My Experience Buying A Used White MacBook Off Craigslist
Don’t you wonder what has so many people buying Apple Macs lately? I recently bought a used white MacBook off craigslist. I’ve been contemplating buying a MacBook for awhile. I’ve also been saving my money so I could pay cash.
I first thought I wanted to buy one of the new 13-inch aluminum MacBook models, but they retail for $1299 which was just a little too steep for me. I’ve never owned a Mac before so I wanted to get my feet wet without shelling out quite so much money.
Why I decided to buy a MacBook
After reading the input I received when I asked how are MacBooks better than Windows laptops, there were three things that stuck out to me and intrigued me into buying a MacBook. They were:
- Passion of other Macbook users – All the other Mac users that I’ve talked to or that commented on my previous post seemed to passionately like their Mac. You don’t see many Windows laptop users that feel this way. I wanted to see what this was all about.
- Lack of spyware and viruses – I have grown so tired of trying to clean up Windows after a spyware or malware infection. Macs aren’t immune, they just aren’t targeted. Let’s hope it stays that way!
- They are just different – Computers are not just my career, but they’ve also been a hobby of mine for quite some time. I’ve never had much exposure to Macs, so I wanted to know more.
Alas, I could resist no longer! I became determined to buy a MacBook.
The details about the white MacBook that I bought
I had been watching craigslist for awhile to get an idea of what used MacBooks were selling for. I figured that I might even find one of the aluminum models for sale after Christmas. Some people buy Macs and then find they don’t use them, need the cash or prefer to go back to Windows. I thought this might be an opportunity for me.
The ad for the used white MacBook caught my attention because of the upgraded specs, $700 asking price and the proximity of the seller.
My white MacBook has the following specs:
- Intel 2GHz Core Duo processor
- 2 GB of DDR2 RAM
- 250 GB hard drive
- SuperDrive
- OS X Leopard
The seller had upgraded the RAM and hard drive. He also recently installed a new keyboard. It sounded pretty good, so I inquired via e-mail.
The used MacBook I bought is not perfect, but the price was right!
The seller replied to my e-mail with some pictures and some other details. He also let me know that after setting on the shelf for a couple of months, the battery was shot. This worried me some, but I researched the cost of a new battery and decided to make an offer.
I offered to come by the next day to pick-up the MacBook for $500 cash. This was a full $200 less than the original asking price! It was also half of what a new white MacBook sells for with half the RAM and hard drive space. Luckily for me, the seller agreed!
I bought a new Apple battery off e-Bay for $80 with priority shipping. The only other disappointing thing that I’ve noticed is that pictures with the built-in iSight camera are very grainy. I don’t know if this is typical in a 3-year old MacBook or not. Anyone know what I should expect or what I could do to fix this? Is it possible to connect an external video camera to my MacBook?
Still getting used to the differences in OS X compared to Windows
I’ve been a Windows guy for a lot of years. I’ll admit that it is taking some getting used to running OS X. However, the transition has been easier than I thought. The keyboard shortcuts are different, but not too much so. Also, there seems to be a ton of good info on the web. When I can’t figure out how to do something I just Google it. So far, I’ve found the answer in a minute or two.
I plan to use the MacBook for blogging. In fact, this is my first article to compose on it. Previously, I really liked using Microsoft Windows Live Writer to compose my articles on my PC laptop. Of course, Live Writer isn’t available on the Mac so I had to go in search of an alternative.
I am writing this with MarsEdit. It is different than Live Writer, but I’m quickly adapting. At this point, I think it is going to work just fine. The only bad news is that MarsEdit costs $29.95 where Live Writer was free.
In the end, I think the adjustment to using a MacBook as a personal laptop and for blogging will be smooth and pretty painless. I’m definitely not deterred yet, but I still have a lot to learn.
A few things that I liked to get for my MacBook
The MacBook is very complete and usable as is, but there are a couple of things that I’d still like to buy to make my Mac even better. I’d like:
- A wireless Mighty Mouse – The trackpad is fine, but I’m addicted to a mouse. The wireless Mighty Mouse connects via BlueTooth and looks like it would be awesome. I’ve seen them on e-Bay for around $40 to $50.
