Ask HN: Anyone have an older Macbook that you're willing to sell cheaply?

#1

Post by optimus » Mon, Jul 22, 2013, 7:33 AM UTC

My hard drive crashed and my optical drive stopped working. I lost some unbacked-up data, and I cracked something on the motherboard while trying to diagnose the problem with the optical drive, resulting in the display not working.

I don't have the funds for a new computer so, as a long-shot, I'm wondering if anyone here has a Macbook that's not in use and lying around that you're willing to sell for a cheap price?

My email is in my profile if anyone can help out.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone have an older Macbook that you're willing to sell cheaply?

#2

Post by mrfancypants » Mon, Jul 22, 2013, 9:37 AM UTC

You'd best post the model number (found on the underside, near the hinge) - you can't just swap out Apple motherboards and expect everything to work, in my experience.

If the data's urgently required, you can probably grab a cheap [PS]ATA-to-usb adaptor and mount the volume on another machine running osx (or linux).

Good luck...

Re: Ask HN: Anyone have an older Macbook that you're willing to sell cheaply?

#3

Post by bnejad » Mon, Jul 22, 2013, 2:59 PM UTC

I'd check craiglist, you can find some very cheap laptops(macbooks included).

Re: Ask HN: Anyone have an older Macbook that you're willing to sell cheaply?

#4

Post by sejje » Mon, Jul 22, 2013, 9:40 PM UTC

bnejad wrote: post #3

I'd check craiglist, you can find some very cheap laptops(macbooks included).

If any of them didn't make the trip to Africa!

I posted a cheap Toshiba laptop recently and had about 40 requests to ship it to Africa, all offering more than my asking price

Re: Ask HN: Anyone have an older Macbook that you're willing to sell cheaply?

#5

Post by bnejad » Wed, Jul 24, 2013, 10:01 PM UTC

sejje wrote: post #4

bnejad wrote: post #3

I'd check craiglist, you can find some very cheap laptops(macbooks included).

If any of them didn't make the trip to Africa! I posted a cheap Toshiba laptop recently and had about 40 requests to ship it to Africa, all offering more than my asking price

Yeah, that's pretty common craigslist bot spam. If OP is truly desperate he can find a workable laptop for fairly cheap.