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Maybe buying older macbook (2007), what to expect

TwiceOver

TwiceOver

Lifer
I've never owned a Mac product. I've been eyeballing them for a while but can not justify the price. I still want to try out the environment though so I've been looking at older macbooks. I found one that I think is a good deal, era 2007 non-unibody C2D standard white macbook.

So, what am I in for? Is this going to be a horrible experience and I should just skip it and wait till I can justify something much better? Is this a good "get your feet wet" type machine? I know it's old and crusty, but for the basics, good enough?

I've thought about a mac mini, but I don't know if I want to replace my desktop.
 
Look at the refurbished Apple store. 2007 is a pretty long time ago plus you probably won't be able to upgrade to Mountain Lion.
 
Yeah mountain lion isn't possible, but is that really a big deal? Is a single dot release that much of a change in the apple world? What would i be missing?

Just like the apple retail store im sure their refurbs are overpriced. I'll probably stick with private sales.
 
TwiceOver said:
Yeah mountain lion isn't possible, but is that really a big deal? Is a single dot release that much of a change in the apple world? What would i be missing?

Just like the apple retail store im sure their refurbs are overpriced. I'll probably stick with private sales.
Click to expand...

The advantage of the refurb is that it is a twice inspected, fully warrantied and can have applecare added.

Buying it used is a good cheap way to get your feet wet. Buying Refurbished is a good way to get a new Mac for less money.

Between Lion (10.7) and Mountain Lion (10.8) not too much difference, and honestly, so long as you have at least Snow Leopard (10.6) on there, you'll be fine and have a good experience.

I jumped into Macs with 10.4, which was a revelation compared to Windows XP, but going back to use it now is a bit of a pain compared to Snow Leopard.
 
If you have the choice, stick with Snow Leopard for best performance, upgrade to 4GB of DDR2 RAM and change the HDD for a M4 or another SSD and the Mac will give you great performance still 🙂

Edit: A problem with the plastic non-unibody MB is that around the keyboard the plastic used to flake away, quite a wide spread problem so it is worth checking that the one you buy doesn't have this problem.
 
joshhedge said:
If you have the choice, stick with Snow Leopard for best performance, upgrade to 4GB of DDR2 RAM and change the HDD for a M4 or another SSD and the Mac will give you great performance still 🙂

Edit: A problem with the plastic non-unibody MB is that around the keyboard the plastic used to flake away, quite a wide spread problem so it is worth checking that the one you buy doesn't have this problem.
Click to expand...

Doesn't matter if it does, Apple will replace the top case for free, warranty status doesn't matter. I have taken 4 different OG MacBooks into the store to get that replaced, free every time.

On one they even replaced the display bezel as well as it had cracked too.

Also, the original power adapter, all white with a T connector, had a bad habit of fraying. That would also be replaced for free regardless of warranty status.

On your other points, I agree completely, 4GB RAM and an SSD and you have a very responsive system.
 
There isn't an apple store within 300 miles or more. The one I'm looking at does have some slight palm rest chipping.
 
The palm rest chipping is a minimal issue and happened to all of the plastic MB's. I never had a problem with it on mine or my wife's (meaning, it happened, but it was never a "problem" problem). Yeah, it's a little ugly, but it does not make the computer any less usable or sturdy.
 
SL is fine, but I still think 2007 is not worth buying at this time (unless you find some goofy student dumping one for $100).

The reasonable cut-off IMO is something with DDR3, at a bare minimum that's the original unibody MacBook. The good news is you can run ML if you want to, and the RAM ceiling is 6 GB. You'll also get a decent IGP, which tends to matter with OS X.

If it matters to you, I think multitouch was added in 2009 if you want to take advantage of OS X gestures.
 
There were two different 2009s, one unibody one not.

I have a non-Unibody 2009 (Early 2009).

It's got a Geforce 9400M and DDR2. Mountain Lion works fine. SSD helps. Use it for work, not looking at a replacement any time soon.
 
Eh, I'm using a 2007 MBP as my main machine when in use a computer and its fine. I have a SSD and 6GB of RAM in it though. If you're just looking for something to get your feet wet then I don't see an issue with it. It should probably wave run Lion just fine.

I remember when I "won" my MBP, I told everyone I love the hardware and I was just going to install Windows on it and use it as a Windows laptop full-time. It only took a couple of weeks until I was in OS X almost all the time an only booted in to Windows for gaming.
 
bearxor said:
Eh, I'm using a 2007 MBP as my main machine when in use a computer and its fine. I have a SSD and 6GB of RAM in it though. If you're just looking for something to get your feet wet then I don't see an issue with it. It should probably wave run Lion just fine.

I remember when I "won" my MBP, I told everyone I love the hardware and I was just going to install Windows on it and use it as a Windows laptop full-time. It only took a couple of weeks until I was in OS X almost all the time an only booted in to Windows for gaming.
Click to expand...

You 'won' a MBP? Do I want to know what you did to 'win'?
 
Ha. It was several years ago when those websites that allowed you to do offers for prizes were pretty easy to do and not insane. I say "won" because it still cost me $300 but they sent me a 2006 MBP (2.16ghz C2D with an X1600) but the day I got it was the day they released the 2007 SR version. I was able to take it unopened to the Apple store that night and they gave me a straight exchange for the new version.

I scored the MBP, GH2 360, 360 HD-DVD, 42" LCD and $600 cash doing that stuff. Retail would have been about $4000 for all of it, I spent roughly $800-$1000 total on it. You can't get away so good these days, the top tier offers are kind of crazy now, usually you have to do something like a cruise or something insane. Oh well, was good while it lasted.
 
As long as the CPU is 64-bit capable, it should be able to run Mountain Lion. There's also a minimum memory requirement, but 2 Gb should at least be adequate.
Some of the early Intel MacBooks had 32-bit only CPU's. Snow Leopard is the latest OSX version that can still run on 32-bit only CPU's.
 
2007 MacBook Pro is better than MacBook is because you can able to upgrade Moutain Lion on it. I think next version of OS X might not run on 2007 MBP. I could be wrong. Anyway I am happy with my 2007 MBP right now after adding SSD.
 
vailr said:
As long as the CPU is 64-bit capable, it should be able to run Mountain Lion. There's also a minimum memory requirement, but 2 Gb should at least be adequate.
Some of the early Intel MacBooks had 32-bit only CPU's. Snow Leopard is the latest OSX version that can still run on 32-bit only CPU's.
Click to expand...

In 2007, all Macs had 64-bit CPUs. MacBooks of that era had Intel integrated GPUs that are not supported in Mountain Lion though.
 
Thanks for the info everyone. I don't think this is the right machine for me. I'll probably wait until I can get a pro unit or a 2009 macbook.
 
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