- An office productivity suite – I’ve read that Microsoft Office is the best productivity suite for the Mac, but even the Home/Student edition sells for $149. Can anyone tell me about similar software for the Mac that costs less? What about NeoOffice?
Again, these aren’t absoluetly necessary, but I think they would be nice to have items. I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts and suggestions on the value of these items and where to get them.
My overall satisfaction with the MacBook and my purchase
I definitely think I made the right choice to buy a used MacBook. My total investment was only $580 which is less than half of what I would have spent on a new aluminum model. The performance and reliability of my MacBook seem excellent so far. I’m very happy with it. Of course, I don’t have a warranty so if something big goes wrong, I’ll be in a pickle.
For me, I think buying my first MacBook off craigslist will be just fine. This approach might not be for everyone, others will still choose a Windows PC or buy new, but I’m confident that a used MacBook was a good choice for me.
I look forward to figuring out more of the cool things about Macs. If you have any tips or suggestions, I’d love to hear them!
Photo by goodrob13
You can try OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org/). It’s completely free. I only used the spreadsheet engine and the word processor, and this was a while ago, but I remember thinking that both were fine/adequate. There’s also iWork (created by Apple) that costs about half of what Office does. People especially seem to like KeyNote (PowerPoint-equivalent).
@DoneToZen – Isn’t NeoOffice a special version of OpenOffice especially for the Mac? I’m probably going to give it a try. Free is awfully attractive. If NeoOffice doesn’t work out, then I’ll probably look at iWork. I’d love to see what KeyNote can do.
Thanks for the suggestions!
I will be contemplating a mac when we upgrade to a ‘real’ office when we upgrade our house. I will be interested in seeing how you feel in a few months.
Also, check out Ecto for writing too.
Read The Happy Rock´s latest article – Holiday Spending 2008 – DD’s Quick Recap
@Happy Rock – Time will certainly tell whether I really like the Mac or not. So far, it is fun, easy and seems fast.
I tried Ecto, but MarsEdit seems more my speed.
Thanks for the comment!
Welcome to the world of Macs
!! I’ve been a user for about 15 years now … never owned a Windows computer, and hopefully never will. Give it some time and you’ll find that the Mac “just works”. Sounds like you’re already well on your way.
The iSight camera shouldn’t be grainy at all, mine (<1yo MacBook Pro) is very clear. Maybe the lens is dirty or scratched? You can connect an external camera if you want, though I’ve never personally tried it.
@Justin – I’m happy to be a new Mac user! I learn something cool about it everyday. I look forward to finding out that it “just works” as so many have told me.
I’ve got to try connecting my video camera to my MacBook. Anyone have a link to some good instructions for this?
Congrats on your new purchase. Sounds like you got a great deal. We looked into Mac when we were buying this laptop but the price stopped us. Couldn’t justify it.
Read Ashley @ Wide Open Wallet´s latest article – Interview with Mrs. Money
Congrats! I’m a Machead and I absolutely love my Macbook Pro. Some comments from my experience:
1. Stay away from the Mighty Mouse. It looks like a good idea, but it’s very poorly executed. Any mouse will work.
2. Microsoft Office is the best you can get on either Mac or Windows. I have been very unsatisfied with OpenOffice and Apple’s iWork just isn’t a full office suite.
3. I’m a HUGE fan of Launchers. They are little hard to explain, so I recommend just trying one. They primarily are application launchers based on predictive text, but they can do SO much more. Launchbar and Quicksilver are the two best. I prefer Launchbar for it’s stability, but Quicksilver is free.
4. If you have a lot of passwords to remember, check out 1password. It’s a program that remembers all your logins so you don’t have to. Additionally, it integrates with all Mac web browsers and will auto fill web forms.
