MacBook Appraisal Advice. Tests to See What it's Worth.

A fellow student is selling his black MacBook and I'd like to buy it. I've taken a few courses and I'm pretty handy with Macs, plus I own the newer version of the same computer, but I wonder if anyone has advice on tests they would do if buying a used Mac.
Stats: 2.2GHz/2GB RAM/160GB HDD. I'm assuming by the stats it still has Tiger, but I have a family pack upgrade DVD that I've only used on one computer.
The only tests I can think of running are Verify Disk in the Disk Utility and Apple Hardware Test with the install CD's.
If you were buying this Mac, for what red flags would you search? And are there any other good tests to run? Or maybe a program that diagnoses problems that Apple Hardware test doesn't?
Thanks in advance! I hope maybe this can be a good used MacBook buying guide for others as well.

S.M.A.R.T. status? Perhaps maybe running a few intensive applications to see if it holds out?

Similar Messages

My G5 2.0 acting really crazy. What should I test to see what's wrong?

A year or more ago I had a problem with my 2.0 G5 not starting and fans going into TURBO mode. After MUCH research I thought my board failed and after going back and forth with Apple about them covering the repair even though it was out of warranty they agreed. I took it to a local shop (which Apple paid for) and it turned out to be nothing but my video card needing to be re-seated. Maybe 6 months later the same problem happened so I opened the computer up and removed and replace anything and everything I could see and it worked.
Now to my current issue, for starters...I'm not sure when but at some point semi-recently I stopped hearing the chime sound when I start the computer. No big deal as the computer seemed to work perfectly fine in every other way. And then two weeks ago I was watching a movie on Quicktime and the movie sputtered, the audio got crackly and metallic sounding and the computer FROZE. I had to force a shut down with the power button on the front of the computer. I restarted and everything seemed fine. I went back to the movie and in no time, same thing. When I tried to restart I got the black screen and fans in turbo mode again. I opened up the machine, did the same re-seating thing to everything and tried to start again, no go. I resigned to the fact I would need to take it in to have it checked out but I got busy in the last week or so, so it sat in the kitchen. Today I decided to try again. I hooked it up, turned it on and it seems like everything is working fine.
So no my question, what should I do know? Is there some sort of test I can run on the computer to see if anything is running funky? What would you suggest I do?
Thanks so much for your help!
D

OK, since my last post video has been fine. I still a problem starting the machine when it's turned off (black screen, fans go into TURBO mode). At one point it wouldn't start so I unplugged everything and was determiend to take it to The Apple Store and have them look at it. The computer sat in my kitchen for a week or two because I was busy but the day I decided to finally take it in I thought 'Let me just give it another try'. It fired right up so I decided to just not turn it off. It worked fine.
Two night ago, I plugged something in to the front usb jack and it wouldn't recognize it. Never showed up so I unplugged and external jack from the rear USB and the new device worked. When I was through using it I went to plug the previous device in and it wouldn't recognize it (at least not in the time frame I gave it which should have been long enough). I tried a restart and I got the Turbo fans so I took it into the Apple store two night ago. They called me today to say they think it's either the logic board or the processor. Apple told me a year ago they thought it was the logic board but another place saw it and said all they needed to do was reseat the video card. The computer worked flawlessly for months after. When it acted up I would open the computer and reseat everything I could see.. usually this worked.
Can someone please tell me what they think is wrong with this thing? Advice? A processor is $375 and a board is $500+. I've been thinking of getting a laptop but I don't want to just dump this if I can save it. Is it worth putting that much money into? Can I get the stuff cheaper and do it myself? What is the resale value of this thing with either a bad processor or a bad board?
Thanks!!

In my macbook pro sees in the screen very wide a vertical black bar and it does not let see what this underneath that bar

in my macbook pro sees in the screen very wide a vertical black bar and it does not let see what this underneath that bar

Take it in for service. Your screen probably needs to be replaced.

My one year old macbook pro is full. : ( How can I see what's taking up all the GB?

My one year old macbook pro is full already. : ( How can I see what's taking up all the space? I cannot download anymore pictures. It's running slower than usual.

OmniDiskSweeper (free) - http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnidisksweeper/download/
Archive files onto other media until your hard drive has at least 10% of its total size free, or at least 15+ GB at all times.

Does the macbook have a screen cover that makes it so the person next you cannot see what you are doing?

does the macbook have a screen cover that makes it so the person next you cannot see what you are doing?

Hello 23435,
Welcome to the Apple Support Communities!
I understand that your iPhone was knocked out of your hand and now it displays blue and black colors on the display. It does sound like this iPhone may need to be evaluated for service. If you would like more information about this process, please refer to the attached web link below.
iPhone Other Repair Options - Apple Support
Have a great day,
Joe

How do I see what I plug into the macbook on the desktop?

