Purchase advice - 2nd hand laptop

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marmel

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#208478 13-Feb-2017 19:45

My daughter has just started high school and she wants to replace her iPad/keyboard combo with a proper laptop. She has her heart set on a MacBook but I've told her no more than $1k.

MacBooks around this price on trademe seem to be about four years old which seems an eternity in tech terms.

We've got plenty of Apple devices at home but haven't had a MacBook before.

What are your thoughts on paying $1k for a four year old laptop? Am I better to try and steer her towards a Windows based machine.

Her school use Office 365 but it seems any device that can use office is acceptable.

Something lightweight/small is also important as her bag is already chocka and she has been carting around my HP envy 15.6" laptop which is too big/heavy to be truly portable.

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#1719620 13-Feb-2017 20:02

You're really reaching EOL for a mac that's 4 years old, especially one without a solid state disk. I would suggest something like an HP Probook 430 G4 with 3 year NBD warranty. It will be over $1000 (more like $1300-$1400 incl GST) but with a Kaby Lake i5, 8GB ram and 256GB SSD and great warranty where they visit your site and fix next day... you will have a far more suitable machine.

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKHNB3376291/HP-Probook-430-G4-SSD-Education-Notebook-133-Touch - Purchase this warranty along with it. https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/WARHCP2738/HP-3-year-Next-Business-Day-Onsite-Notebook-Only-S

richms

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#1719625 13-Feb-2017 20:21

I will add one thing here.

Do not, under any circumstances get a kid a computer with a spinning rust drive in it. They will destroy it. You will have to explain to them that they destroyed it and lost their stuff, there will be tears. They will not learn the lesson about backing up.

Richard rich.ms

marmel

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#1719627 13-Feb-2017 20:22

richms:
I will add one thing here.

Do not, under any circumstances get a kid a computer with a spinning rust drive in it. They will destroy it. You will have to explain to them that they destroyed it and lost their stuff, there will be tears. They will not learn the lesson about backing up.

Ok, SSD a must then.

kinginvercargill

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#1719637 13-Feb-2017 20:45

What about a Chromebook of some sort? They're made for BYOD these days, and if the school is using Office 365 they can use online Word/Powerpoint/Excel etc. Most schools recommend them as they are cheap, durable and worth the investment. Most schools that are BYOD have students using them, and at my local school the school brought 100 that they lend to students that don't have a device (on a daily basis).

With the addition of Android Apps coming to Chromebook it'll mean that she'll be able to use Office through there as well, as soon as this feature is open to the general public (it is currently in beta).

But I wouldn't recommend buying a 4-year-old Macbook. With HDD in them, there more prone to failure, and as macuser said, it would be reaching EOL.

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marmel

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#1719639 13-Feb-2017 20:48

I have used Chromebooks and always found them a little underpowered, perhaps it might be worth looking at a higher end one though. The school recommend minimum spec of i3 and 4gb ram.

coffeebaron

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#1719737 13-Feb-2017 22:23

Look at the off lease HP Probooks or Dell Latitudes from PBTech and chuck in an SSD.

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#1719741 13-Feb-2017 22:32

marmel: I have used Chromebooks and always found them a little underpowered, perhaps it might be worth looking at a higher end one though. The school recommend minimum spec of i3 and 4gb ram.

Little Miss MDF has just received a flip Acer ChromeBook (C738T). I have been super impressed with this for a sub-$500 machine. This is one of the Chromebooks that support Android apps. Everything we've tried works well. Some apps (designed for phones?) can look slightly odd full screen, but work fine in a window. 4GB of RAM, and the fold away keyboard works awesome. You're never going to mistake it for a real tablet, but it's the only way I'd ever use a touchscreen on a notebook. Fast loading and good battery life. The bezel around the screen is pretty huge, but that's about the only downside I've found so far.

I haven't tried installing Office (though there is definitely the app available if you've got O365). Google docs works well for what she needs it for, but you'd probably need to check this out in your circumstances.

Peppery

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#1719742 13-Feb-2017 22:45

Just going to put this out there - I see no issues with a 4 year old MacBook, provided it's a Retina OR Air model (SSD only - no CD drive). Not sure what the going rate was, but I sold my 2015 13" Retina 8GB/512GB for $1.6k, so a 2012 13" should be great. Just don't go for a 128GB model as that isn't enough space for anyone.