5. The best software can be found at MacUpdate.com. Every now and then they have a bundle sale where they bundle 7-10 apps together and sell that for $50, which is a significant discount.
6. If you miss your PC, try VMWare Fusion. It will allow you to run Windows inside OSX at near native speeds.
7. Connecting your video camera to OSX: Open iMove, plug in camera, eat cake… the end.
*phew* Now I need a break. I hope one of these helps
@Ashley – The price is why I bought a used MacBook. We’ll see if the risk of buying used works out for me. I’ll post an update later.
@Jinx – Thanks for all the great information! I took a quick look at LaunchBar and it appears interesting. I’ll have to try it out. The bundle deals at MacUpdate sound cool too! I appreciate the time you took to let me know about these things.
Thanks so much for your comments!
Hey Jeff! This is my first comment on your blog, I thought I’d say hi and introduce myself – I’m Cathy
Welcome to the world of Macs! I’ve had mine for a little more than a year and I LOVE it. I have a pc also because sometimes I need to use Excel and Excel for a mac just doesn’t do it for me (I need VBA). I haven’t tried open office.
I primarily use my mac and feel disoriented now when I go back to the pc.
Hope you Love it!
Read Cathy Quik´s latest article – $300B+ Tax Cuts – Impact on Small Business
I just made the PC to Mac switch last year and it was well worth it, even buying new. The technical details of learning to work with the new operating system are really not as scary as they sound before you make the switch. The average user can fully adjust in a few weeks, and the time and headache you’ll save later is definitely worth it.
As far as Office suites go, I currently use Microsoft Office Mac 2007. It leaves quite a few things to be desired in my experience. It functions, but user-friendliness has never been Microsoft’s biggest strength. Trying to work with multiple spreadsheets in Excel is kind of weird because there is only one equation bar instead of one for each spreadsheet as you would find in Windows. Using Apple’s built in virtual desktop software Spaces, seems to confuse Microsoft programs hopelessly, and they will randomly follow you to a new window when you switch, but it’s still like they’re half open on the previous one. Depending on what you need from your office software, I would at least look into iWork.
Jinx mentions launchers, and while Quicksilver is quite nice, try the Cmd + Space shortcut to invoke Leopard’s built-in Spotlight. It does quite well for opening apps and files without the need for installing another program.
Read Michael Henreckson´s latest article – Mac Tip: Hide Holiday Music With Automator
@Cathy – Welcome to my site! I’m really glad you chose to leave your first comment.
Right now, I still have those clumsy feelings using the Mac since I’ve been a Windows user for so long. But, I can already see why the Mac is easy to fall in love with.
@Michael – I am such a n00be! Spotlight is so cool! Thanks for the tip! Also, thanks for sharing your experience with Office. There is a good chance that iWork will fit my needs. Maybe I can pick up a copy inexpensively off eBay.
I appreciate you sharing your thoughts!
We’ve long considered the switch to a Mac so this article was really interesting for me.
I also use Livewriter (Windows only) for my blog and a few other programs so that is a definite concern. However, I’ve seen that you can have Windows loaded on the system as well, but I’m not sure how well that works.
-HIB
Read HIB´s latest article – Goals for 2009
@HIB – I’ve been using VMware Fusion ($80) for about a month now and really like it! You can run Windows with BootCamp (Free) included in OS X, but it requires you to boot into Windows-only mode. With Fusion I currently still run with BootCamp so I have the option of booting straight into Windows. But I also have the ability to run Windows/Mac side by side quite well
.
I run a stock charting software that is Windows-only and it runs great with Fusion. There have been one or two games that required me to boot into Windows-only mode to get enough horsepower. But I’ve been surprised what I can do just running in Fusion on top of OS X
.
@HIB – MarsEdit takes a little getting used to, but it is going to work fine for me. You might check out the article below. I found it very informative.
MarsEdit: Helping the Personal Publishing Revolution
@Justin – Thanks for sharing your experience running Windows on a Mac. It still seems odd to say such a thing!
