Laptop? 2nd hand Macbook? Home use. $1000 budget. Advice please.

Forums › Laptops and mobile computers › Laptop? 2nd hand Macbook? Home use. $1000 budget. Advice please.

mlkbtk

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#265616 31-Jan-2020 21:19

Help please!

Hi, I am getting myself horribly confused by lack of knowledge and so many options. I am wanting to purchase a new laptop/s for myself and my son (15).

I only need for usual home use and storing ebooks on calibre. Son uses chromebook at school, but doesn’t have anything to use at home.

Preferably under $1000, but would like reasonable speed. I would like around 13” screen.

I have never tried a MacBook but use other apple products. Would something like this be ok?

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketplace/computers/laptops/laptops/apple/listing/2505458297

Or this? https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketplace/computers/laptops/laptops/apple/listing/2507019764

Or would I be better going new, and therefore not apple?

Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Mod Edit MM: Fixed links

Basil12

124 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 74

#2410965 31-Jan-2020 22:24

You might find a Chromebook is useful for your son at home. The Chromebooks I bought for our two children are now in their fourth year and are still working fine. They are as cheap as chips, robust and you might find your son needs one for school soon. I bought them off Trade Me, circa $250 for an Acer with 4GB (avoid the 2GB if they are still available).

For my main laptop I use a second hand Acer Aspire E15 with an i5 chip (although this has a 15" screen). The first thing I did was remove the 1TM drive and replace it with a 240GB SSD drive. This makes it much faster.

If it's your only computer will a 13" screen be big enough? It sounds like you don't need much grunt but I would prefer to have an older i5 chip than a newer Celeron stuff that is the base model these days. Mine was cira $300 plus another $150 for SSD and I have been very happy. I could afford much better but don't like spending money on something I don't need.

My to cents worth, but I'm sure a more learned person on this matter will assist you more.

Quik internet referral link

mlkbtk

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2410970 31-Jan-2020 22:38

Thanks for your reply! Agreed, I don't want to pay any more than I need to, but I think I've been guilty previously of sacrificing speed to save a few bucks. I'll check out your recommendations, thank you.

Hammerer

2480 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 802

Lifetime subscriber

#2411033 1-Feb-2020 09:42

mlkbtk: Thanks for your reply! Agreed, I don't want to pay any more than I need to, but I think I've been guilty previously of sacrificing speed to save a few bucks. I'll check out your recommendations, thank you.

I'd generally rank display quality as more important than raw CPU/chipset speed, provided you have an SSD (or even the slower eMMC) storage.

A decade ago it used to be the case that CPU speed was king and you needed to get the fastest possible CPU/chipset, e.g. to play all videos. Nowadays, laptop/notebook CPU/chipsets, even with the slowest Intel and AMD CPUs, can now handle Full HD video.

Phones and other devices are largely heading for Full HD but cheaper (sub $1,200) laptops have been stuck in HD display resolution (1366x768) for a decade. That keeps prices down but makes the screen interface less usable with a smaller working area.

ben28

196 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 89

#2411069 1-Feb-2020 12:10

After buying a 22 inch monitor and wireless keyboard/mouse I find I just use the laptop with the larger screen, and use my ipad or phone when I need to be a bit more portable.

You forget how much you're compromising on when you use a laptop screen/keyboard/trackpad.

But I realise other peoples use case may be different

ben28

mlkbtk

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2411254 1-Feb-2020 19:21

ben28:

After buying a 22 inch monitor and wireless keyboard/mouse I find I just use the laptop with the larger screen, and use my ipad or phone when I need to be a bit more portable.

You forget how much you're compromising on when you use a laptop screen/keyboard/trackpad.

But I realise other peoples use case may be different

Thank you!

mlkbtk

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2411256 1-Feb-2020 19:24

Hammerer:

mlkbtk: Thanks for your reply! Agreed, I don't want to pay any more than I need to, but I think I've been guilty previously of sacrificing speed to save a few bucks. I'll check out your recommendations, thank you.

