Macbook pro quandry!

Hi,
I have wanted a macbook forever! A friend of mine had one, and for some crazy reason wanted a PC, so I traded my Dell laptop PC for her late 2007 Macbook Pro 15' (2.16 intel core 2 duo, 1g SDRAM, 120G HDD). This thing is in mint condition! It looks like it just came out of the box. It even came w with Office 04 and Photoshop installed. So i'm pretty psyched about my trade....but because she already was the lucky one to take it out of the box, it doesn't feel like my own, and even though have gone and changed the admin name, etc, hers still pops up in different places. I know...its a minor annoyance. but, also i have a ton of stuff i put on here from my PC and im quickly running out of space, and there are definitely apps on here that she installed, that i do not want or need taking up precious space. so here's my question (or two)

If i do a clean sweep of the system and start fresh (after backing up of course) it is really as simple to reinstall Office 04 by copying the office folder to the backup, then placing it back in the app folder and launching it? and does this rumored method work for Photoshop too? I am way too much of a PC to believe it could be so simple. I would have already done the "fresh out of the box" plan, but i do not want to lose Office and Photoshop.

or.... on the other hand, I have been watching similar Macbook Pro's sell on ebay in the $700-800 range, and none of them are in near as good condition as mine. If i was able to sell it, and with the profits, spend another $200 or so for a brand new white 13' macbook, would i be nuts? I really would prefer the smaller screen, and since my parents bought my Dell...technically I could be in a brand new macbook for a few hundred dollars.

Please! Can someone guide me or just throw me some advice on this one?
thanks!

Tara

If I were you, and you can get that sort of money for it, I would then head Refurbished Mac - Apple Store (U.S.)

No, Office 04 and Photoshop cannot successfully be reinstalled that way. You must reinstall them from your original disk (that you, or the previous owner, paid for). If it's not a legal copy, you should just delete them anyway.

And yes, you should have done a "clean sweep" of the hard drive before you started using the machine. It's a security risk for you and for her to have the previous owner's info available.

I'd suggest a "nuke and pave" of the hard drive and fresh install of the legal software that came with the machine. If you need anything beyond that, it's easy to buy it either from Apple's online store, or the Mac App Store, or other outlets. This will save you a great deal of money over buying a new machine, particularly if as you say the machine you have is in great shape and running well.

Of course, if you just WANT a new one (and who doesn't?) well that's your money to spend. Naturally I am drawn to the brand new machines but honestly, nothing I do requires that much horsepower (compared to the now previous-generation Core i5 MBPs), so I might just get an "old" one.