I’ve had a Mac for years and heard of Ecto but not of MarsEdit, so thank for you sharing the link and info about it Jeff! Will prove to be very useful for me.
Read Nathalie Lussier´s latest article – Joy To The World Starts With You
Do try Quicksilver, too. When I first got my Mac, I couldn’t for the life of me see what everyone was so excited about. Now, I can’t live without it.
LifeHacker has many posts on it: http://lifehacker.com/tag/quicksilver/
Read DoneToZen´s latest article – How to achieve anything
[...] Jeff from supercharged life has written an interesting post on the experience of buying a used Macbook from Craigslist. [...]
While I love my iPhone – I’m still not going to switch to a mac. I like to build my own computers, and Apple just plain isn’t too friendly to people making their own systems.
I’d rather just dual boot linux. : )
Congrats on finding a great deal on your Mac though.
Read PennySeeds.com´s latest article – Where are the best interest rates hiding?
@Nathalie – I’m growing more fond of MarsEdit daily. Everyone has their preferences, but it does a great job for me.
@DoneToZen – I’ll have to take a look at QuickSilver, but Spotlight (Ctrl+Space) is pretty fantastic!
@PennySeeds – Ubuntu is pretty interesting. I’ve loaded it and played around with it some. If you like to build your own machines, then you are probably on the right track.
Thanks for your thoughts, tips and comments!
Sounds like a great deal on a Mac. I bought a new refurb that cost me $949. I’ll have to check out NeoOffice. Didn’t know that was a type of OpenOffice.org. I’ve tried OpenOffice and it looks pretty good. You can get Office 08 for a Mac for less on Amazon (compared to retail). Check with your job or friends to see if you get any Microsoft discount. I can get MS Office at a significant discount through my job, but haven’t since no discount beats free for OpenOffice.
Have you tried ScribeFire for your blogging? I’ve heard it’s good. Can’t critique it since I still use the WordPress interface.
Congrats open your purchase and use it well.
Read FFB´s latest article – Are Your New Year’s Resolutions SMART?
“He had recently installed a new keyboard.”
What? On a Macbook? That doesn’t sound right. He’d have to pry open the case and replace every key? What?
OpenOffice 3 is out and it’s made for Macs. Get it. Use it. Or use Google Docs. It’s 2008, you bought a used laptop; at the very least, use free software!
@FFB – I haven’t really needed an Office suite yet, but I’ll definitely check out OpenOffice when I do. I did look at ScribeFire, but I think MarsEdit is better for me.
@Mary – He replaced the top case which includes the keyboard. I’ll play around with OpenOffice and Google Docs when I get the time.
Thanks for the tips!
Congrats on the Macbook. You’ll love it. Things run so smoothly with Leopard OS. The iLife software is very useful too.
Read Gennaro @ Enduring Wanderlust´s latest article – Passport Cards Speed Border Crossings
Congrats! I bought a MacBook when I worked for Apple (before that I loathed Macs), but I have to admit that deep down I really like them now.
Some random thoughts:
You can download a free 30-day trial of iWork 09 from Apple right now if you want to try it out:
http://www.apple.com/iwork/download-trial/
I like running BootCamp now over Fusion – having all the system resources dedicated to one OS is nice. Depends on how hard you are on your system, though!
I’d also suggest taking a look at iLife ‘09. I love making home movies on the Mac. Having the integrated package (photo, music, video) is sweet.
I just bought a new Macbook in December…. I love ebay although I didn’t want to risk a laptop purchase on there. Good for you and what you found.
As for the office productivity suite… although the Mac products retail for ridiculous prices (the media edition retails at $499)… I found the full media edition on ebay for only $102. So, if you really want the Mac Microsoft Office, you should start with ebay. Just like you… this is my first Mac and I didn’t want to risk compatibility issues with the Microsoft Word and Excel documents that use between home and work.
So far, I love the Mac too!
