Find out what "Grade B" means, and compare to MacofAllTrades

Post #396,330 by Another Scott 11/13/14 10:30:32 PM Reply	Find out what "Grade B" means, and compare to MacofAllTrades http://www.macofalltrades.com/Refurbished-Used-Apple-MacBooks-s/301.htm It does look like a decent deal, but be sure to price out the RAM and a new HD/SSD if you want to use it vigorously. J has an older black MacBook which had similar specs but maxes out at 6 GB of RAM. It's decently speedy with a Crucial SSD - she uses it every evening - but it struggles when she has about 30 tabs open. And I had to replace the battery not long ago (the older one was swelling). Dunno about mirroring between two Macs - there's probably some way to do it (Winders has the "briefcase" thingy for taking files from work to home and back, but I never use it). You could just up the Mac file sharing between them and always work on the same physical file if you want. Would that be good enough? The internal display is 1280 x 800, but the video out will do 2560 x 1600. So you could hook up a decent external monitor to it (but I assume you couldn't use your iMac as that external monitor - hmm... It looks like you can do it with OS X if you've got the right connections - http://support.apple.com/kb/ph4469 ). Good luck! Cheers, Scott.
Post #396,352 by Ashton 11/14/14 3:11:10 PM Reply	Al Punte on the memory, maybe.. (I hope I would have verified the flogger's "16 GB" claim, anyway..) but umm.. what were we talking about? Oh That: MacofAllTrades says 8 GB, which sounds quite more likely for a "2 GB" devious-Apple-upper-limit. Nevertheless Everymac states: Apple officially supports a maximum of 4 GB of RAM, but third-parties have determined that it actually supports 8 GB of RAM running Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" and 16 GB of RAM running OS X 10.7.5 "Lion" or higher and the latest EFI update. ..so maybe they weren't lyin 'bout Lion+. Dueling data. Yeah I missed reading the external display spec. They also have same (Deal of the Day) price, this model. Would natch want to deal with them over this fly-by-night place. No Pros listed today; guess everyone keeps them till the mobo goes tits-up or they won't run Mavericks+ Maybe I'm not the only one who likes the illuminated KB. So I gets more time to vacillate.. whether to put the 350 in cookie jar for a newer/NO OPTIONS-after-purchase iMac, all slimmed-down for max cash-extraction of the masses. (You heard it here first: future $$Apple stuff will come in hermetically sealed cases and a MTBF of 3.01 years (via transistorized cyanide capsule inside the CPU molding.)) ;^> Wonder if they can miniaturize the thickness of the 27" next, to match the above (?) Taking odds on that.. Quandary. Value of having two? -vs- MTBF roulette. Complicated by extra$ for SSD, RAM. Jeez I hates Econ calculations--makes one feel like a filthy-Capitalist. Odd disclaimer on that link: "This article has been archived and is no longer updated by Apple." Ummm.. what mean? Sounds like, for future models -vs- older, they won't bother to offer any suggestions, dunnit? * ~$100 for 8; 200 for 16 GB. I could live with 8, given the purpose. As usual, all your hints were spot-on. Maybe a refurb MacPro will compete with above Σ, when I get a round tuit. Thanks, again.
Post #396,359 by Another Scott 11/14/14 5:07:32 PM Reply	If EveryMac says 16 GB, then you can trust it. I assume an EFI upgrade is relatively painless (like a BIOS upgrade on a PC), but make sure all your ducks are in a row before doing it. I think I did it on J's Black MacBook, but it didn't enable any magic - it was just to try to keep it as current as possible. That Apple link was just for Lion. They eventually stop updating pages for the older OS versions. There's a similar page for Yosemite (which I can't find at the moment). Note that it apparently works with 2009 and newer iMacs (I don't recall if yours is older or not) - http://www.tekrevue.com/tip/ins-outs-imacs-target-display-mode/ The Mac Mini used to be the most reasonably priced expandable Macs. The latest versions are more locked-down than the older machines - https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Mac+Mini+Late+2014+Teardown/30410 This one is similar to that white MacBook in many respects. It's $399. My MacMini Server is still working fine (running 10.9.5 without the Server addons). It has 8 GB (I see that it can go to 16GB with a firmware upgrade. Thanks for finding that!). Dunno if I'd get a 2014 MacMini, as it has soldered RAM, but the older machines are well worth considering if you're worried about needing/wanting more than 8 GB of RAM. Have fun! Cheers, Scott.

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