Mac book-second hand advice

[rollonthesummer]

We are thinking of getting a MacBook but a second hand one for basic stuff-word processing (do you get a sort of word/office with them?), photos, and for making simple videos for our teens to put on you tube?! Is this the sort of thing we could do with a second hand one or would they be crap and slow? How much would they be and which would we go for? 2008? 2011?!

Is it the case we could get one for £200 or are they still more like 4-500?

Have you had a look at prices for refurbished Macs ?

They normally start at around £400 because Apple products tend to hold their value a lot more than normal computers.

My friend recently purchased a used MacBook for work. She paid around £500 for a 2009 model but it was in great condition and it works great.

My husband recently sold his MacBook because he was after a bigger screen, his looked new and ran smoothly. Most Apple computers are well looked after because they are so expensive brand new. My current MacBook Pro is 5 years old and is no where near "crap" and "slow".

Macs come with their own office software but I still prefer to use Microsoft Office. If your teens are in school, you can get a massive discount on Microsoft Office through student software websites. My niece picked up Office for under £30 a few years ago through one the student websites! Just make sure you order the right one as there is a Windows version and Mac version of Office.

Good luck in your search. My friends and I love Apple and can't even think about going back to Windows.

If you already have an existing pc screen and mouse and keyboard, than the new Mac mini at £399 is a good option, plus you can get student discount on it too. That may be worthwhile looking into.

"because Apple products tend to hold their value a lot more than normal computers."

Sorry, but Apple kit is equally "normal" and as for "value" I consider them rip-off prices (that's why Apple is perhaps highest valued company in the world - if over half of the retail price is profit, they're worse than jewellers for overpricing, esp when you think of the Chinese sweatshops where it's nearly all made).

Don't get me wrong, I have 5 Apple iMacs and some older gear, but these iMacs were all 6+ years old when I bought them on Ebay (none more than 200 quid). Only problem with that is that newer software (OSX 10.7 and later, and even newer versions of Chrome browser) cannot be used on these (only 2 of the 5 can run the Chrome browser because they have Intel processors... the others, with Apple G5 CPU cannot run Opera or Chrome, just rubbishy Safari).

I think some Apple owners on Ebay are extraordinarily "precious" about their used gear as many refuse anything but collection in person, even for kit dating back to 2007/8/9. I don't understand what they think will happen, unless they believe courier firms will break the computer in transit!

Apologies for the 'grumpy old man' appearance of my rant. Been working all night and really do not understand why even second hand in CEX, there's some idea an Apple computer should fetch 700 or 800 quid, twice the price of something running Windows. There's still heaps more software for Windows and far less "innovation" coming from Apple these days...

OK, OK, the new iMac at $2500 has higher resolution screen than anything else, but heck, why don't they build it to use a 50" wall mount screen (or a projector) that can give that number of pixels some purpose... I use 32", 40" and 42" screens with my Apple and Windows kit for films etc...