Mac advice needed

[bhaexpress]

Folks, I have been let down with the upgrade to my desktop PC and am now thinking that rather than trying to build a 'Hackintosh' I might as well but a Mac laptop. I don't want to but a new one but what could I get for £250-£300 ? I aleady have a copy of Snow Leopard which I would like to use but as I have limited Mac Knowledge which I would rather like to improve suggestions would be welcome.

 

[gullshark]

New, you'd get sweet f*** all for £300
Second hand, probably a something with a PowerPC processor that Snow Leopard doesn't support.

 

[Bozza]

I thought you already had Snow Leopard running on a PC?

No idea what you'd get for £300 - I'd have to go to eBay to find out.

 

[Bozza]

I have a Macbook that I might be selling - £300ish sounds the mark.

It's got a brand new virginal Snow Leopard build and comes with 2gb/160gb. Works perfectly.

 

[Bozza]

Just had a quick look on eBay and £300 might be selling it short. However, I'm not sure I can be arsed with the hassles of eBay.

It's one of the white plastic Macbooks (http://www.danmasters.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/macbook_white.jpg) It's an Intel powered machine. I think it was supplied as a 512mb/60mb machine and I upgraded it to 2gb/160gb.

The original battery died so it has a new one in it - not sure how many cycles it has been through but it's not too old and gives the standard 3 hours ish on a charge. Comes with the magnetic power supply thing.

I think I have the original box and it comes with a retail version of Snow Leopard.

The only thing wrong with it is a small piece of plastic has come away below the keyboard but this is very, very common with these machines (Google it to find out) - it looks almost exactly like this:

http://blueeyedcreature.net/apple/CrackBook_close_up.jpg

having started from this:

http://images.theage.com.au/2009/08/05/665376/crackingmacbookmain-420x0.jpg

I think it can be repaired or something but I've never bothered as it does not affect how the machine works at all, only the way it looks.

I'm coming down to Sussex this weekend so could bring it with me to 'do a deal'.

 

[bhaexpress]

Only problem is that I'm in Kent not Sussex. I have realised that a 'Hackintosh' has it's limitations so I would be very interested. Having used Macbooks recently I have to say that I prefer te feel of them to a Windows laptop, mainly because they are better built.

 

[Bozza]

I reckon £325 would be about the mark - we'd be splitting the charges I'd lose with eBay/Paypal/Royal Mail.

 

[bhaexpress]

Slightly fatuous question but does it have a web cam ? I actually need one for work as this place is very keen on video conferencing

 

[Bozza]

Yep - all Macbooks have a built in iSight camera above the screen.

 

[RexCathedra]

Most -- maybe all -- MacBooks have the iSight camera integrated into the screen bezel, front and center next to the mic.

 

[bhaexpress]

Yep - all Macbooks have a built in iSight camera above the screen.

Sounds like a plan then, I don't mind a bit of missing plastic, better go to IM before we start a rumour !

 

[aftershavedave]

Slightly fatuous question but does it have a web cam ? I actually need one for work as this place is very keen on video conferencing

just for work then?

not doing a leslie grantham in the evenings are you bhs?

 

[gullshark]

What software does your company use for conferencing? make sure that it's mac compatable.

Skype works fine with the iSight but MSN you need a third party client.

 

[bhaexpress]

just for work then?

not doing a leslie grantham in the evenings are you bhs?

It's a throught ! No, I talk to various people round the globe and a web cam is useful.

 

[bhaexpress]

What software does your company use for conferencing? make sure that it's mac compatable.

Skype works fine with the iSight but MSN you need a third party client.

Well that's part of the point, I need to get to know Macs better, I know a bit about PCs already. Where I am for the time being they are doing a lot with Cisco. This is a mainly PC firm but we do use some Macs and also there are people who work from home using Macs. I will be the only member of our support team with Mac knowledge which should come in useful.

 

[aftershavedave]

Well that's part of the point, I need to get to know Macs better, I know a bit about PCs already. Where I am for the time being they are doing a lot with Cisco. This is a mainly PC firm but we do use some Macs and also there are people who work from home using Macs. I will be the only member of our support team with Mac knowledge which should come in useful.

we have a mix of macs and pcs at work and anybody with a working knowledge of macs is a premium commodity so you're doing the right thing.

 

[bhaexpress]

we have a mix of macs and pcs at work and anybody with a working knowledge of macs is a premium commodity so you're doing the right thing.

I've realised that. Here we do not officially support them which is not clever. I was thinking about a new laptop as my old Pentium III machine is well past it's sell by date. Having used a few Macs recently I have to say that for home and personal use they are better, even if you have a beast of a PC like mine with Windows 7. Building a Hackintosh and running it under VM won't do all that I need to do so it makes sense to me.

 

[Bozza]

Bizarrely, a mate has just seen this thread and emailed me to say he'll take it...

 

[bhaexpress]

Bizarrely, a mate has just seen this thread and emailed me to say he'll take it...

Fair dos, let him have it.