Bought a refurbished Macbook without operating system. Trying to get an OS installed but all I get is a white screen?? HELP!

Question

I purchased a refurbished Macbook pro without operating system.
This is my first Mac, but have heard they are very simple and much more intuitive than Windows,
I've had the machine for three weeks now, and it's been nothing more than a paperweight!! 
  A friend said he had his old install disks, which happened to be exactly what google said I needed to start out as: version 10.5
When I boot holding the OPTION button down, I get two options. Windows (with an up arrow below it) and Mac OS x Install Disk 1 (with an up arrow below it).
I can move the mouse, and move the cursor with my arrow keys, to select either Windows or Mac OS install. The problem is - if I select the Mac OS install,
the disk starts up (I can hear it), but it never does anything. I can no longer move the mouse / cursor after selecting it.  It will stay for hours like this with no progress.
On the disk itself, it says MAC OS version 10.5. This software is part of a hardware bundle purchase - not be sold separately.
It also says: to start up from Mac OS x, hold down the C key as the computer starts up. When I do that, all I get is a gray screen.
I've also tried the shift key when starting up (supposed to be safe mode?) but same thing - gray screen.
The only way to even eject the disk (scared the heck out of me) is to start up holding the OPTION button.
If I select WINDOWS after using the OPTION button, I get an IBM message:
IBM Secure Data Disposal Utility 2.0
IBM Remote Deployment Manager 4.1
Date and time of execution...7/24/12 18:01:22
Command executed................A:\SCRUB3.EXE /d=all /l=2
Return code...............................0
I assume this is what they used to wipe the hard drive before sending...
Obviously I am Apple-illiterate, but I've spent days going through chat rooms, etc. and came up with nothing.
At this point, I suspect either:
1) The machine is junk and needs to be returned OR
2) The disks are bad and/or can't be used for a clean install
I don't want to waste money buying a brand new OS, only to find out that the machine is bad.
Any thoughts??

Answer 1

That model originally shipped with a special Intel version of Tiger. You should be able to install any retail version of Leopard or later. I would recommend you start with Snow Leopard. Snow Leopard requires a minimum of 1 GB of RAM. If you have 2 GBs of RAM then you could install Lion or Mountain Lion.
You can purchase Snow Leopard from Apple's online store's telesales agents.[1-800-MY-APPLE (1-800-692-7753) or Customer Service and Sales Support at 1-800-676-2775.] Ask for a Sales Representative.
Third-party sources for Snow Leopard are:
Snow Leopard from Amazon.com
Snow Leopard from eBay
After you install Snow Leopard you will have to download and install the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 to update Snow Leopard to 10.6.8 and give you access to the App Store.
When you receive the DVD:
Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button.  When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area.  If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing.  SMART info will not be reported  on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
7. When completed quit DU and return to the installer. Complete the Snow Leopard installation.