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#1719813 14-Feb-2017 08:26

Avoid those "kids" laptops that only have 16/32gb storage as well, absolute nightmare to work with regardless what OS. Client bought one for his business trips, installed Office and that was all he could do :-p

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dafman

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#1719815 14-Feb-2017 08:31

Peppery:

Just going to put this out there - I see no issues with a 4 year old MacBook, provided it's a Retina OR Air model (SSD only - no CD drive). Not sure what the going rate was, but I sold my 2015 13" Retina 8GB/512GB for $1.6k, so a 2012 13" should be great. Just don't go for a 128GB model as that isn't enough space for anyone.

I have no idea why someone would consider a 4-year old laptop for $1,000 when they can pick up a brand new one for same coin, factory fresh, covered by warranty and consumer guarantee legislation protection.

But each to their own.

marmel

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#1719816 14-Feb-2017 08:34

dafman:
Peppery:

Just going to put this out there - I see no issues with a 4 year old MacBook, provided it's a Retina OR Air model (SSD only - no CD drive). Not sure what the going rate was, but I sold my 2015 13" Retina 8GB/512GB for $1.6k, so a 2012 13" should be great. Just don't go for a 128GB model as that isn't enough space for anyone.

I have no idea why someone would consider a 4-year old laptop for $1,000 when they can pick up a brand new one for same coin, factory fresh, covered by warranty and consumer guarantee legislation protection.

But each to their own.

And those are my thoughts as well but not shared by my daughter who is like a magpie collecting shiny things when it comes to Apple devices.

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jonathan18

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#1719826 14-Feb-2017 09:05

marmel:
dafman:

Peppery:

Just going to put this out there - I see no issues with a 4 year old MacBook, provided it's a Retina OR Air model (SSD only - no CD drive). Not sure what the going rate was, but I sold my 2015 13" Retina 8GB/512GB for $1.6k, so a 2012 13" should be great. Just don't go for a 128GB model as that isn't enough space for anyone.

I have no idea why someone would consider a 4-year old laptop for $1,000 when they can pick up a brand new one for same coin, factory fresh, covered by warranty and consumer guarantee legislation protection.

But each to their own.

And those are my thoughts as well but not shared by my daughter who is like a magpie collecting shiny things when it comes to Apple devices.

And who's paying for it?!

Personally if I was paying for it I'd have no problem insisting that I'd buy the new laptop. or offer my child the option of paying the difference between that more than adequate HP laptop and a newer (and definitely warrantied) MacBook.

jonb

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#1719867 14-Feb-2017 10:38

For $1k would recommend a Lenovo Miix. Got one from PB Tech and is perfect for school. Brand new, SSD, High res screen, light, wacom style stylus. Basically a Surface Pro.

http://www.harveynorman.co.nz/computers/tablet-and-accessories/tablets/lenovo-miix-700-tablet-128gb.html

dafman

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#1719877 14-Feb-2017 11:01

jonb:

For $1k would recommend a Lenovo Miix. Got one from PB Tech and is perfect for school. Brand new, SSD, High res screen, light, wacom style stylus. Basically a Surface Pro.

http://www.harveynorman.co.nz/computers/tablet-and-accessories/tablets/lenovo-miix-700-tablet-128gb.html

And it's lightweight, often overlooked, but important when carting back and forth between home and school.

macuser

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#1719886 14-Feb-2017 11:15

jonb:

For $1k would recommend a Lenovo Miix. Got one from PB Tech and is perfect for school. Brand new, SSD, High res screen, light, wacom style stylus. Basically a Surface Pro.

http://www.harveynorman.co.nz/computers/tablet-and-accessories/tablets/lenovo-miix-700-tablet-128gb.html

If you get that, I would recommend a 128GB Micro SD card installed and redirect home folder (eg Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Pictures etc) to that Micro SD Card. That way your daughter can use her computer like normal without worry of filling up C:\ and slowing the machine down.

You won't get far at all with a 128GB SSD - so make the most of an SD Card where you can.

Don't lose the SD card though!!!!

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