Second hand Mac book

[rollonthesummer]

Is buying a second hand mac book as pointless as buying a second hand laptop-slow/virtually obsolete etc or are things different with mac books?

Could I get anything decent for about £500 and if so-what should I be looking for with regards to memory/processor etc?!

I bought a second hand one and upgraded the RAM which made a big difference. It was a 2011 MacBook Pro. I might upgrade to a SSD in the new year to make it even faster. I really like it. No way I could have afforded a new one.

Thank you for your reply! What is SDD?

What's the difference between a pro and an air? Which would be better for internet and word processing?

Word processing and internet the Mac air will do you juuuust fine and dandy!

Thank you-is the air cheaper than the pro?

I bought a second hand one and upgraded the RAM which made a big difference. It was a 2011 MacBook Pro. I might upgrade to a SSD in the new year to make it even faster. I really like it. No way I could have afforded a new one.

The newer ones can't be expanded. Think the 2011 models were the last ones (I did the same).

Which would be better for internet and word processing?

I've been a Mac user since I was a toddler but I really wouldn't buy one if you're just doing word processing and internet browsing!

Why-are they no good for that??

Of course they are. But any laptop will do that. Not much point paying the premium price for functionality you won't use. It's like buying a ferrari to go to the supermarket once a week.

Oh right.

At home we have a Samsung tablet which is shite and no one uses and an iPad which is great and responsive, fast and everyone loves.

I assumed that a macbook would be similar.

A mac will get laggy if you over work it (lots of applications open using the CPU etc).

Mac airs are cheaper yes OP. If all you want it for is to do word docs and browsing there are plenty out there that will do the same for much less.

We have a Mac Pro and an cheap Asus laptop (£230) and there is a noticeable lag in the cheap one to the Mac when using interwebs . Best bet is to have a good read up on Which? Before parting with pennies.