When I got my macbook pro 13 I was able to see what was in my diskdrive and also whatever was plugged into it. How do I turn that back on? Funny thing is I do not even remember turning it off.

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
By default, OS X doesn't show disks in the desktop. To turn this on, open a Finder window, go to Finder menu (on the menu bar) > Preferences > General, and tick "Hard disks" and "External drives". After doing it, all the drives will appear on Desktop

APPLE TECH TEAM SUGGESTED TO REPLACE MY MACBOOK PRO'S LOGIC BOARD FOR 2ND TIME?All the funtionality and applications is working fine but my screen backlight is off.If i expose it to direct sunlight , i can see what is running on my MAC(out of warranty)

APPLE TECH TEAM SUGGESTED TO REPLACE MY MACBOOK PRO'S LOGIC BOARD FOR 2ND TIME?All the funtionality and applications is working fine but my screen backlight is off.If i expose it to direct sunlight , i can see what is running on my MAC(out of warranty)

likely display inverter board.
did you get your inverter board replaced already?
Did you have a question?
If the diagnostic in shop indicates same, thats 1000X better than anyone can do online in "diagnosis" (not really genuine diagnosis of course)

I need to change the display configuration of my macbook but I can't see to open the preferences (because the configuration is wrong!) - what can I do?

I need to change the display configuration of my macbook but I can't see to open the preferences (because the configuration is wrong!) - what can I do?

(cannot update previous post, exceeded timinout)
4. In case any of the previous operations work but the settings don't "stick". There are two plists associated with the settings:
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.plist
~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.windowserver.XXXXX-XXXXXXX.plist
The first is global to all accounts while the second is in your home directory. The X's are a sequence of hyphaninated letters and numbers. If you can get these removed then it will probably revert to a default resolution.

My friend took my macbook pro's MAC address.Can he operate my laptop with it?Can he see what i do?Whats is the solution?If i change the MAC address will it help me? I don't want him to operate my laptop

My friend took my macbook pro's MAC address.Can he operate my laptop with it?Can he see what i do?Whats is the solution?If i change the MAC address will it help me? I don't want him to operate my laptop

Use the trackpad to scroll, thats what it was designed for. The scroll bars automatically disappear when not being used and will appear if you scroll up or down using the trackpad.
This is a user-to-user forum and most people will post on here if they have problems. You very rarely get people posting to say there update went smooth. The fact is the vast majority of Mountain Lion users will not be experiencing any major problems with the OS, or maybe with apps which are not compatible, but thats hardly Apple's fault if developers don't update their apps.

How can i see what is in my trash on my macbook air?

I want to see what is in my trash before I empty it, but I cant see anything when i click on the icon, it is like a screen is covering the contents.

It is a really BAD idea to move items from the Applications or Applications -> Utilities folders to your desktop or any other folder, and as John Galt says, it should have been in your Applications -> Utilities folder.
If you want a fast access to such an app, create an Alias and put that Alias anywhere you iike (Finder -> File -> Make Alias). Make several aliases of the app if you want it in multiple location, just do not move the original.
When Apple standard programs and utilities are not in their expected locations several bad things can happen.
After an update/upgrade you might get a newer copy in the official location, but keep using the old version because you keep clicking on your desktop copy, and then wonder why it is not working correctly with the updated/upgraded Mac software.
Some functions may fail, if some other app that expects to be able to launch the standard app cannot find it in the standard location.
If it is an essentail utility you may be even brick your Mac, turning it into a door stop.
Pleaes uses Aliases and do not move things our of their Applications or Applications -> Utilities locations.

I recently got a pop up virus on my Macbook Pro and wanted to know what I can do to see if I got a virus?

I was using a site to download music and when I clicked "download" I got a new window that opened up and it was a virus. I closed everything as quickly as I could, not really reading any of the pop ups that I was trying to close. So I have no idea what I did when I was closing everything. I did a scan using a virus scanner app in the app store and it came back clean but I still am not sure? It would be great to get some feedback to see what I can do further to check and make sure my mac doesn't have a virus...

It's not a virus. It's a JavaScript scam that only affects your web browser, and only temporarily.
Some of those scam pages can be dismissed very easily. Press command-W to close the tab or window. A huge box will pop up. Press the return key and both the box and the page will close. If that doesn't happen, continue.
From the Safari menu bar, select
Safari ▹ Preferences... ▹ Security
and uncheck the box marked Enable JavaScript. Leave the preferences dialog open.
Close the malicious window or tab.
Re-enable JavaScript and close the preferences dialog.
If the Preferences menu item is grayed out, quit Safari. Force quit if necessary. Relaunch it by holding down the shift key and clicking its icon in the Dock. From the menu bar, select
Safari ▹ Preferences... ▹ Privacy ▹ Remove All Website Data
to get rid of any cookies or other data left by the server. Open your Downloads folder and delete anything you don't recognize.

