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Secondhand iMacs


Neil2

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Not really sure where to post this but does anyone know a good place to buy used/reconditioned iMacs, or Macbooks?  There's loads of places come up on a search but if anyone has personal experience I'd be grateful for any advice. 

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I've always used ebay and never had a problem, using these guidelines:

Never buy from a seller without a good rating

If possible buy from a seller offering collection only, if not be careful what courier/post service they are using (some services exclude damage to computers or have very low compensation limits)

Avoid computers that have any signs of bad treatment even if it is claimed that it has not affected their working

Carefully check the details against https://everymac.com/  I have many times come across imac's for sale with specifications that do not exist!

 

I know that I may be challenged on the second point, and the responsibility rests with the seller, but do you really want to get involved in a three way argument?

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Both my laptops are refurbs from ebay.  Toshiba Setallite w7 was £65 buy it now or bid for it, I bid for it and got it for £45, only really wanted it because of the CD drawer, but it works lovely, using it to type this. The other is a Lenovo T450 Thinkpad, I needed one to think with. W10, very fast, £145. Both excellent and like new. 

Edited by bizzard
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Thanks for the replies folks.

 

Previously all my PC's/laptops have been from a local reconditioning charity, I have never bought a new computer but they deal mainly in windows stuff,  iMacs etc. are quite rare. 

 

And it has to be an iMac or Macbook.  

 

@Boaty Jo thanks for that - they look kosher but only have one iMac at the mo.

 

Thanks also @MartinC I also never buy from an ebay with less than 100% now, whenever I've done it in the past I have had occasion to regret it every time.  Thanks for that link too.  My problem is where I live in the Highlands it's rare for collection to be a practical option so the reason I was looking for a reputable trader is the transit risk. 

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2 hours ago, Idle Days said:

But why would you want to?  😇

 

I would say it depends on what you want to do. Do most people who buy a Mac really need to spend that much? Or do they sucumb to the very slick marketing?

 

One advantage of Android and its relatives is affordability. It allows access to smartphones and IT to people who either dont want to spend silly money or simply cannot. 

 

A new Chromebook will come with a full warranty and guaranteed updates.

 

A used Mac may, depending on seller come, with some sort of warranty and if it does it will probably be a couple of months. Updates to a Mac will depend how old it is.

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4 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

 

I would say it depends on what you want to do. Do most people who buy a Mac really need to spend that much? Or do they sucumb to the very slick marketing?

 

One advantage of Android and its relatives is affordability. It allows access to smartphones and IT to people who either dont want to spend silly money or simply cannot. 

 

A new Chromebook will come with a full warranty and guaranteed updates.

 

A used Mac may, depending on seller come, with some sort of warranty and if it does it will probably be a couple of months. Updates to a Mac will depend how old it is.

 

And in the Mac way, any system update may well break an older computer, so you have to upgrade.

 

22 minutes ago, bizzard said:

Both my laptops are refurbs from ebay.  Toshiba Setallite w7 was £65 buy it now or bid for it, I bid for it and got it for £45, only really wanted it because of the CD drawer, but it works lovely, using it to type this. The other is a Lenovo T450 Thinkpad, I needed one to think with. W10, very fast, £145. Both excellent and like new. 

 

And built like the brick built proverbial, although they ditched the little keyboard lamp of earlier T range models. I am on my third Lenovo for not a lot of money, seeing what you get. Widows off, Mint or Ubuntu) on, and when the warrantee runs out fit an SSD.

Edited by Tony Brooks
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36 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

And in the Mac way, any system update may well break an older computer, so you have to upgrade.

 

 

And built like the brick built proverbial, although they ditched the little keyboard lamp of earlier T range models. I am on my third Lenovo for not a lot of money, seeing what you get. Widows off, Mint or Ubuntu) on, and when the warrantee runs out fit an SSD.

According to my nephew who is an IT expert Lenovo is or was or part of IBM.

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5 minutes ago, bizzard said:

According to my nephew who is an IT expert Lenovo is or was or part of IBM.

