advice/dangers buying used mac laptop?

J

Josh Bass

Veteran
At some point this year I want to get a Mac laptop (to stay comaptible with my Imac) for use with a teleprompter system, but also to run a few apps like Logic and some kind of NLE.

Firstly, what do I WANT/NEED in terms of power/performance? One of the big boys? Will a macbook air suffice?

Secondly, of course I'd like to save money so what are the dangers of buying used? Perfectly willing to wipe the thing and do a complete fresh install (OS then software).

thanks.
 
Josh Bass said:
At some point this year I want to get a Mac laptop (to stay comaptible with my Imac) for use with a teleprompter system, but also to run a few apps like Logic and some kind of NLE.

Firstly, what do I WANT/NEED in terms of power/performance? One of the big boys? Will a macbook air suffice?

Secondly, of course I'd like to save money so what are the dangers of buying used? Perfectly willing to wipe the thing and do a complete fresh install (OS then software).

thanks.
Click to expand...
As always, it depends on your budget. A couple months ago I decided I wanted a Mac
laptop (I have a MacPro as my main edit computer) but I get jobs from time to
time that are shooting and editing breaking news. As such, I may be in another
town (and in my part of the world there are not roads between towns, you have
to fly) and I will need to edit and can't get back to my office edit bay. Also it is
very common these days to feed video to whichever network has hired me via
FTP.....with a laptop. But I didn't want to spend $2000-$2500 on the new 2016
MacBook Pros as this would not be my main edit computer. So I jumped on
eBay and started looking. Now the big thing is to do some research and know
your MacBook Pros. There are about 25 different variations of them and eBay
sellers prey on those who don't know enough about them. For example,
they might try selling you a 2012 MacBook Pro for $1100, when most 2012
MacBook Pros go for $1250......but they are selling an 'early 2012' model which
only has a dual core processor instead of a quad core, and is really only worth
$750....this is just a quick example, you need to read the specs and check out
each particular model to see if it has what you are interested in. Personally,
after a ton of searching, I found a eBay seller who had a store selling factory
refurbished 2013 MacBook Pros. Quad core upgraded from the base 2.4ghz to
2.8ghz, 2GPUs (one integrated and one dedicated), 16GB of RAM and a 512GB
SSD drive. They were asking $1200 as a 'buy it now' price but they had a
'submit your best offer' button. I submitted an offer of $800 but wasn't expecting
them to accept. Much to my surprise they did. And even more to my surprise,
when I got the computer, it was absolutely mint. You literally couldn't tell it
wasn't brand new. So you can find deals out there but you need to know what you
are willing to pay, and what you want the computer to have. I was willing to take
less than the 'newest and best' but I also knew I could get more power than what
the Air or normal MacBook had, by buying a used macbook Pro from a couple years
ago. I'd try to get some sort of i7 instead of i5 (quad core instead of dual core),
16GB of RAM, a dedicated GPU with at least 1GB of VRAM (more is better) and
the biggest SSD you can get. Now obviously, depending on your budget, you
may need to make compromises on some of these.
 
Last edited:
I have had good luck buying used on the Fred Miranda photograph Forum. http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/board/11/0 The have a very active buy and sell board and a dedicated Tech Tools board. The posters have ratings similar to ebay, so check their ratings and how long they have been members. The members seem to care greatly about their reputations and I have had only very positive experiences. Ditto to everything alaskacameradude said. Make sure you know what you are getting. You can check it against the Apple refurbished site to compare deals and specs. The number of battery cycles is a good way to determine how much use it has had. Good Luck
 
Good one on the batter cycles.

Again, assuming I'd wipe the drive and start fresh, anything deeper (hardware, BIOS, I dunno) related that could tank a used laptop?
 
Looks like OWC sells certified refurbs. Is that a good place to buy from?

I will want USB ports, vga, some of the older types connectors/slots would be nice.
 
Josh Bass said:
Looks like OWC sells certified refurbs. Is that a good place to buy from?

I will want USB ports, vga, some of the older types connectors/slots would be nice.
Click to expand...

Grab a 2015 macBook Pro, new or refurbished. Buy direct from Apple. Failing that, look at B&H, OWC etc.

If you buy second-hand, set yourself up as a new "USER" with Admin level access and delete the previous owner's USER account.

Any apps that you don't want in the APPLICATIONS folder are simply dragged to the TRASH.

Then empty the trash and that will get rid of everything you dont want; no need to worry about deleting stuff in hidden folders or BIOS etc
 
Josh,
you could buy any Mac since say 2012; but its a balance between performance, features and cost.

The 2012 15" MacBook Pro's have a serious issue and I would steer clear of them.

The 2016 MacBooks have gone to USB-C which is fantastic for video editing but the issue you may face is finding a dock that has USB-C--> older connections like VGA ("I will want USB ports, vga, some of the older types connectors/slots would be nice.")

Research what USB-C docks actually exist right now and what are "coming soon". You may find the 2016 MBP will fit your needs after all.
 
Last edited:
Well I'm also not looking to spend all the money in the world on it so late model is probably not a great option. So would folks say that 2013 and forward are good buys? VGA (or compatible adapter connection) is a pretty big deal 'cause the main reason I want a laptop is for a prompter system, other stuff (editing/Logic) is more a "bonus". I would likely not be editing "fancy" footage like the stuff from Red, Alexa, anything 4K, anything like that. I mean you never KNOW, but based on my life to this point, probably C300 footage if even that high quality. . .more likely DSLR/AVCHD, XDCAM, stuff like that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top