Wow, was really expecting a horror story when I clicked the link from Twitter, so it’s so great to read a happy buying experience
And welcome to the civilised world of macs with one less stress to worry about, now you can safely surf to the sleaziest of sites worry free (though obviously not suggesting you’re the type of person who would, just saying you could…
And NeoOffice is perfectly fine and I find a great alternative to Office.
My best tip, a great keyboard shortcut while browsing is Apple+L which puts your cursor straight into the address bar to type a new url, has saved me masses of time over the years.
Thanks for posting your positive experience
Read Nicola Quinn´s latest article – Getting Things Done
[...] My Experience Buying A Used White MacBook Off Craigslist [...]
[...] eleven of them were Macbooks. The numbers don’t lie, a growing number of people are switching to Macs, especially among the younger generation. With all these converts, it’s a perfect time to [...]
HEy.
Buying my first Mac in about 17 hours. I met with a guy on Craigslist and got the Black Macbook for 650. The warranty on the actual mac ran out, but the hard drive was upgraded to 1/2tb and has a manufactures 3 year on it. the space is nice cuz i dj a lot and my other dj owns the old macbook pro so doing the whole pc(stupid dells) to mac music transfers were just a nightmare, but not nemore. congrats and hope i have as nice a time adjusting as you have.
[...] at MySuperChargedLife.com has a great post on his experience buy a used Macbook on Craigslist read about it [...]
You can find lots of used apple laptops on Applepalace.com. They offer 2 months warranty, better than buying something on craigslist with no warranty unless the machine still has Apple Care on it.
Used Macbooks & Refurbished Macbooks
Used Macbook Pro
Hi,
Just wanted to tell you OpenOffice is great for all your office productivity needs. It is 100% compatible with Microsoft products – i.e. if you send someone a word doc or a spreadsheet, etc that you created in OpenOffice and they open in Word or Excel, they won’t even know the difference or have any way to tell that it was not created using MS Office.
And the best part – it’s free and open source!
I use it on my MacBook.
Congratulations on going to a Mac! I am that dreaded “over 30″ (way over) person. But I started using Macs when they came out with the little Macintosh that looked like a little robot. I bought their stock when they first went public. But for most of the last 2 decades, I didn’t even have a computer. I had to go to the library to do my email and research until my cousin gave me an old Dell about a year ago, and I have been cursing it daily. What a bunch of c__p! Why anyone would want anything to do with Microsoft is beyond me. I know they’re ubiquitous in business, but if you don’t have to use MS, why bother?
Macs are fun and you can still do whatever you need to. Check out the forums on Apple Insider and other Mac oriented sites. There’s a shortcut or surprise software out there that you just have to find out about.
I am on a VERY limited income right now, but I am buying a used Mac (probably from Ebay). I have spent too much money fixing the Dell because of viruses – that money could have gone towards the Mac.
Have fun, do some digging around and you’ll find just the kind of software you need. Go to the Apple site and look at the videos. Call the customer service number and ask questions – yes, you get a real live person – remember it’s not MS! Or go into the Apple store.
Make it an adventure.
i saw that you use ynab for your budget – i am guessing you still run that off a window since it’s not mac compatible. any suggestions for budget software for a mac?
@Whitney – YNAB is supposed to release a Mac version before the end of 2009. In the mean time, you can run it in an emulator. Here’s an article that explains how to do it:
http://www.youneedabudget.com/2008/using-virtualbox-on-your-mac-to-run-ynab-pro-a-step-by-step-walkthrough/
Did you consider the bay as well? I’m always worried some dude will rob you if you turn up to pick up things like that, you hear horror stories about car buyers being held up by the seller.
Used Macbook Buyer´s last blog ..Used Macbook – Cheap Deals
$500 for a MacBook. I would say that you got a sweet deal! Although you had to deal with a few issues with it being used, I think you definitely made the right decision!
Tim´s last blog ..Best Laptop Computer
Jeff,
Cool blog. I’m glad it came up when I googled “buying a used mac on craigslist.”
I’m in the market for a used macbook now and checking craigslist.
Are there any procedures to follow in the transfer of ownership/registration with Apple?
Thanks