I bought my macbook pro for only a day, and see what happens....

The computer is running pretty laggy a little bit and also I cannot shut it down... When i press shutdown, the only disappeared was the bar on the top. the task bar on the bottom still there.... And when i tries to shut it down by pressing the physical button.. It still wouldn't work....
It takes longer to start the mac every time...It's really annoying
Anyone know whats going on with my mac?... Is it possible to let apple set up a appointment and see what happens and if i wasn't satisfied with the result can apple change another one for me?(I bought the mac at my local eletronic store. Not Apple store) Thanks!

This is a user to user forum. This is not Apple. You are covered by warranty. Stop down to your local Apple store or make an appointment online. You need to make the appointment not Apple. You also have free 90 day phone support so you can call Apple at 800-275-2273 and talk to tech support.

I just got an apple tv and have macbook pro-- what do i need to do to see what is on my computer on the my TV

I am not able to see what is on my computer on my TV using my apple TV. What am I missing or doing wrong?

Mirroring requires a Mac from 2011 or later and OSX 10.8 or later
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5404?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Looking to buy my first MacBook Pro, advice needed

Hey all, this is my first post. I am looking to become a MacBook Pro owner for the first time. I have an iphone5 and an ipad but have decided it's time to step up. I have decided to give my ipad to my wife because she likes the more portable device and just uses it for web browsing and Facebook.
I am looking for opinions, I am currently leaning towards getting the 13" macbook with retina display. I will be using it mainly for Internet browsing. Downloading music and films. Managing them and using iTunes etc. will also be looking to stream what I download to my ps3 if that is possible. I am not a massive user in terms of I do not video editing or music editing professionally but like the idea of iPhoto and iMovie just for playing around and seeing what I can do. Could turn into a new hobby for me.
I had a windows laptop previously and it became riddled in viruses and slowed down so quickly so will not be getting one of those again. In terms of MacBooks do they generally stand the test of time? It will not be slowing down on me anytime soon will it?
My main concern is the storage. I feel my best bet is the 256gb hard drive and an external hard drive also.
Is there anything I need to consider other than what I have mentioned above before buying one having never used a mac before? Does the App Store work the same as on the iphone? Are there any really good apps to get me started?
All advice welcomed. Thanks

Depending on your intended use, you may want to max out the RAM to 16GB. This will future proof your Mac to some extent.
Althouigh your MacBookPro won't slow down over time, OSX RAM requirements may increase with future updates.
I agree a good backup plan is essential. Time Machine for incremental backups and a cloning strategy with an offisite rotation is ideal.
You may want to consider storing Music/Video on your network, either a NAS device or USB drive attached to a router. A future purchase could be a MacMini as a Server.
As for applications, the usual office apps are available in Mac versions (MS Office being the one that comes to mind). I would start with the Apple programs and then, if you need others, come back here or search the web for reviews.
Lastly, consider whether you need to run Windows either in Bootcamp (dual boot configuration) or as a virtual machine. For example, you may have Windows software that is not available on the Mac.
Good luck and enjoy your new Mac.
Sam.

When typing on my iPad the screen does not move up so I can see what I am typing.

Under normal operation, when using the virtual keypad, iOS shifts the screen so that it's possible to view what you are typing all the time. On my iPad if the text I am typing is below the keyboard, the screen is not automatically moved up. On some forms for example, where it is not possible to manually shift the screen, it is impossible to see what you are typing. I went to the Genius Bar and they wiped my iPad and reinstalled iOS 6 but I still have the problem. I'm guessing it is being caused by one of my apps but with 174 apps which all reinstall from the cloud it is impossible for me to know which one (and Apple is supposed to have tested all apps anyway). Any suggestions?

So reading related comments and your feedback here helped me identify and fix the issue. Basically by turning off the split keyboard option in settings the problem with not scrolling was corrected. I then tried turning the option back on and it now appears to work fine either docked or split. I'm guessing there is a bugs in iOS whereby the setting for the split keyboard causes it to not scroll the window under specific circumstances (if I had to guess I would say when you switch the split keyboard option on and then don't use the spilt keyboard). And for the record, this problem occurred for all Apple apps as well as 3rd party apps (eg Apple notes). my advice to the "Genius" guys is to do basic stuff like changing the settings first before they resort to wiping and restore.

MacBook Appraisal Advice. Tests to See What it's Worth.

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for