I'd generally rank display quality as more important than raw CPU/chipset speed, provided you have an SSD (or even the slower eMMC) storage.

A decade ago it used to be the case that CPU speed was king and you needed to get the fastest possible CPU/chipset, e.g. to play all videos. Nowadays, laptop/notebook CPU/chipsets, even with the slowest Intel and AMD CPUs, can now handle Full HD video.

Phones and other devices are largely heading for Full HD but cheaper (sub $1,200) laptops have been stuck in HD display resolution (1366x768) for a decade. That keeps prices down but makes the screen interface less usable with a smaller working area.

Many thanks for your reply! I'll be mindful of the display, have to admit it wasn't something I had been looking at particularly.

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cooljoo

91 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 15

Trusted

#2411261 1-Feb-2020 20:05

2nd hand Mac’s are fantastic value for money. All my Mac’s have been second hand.

I would avoid a “vintage” model. Here is a link what is too old https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201624

Non-vintage Mac means its supported with the latest operating system and you can still get official parts from Apple repair stores like batteries.

If you increase your budget, you can find discounts on modern mac’s on the education and certified section of Apple NZ.

You can get the 2019 MacBook Air plus free headphones for around $1700.

https://www.apple.com/nz-hed/shop/buy-mac/macbook-air

mlkbtk

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2411272 1-Feb-2020 21:06

cooljoo:
2nd hand Mac’s are fantastic value for money. All my Mac’s have been second hand.

I would avoid a “vintage” model. Here is a link what is too old https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201624

Non-vintage Mac means its supported with the latest operating system and you can still get official parts from Apple repair stores like batteries.

If you increase your budget, you can find discounts on modern mac’s on the education and certified section of Apple NZ.

You can get the 2019 MacBook Air plus free headphones for around $1700.

https://www.apple.com/nz-hed/shop/buy-mac/macbook-air

Thank you so much! Unfortunately no uni students, or teachers, and probably getting a bit expensive anyway. The machines to stay away from is really useful, there are so many old machines available (a good thing they are still going I guess?!), but I was wondering how long the OS would be updateable, so the list of vintage models is great!

Basil12

124 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 74

#2411288 1-Feb-2020 22:10

I have a second hand iMac; this and the one it replaced are/were both second hand. Re up-to-date versions of the OSX operating system, mine can handle the latest one but I'm happy on El Capitan otherwise I would have to update my version of MS Office and other software.

With OSX I find there is no real need to run the latest version. But, yes it is important to have a system that is not deemed too old.

Some of the Apple education versions have a slower chip which is something to be aware of and something I will avoid for my next one; my late 2012 iMac is starting to run slow so I'll be on the lookout for a newer but still second hand one soon.

Good luck with whatever you end of with.

Quik internet referral link

mlkbtk

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2411304 1-Feb-2020 23:33

Basil12:
I have a second hand iMac; this and the one it replaced are/were both second hand. Re up-to-date versions of the OSX operating system, mine can handle the latest one but I'm happy on El Capitan otherwise I would have to update my version of MS Office and other software.

With OSX I find there is no real need to run the latest version. But, yes it is important to have a system that is not deemed too old.

Some of the Apple education versions have a slower chip which is something to be aware of and something I will avoid for my next one; my late 2012 iMac is starting to run slow so I'll be on the lookout for a newer but still second hand one soon.

Good luck with whatever you end of with.

Thanks so much for that. Think I'm going to go with a chromebook for my son and will hunt down a second hand MacBook for myself.

Gwilson

136 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 42

#2411332 2-Feb-2020 09:20

Hi there,

I have a Macbook Pro 13" I was about to put on TradeMe. PM me if this may be of interest ,cheers.

Late 2016 model, 2.9GHz dual core i5, 8 GB RAM, 256GB SSD, pretty much mint condition.

I have graded to a W10 machine - not yet sure if I have up or down graded :-)