 

Lenovo actually aquired IBM's laptop division. Mid 00's I think.

 

They still use 'think pad' as a brand/name, something created originally by IBM.

 

 

Edited by The Happy Nomad
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52 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

 

I would say it depends on what you want to do. Do most people who buy a Mac really need to spend that much? Or do they sucumb to the very slick marketing?

 

One advantage of Android and its relatives is affordability. It allows access to smartphones and IT to people who either dont want to spend silly money or simply cannot. 

 

A new Chromebook will come with a full warranty and guaranteed updates.

 

A used Mac may, depending on seller come, with some sort of warranty and if it does it will probably be a couple of months. Updates to a Mac will depend how old it is.

I succumbed to their slick marketing about ten years ago after suffering windows software on a variety of PC's over a 20 year period. Since making the change I've not suffered any breakdowns other than a knackered battery on a secondhand iPhone. Money well spent as far as I'm concerned. I cannot envisage anything that would persuade me to revert to using PC's.

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16 minutes ago, Idle Days said:

I succumbed to their slick marketing about ten years ago after suffering windows software on a variety of PC's over a 20 year period. Since making the change I've not suffered any breakdowns other than a knackered battery on a secondhand iPhone. Money well spent as far as I'm concerned. I cannot envisage anything that would persuade me to revert to using PC's.

 

Ditto. I did likewise. Went 'all in' with Apple a few years ago.

 

Ipad, iphone, Airplay speaker system.

 

Then when I found my iPad becoming incresingly slow and wanted to upgrade I found I could get a much better specd. Android tablet for the same money so I jumped. Ditto a bit later with my phone as having a phone on iOS and a tablet on Android doesnt work particularly well.

 

The phone was also a better spec.  I sold the airplay speakers and now run a Google smart speaker from LG at home.

 

Everything syncs. just as it did with iOS.

 

I actually dont use my Windows PC much these days anyway.

 

My daughters mac book died just out of warranty and I had the peeling screen issues that one of the iPhone models suffered from so I cant really say my experience tegarding reliability was brilliant, or rather certainly no different from other makes.

 

Edited by The Happy Nomad
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11 minutes ago, Idle Days said:

I succumbed to their slick marketing about ten years ago after suffering windows software on a variety of PC's over a 20 year period. Since making the change I've not suffered any breakdowns other than a knackered battery on a secondhand iPhone. Money well spent as far as I'm concerned. I cannot envisage anything that would persuade me to revert to using PC's.

 

Same here. When Windows failures were costing me £100s in lost earnings for the (many) days I spend fixing a long series of failures over about a year, usually caused by Windows updates, I decided to switch to Apple. Now I rarely get any failures, and the odd rare one I get, Apple tech support actually answer the phone and help me fix it there and then, typically taking less than an hour. This to me is really important when my IT is 'mission critical' to paying for my boats, and everything else. 

 

I've not been "seduced by slick marketing", I've been seduced into paying good money for a system that actually reliably works, with first class customer support. 

 

Now, if I were to switch back to MS/Android, which phone number do I get first class technical support on, can anyone remind me? 

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8 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Same here. When Windows failures were costing me £100s in lost earnings for the (many) days I spend fixing a long series of failures over about a year, usually caused by Windows updates, I decided to switch to Apple. Now I rarely get any failures, and the odd rare one I get, Apple tech support actually answer the phone and help me fix it there and then, typically taking less than an hour. This to me is really important when my IT is 'mission critical' to paying for my boats, and everything else. 

 

I've not been "seduced by slick marketing", I've been seduced into paying good money for a system that actually reliably works, with first class customer support. 

 

Now, if I were to switch back to MS/Android, which phone number do I get first class technical support on, can anyone remind me? 

 

If Apple are so brilliant and easy to use why would you need to ring for customer support?

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It's probably worth noting that Apple changed the chipset in their MacBooks last year from Intel to a proprietary chip the M1 which might be good news for the OP as there'll be more secondhand supply as folks upgrade. The downside being the old chipset will be unsupported sometime earlier in the future than it might have been and newer programs may be incompatible with it.

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