[X4U] What to watch for with used MacBook?

[Jon Warms]

Besides what you describe as obvious, I have suggestions:

1. Verify the external connections - usb, firewire, ethernet, 802.11g
are working.

2. I wouldn't trust the battery. As you know, the life is variable. On  
my
Macbook, (an early model) the deteriorating battery led to fan control
and temp issues. Replacement was about $100 (USD). This could be
a plus for you - temperature issues & battery life may be fixed just
by replacing the batt.

3. Regardless of what the utilities say, I would be very leery about
the used hard drive. But, on the plus side, replacing the hard drive
on the MacBook is almost a trivial exercise. Check One World Computing
(e.g.) at macsales.com for how much it would cost just to replace
the drive. As I said, removal & installation are easy & foolproof (I was
able to do it).

4. In any event, you may want to reformat the drive & start
fresh. Make sure you have a plan for restoring the hard drive.

Jon

On Mar 3, 2009, Crandon David <tabdave at ca.rr.com> wrote:

> I intend to purchase a used Macbook, don't really know what model
> yet, but it has to have an itel processor. It'll probably be 1-2yrs
> old to save some $.
>
> What should I check out to make sure I'm getting a good unit?
>
> Obviously, dents, warpage, closes properly, etc. What about running
> Disk Repair from Disk utility, Techtool, Diskwarrior, etc.
>