On Aug 19, 2011, at 1:37 PM, Cliff Rediger wrote:

> As per my interest in upgrading to the Intel world
> while retaining PPC capability,
> I've decided to look for a MacBook for improved video card (over Mini)
> and portability.
> 
> So, I've been looking at  13" A1181(early)
>                                       15" A1175
>                                       17" A1151
> 
> When I eBay search on these, a substantially different number of hits
> come up for each model. More for 13", less for 17". Mostly batteries
> and parts, of course.
> 
> One might presume that this difference points to number of units
> originally sold,
> but just to check:
> 
> I'm wondering if those who work with these things daily, might comment
> comparatively on the
> relative durability, or any know service issues for these earlier
> MacBooks.

IMO, I would not consider a Core Duo Macbook or Macbook pro at all. If you're 
upgrading to Intel, there's no sense in upgrading to something that's already 
obsolete.

They had a longer lifespan than the Mac IIvx, but not a lot...you definitely 
want one of the latter Core 2 Duo ones. They accept more RAM, they're faster, 
and they're Lion compatible. (and work quiote well with Lion, we're using one 
right now as a testbed system)

Metal wears better than plastic, mostly. We had a bunch of pharmacy residents 
who got 13" MacBooks of that vintage, and after a few years they were pretty 
beat up, lots of cracks and bits missing from the case.

It all depends on how well they're handled.

However other than cosmetic issues the only think I've had to replace on any of 
the myriad white Macbooks around here has been batteries; even the hard drives 
have held up pretty well..I've upgraded a few. They're ridiculously small by 
today's standards, of course, but they've held up well. The only one we've 
surplused had cola spilled into it's guts and the owner kept trying to turn it 
on, afterwards. I tried cleaning it off, and found that several IC's had their 
contacts corroded off the body...

-- 
Bruce Johnson
University of Arizona
College of Pharmacy
Information Technology Group

Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs


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