone have a suggestion at what I should look for? iBook, Powerbook G4? Clamshell?

Powerbook if you can. They aren't as prone to logic board failures, and are much faster,generally, so you can at least run Tiger or Leopard (but not Snow Leopard).

So if I bought a powerbook g4, I could update it to 10.5.6 (what I'm running now) but NOT snow leopard when I buy it, because it's not an intel? Correct?

I don't that's a huge deal, I've been fine with leopard for about a year now.

jasonarp said:

Well, I asked the seller what "refurbished" means to him.

First, he or she answered "Trade Secret, Thanks." So I told them that I'm not trying to get in on the action, I am interested in their computers. So I asked them to email me personally. He responds (on ebay again) with this "we have years of experience with Apple Computers. We have a staff of 3 Apple Techs. We have Apple Computers ship it from across US. We also have a staff that refurbish PC Computers. Go Luck and Thanks for the question."

Click to expand...

As you can see..this guy is running a business...with 3 technicians and all. I also believe that he's not being very helpful by not giving you some details about his refurbishing.

To be honest...this guy is probably buying these laptops cheap, he checks to make sure everything is working (which basically means he turns them on)...maybe wipes them with a damp rag to get the dirt off, then puts them up for sale on e-Bay.

I wouldn't buy from this guy, simply because he wouldn't answer your questions properly.

As far as what to buy. If your budget is around $300...you should be able to get something like a 1.2 or 1.33 ghz iBook G4 for that money. Then upgrade the OS to 10.4.11.

Thanks for replying with the e-Bay info.

Good luck,

- Nick

jasonarp said:

So if I bought a powerbook g4, I could update it to 10.5.6 (what I'm running now) but NOT snow leopard when I buy it, because it's not an intel? Correct?

I don't that's a huge deal, I've been fine with leopard for about a year now.

Click to expand...

Apple recommends that you have at least an 867mhz processor before upgrading to 10.5 Leopard. So if you get a Powerbook or an iBook that has a processor faster than this you could upgrade to 10.5.

And as you mentioned...since Powerbooks & iBooks do not have an Intel processor...you cannot upgrade them to 10.6 Snow Leopard.

Good luck,

- Nick

You also have to take into consideration that you are going to be paying 200-300 dollars for something that was originally 1000 or more...so don't expect it to be in tip-top shape. That's not to say that it's not possible, because I know I'm not the only one who keeps their computers in excellent condition! I personally would go for a titanium. There was a guy on this forum that was selling 2 titaniums for $300. See if you can still find him. I'll look him up too.

found it,
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/buy-sell-trade/156217-feeler-ti-powerbook.html

I don't know if he still has it, but I think it's nice!

And another thing about the guy's 3 day return policy, paypal will take his money away from him if you file a dispute, and give it back to you...even if it's been a month!

I love this forum so far, everyone is super helpful and so cool.

Piggoo3- Thanks for the processor advice, I never knew that!

idrinorbarsaku - Thanks man! I pmed him.

Good luck man! I was going to buy it, but I completely forgot that I still had one more payment for school......