Tips for buying second hand

Hi,

I have a MacBookPro as teh center of a Logic Studio. It works great .. but I'd like to get a bit more power into the RAM and processing side as I am shifting toward software synthesis.

I am looking at a couple of 4 or 8-core Mac Pro's on the second hand market here in Spain.

When I take a look at a machine some wants to sell, to check it out .... as a system check I can of course look at the system info details on OSX.

I am also planning to run some core-heavy tasks to check all the cores work and that the RAM is good.


Anything else I should be looking out for? I have never bought second hand computer equipment before... but the recession is making me go underground for my toys


Thanks,

My rule of thumb is to avoid ex Lease units and try and find the unit i want that is;
Being sold by first owner,
Has all original packaging,
Comes complete with install disks.
Generally that seems to sort the wheat from the chaff.

You can't go wrong with Mac products from Apple's refurbished site! The products look like new and sell at a great price!

yes but there's only one catch with the Apple refurbished store. Any really good deal put up there is snapped uo within seconds of it being posted. Yes some people watch the refurb store religiously waiting for a deal. So my tip for you would be if you want to use the refurb store, I would have a price in mind you are willing to buy and know exactly what specs of a computer you want so you will know instantly if that's the right one for you. Wait a few seoncds to think about it and too late for you.

So think about it before and do your research before hand and not after. But doing that research and thinking is still a must.

Consider using a broker, a guy (or guys) whom you know to be reliable, trustworthy even, to locate a good deal for you.
Example - if I'm in the market for another (used) computer, I'll generally go with what I know, or have learned the hard way, so if I'm in doubt, or my knowledge isn't up to scratch, I go to a broker/technician whose services I've used before. I know he's not going to sell me a lemon.