Don't you have a board to replace? Also, reliability > looks. If you have a nice looking laptop that breaks, it's a bad laptop.
Everyone in the school made viewers. Essentially a cardboard box with tracing paper on one end and a pinhole on the other. You point the pinhole at the sun and the image is projected onto the tracing paper. I was going to use my tablet and point that at the sun and see if i could see anything through that. But with the UK being the UK there was no need for any sun protection at all, you couldn't see it, it didn't even get dark maybe it got a bit cooler for a couple of mins but it was difficult to tell. Please excuse the image quality, the camera on the tablet is complete arse. But it got everyone out of a lesson so i guess that is something. It also postponed my computing deadline until Monday, so i am totally fine with the outcome.
I just spent over two hours taking my keyboard apart, cleaning it, and putting it back together. Worth it. Looks great. Probably not, but it will still suck. Try it, worst thing that could happen is you fry the card and have to use integrated graphics, which are probably more powerful anyway.
Baka. Japanese for idiot or fool. San. Japanese honorific title which roughly translates as Mr/Mrs/Ms (it is not gender specific). Japanese titles are suffixes rather than prefixes. Does mean our forum user Bakasan is essentially going by the name "Mr Idiot"
Ignoring the arguments about Apple and their OS, I'd still say it's a bad idea. I've had plenty of experience with a 2008 MBP, and the generation of Intel Core 2 Duo and the Nvidia 8xxx they used was pretty terrible for laptops. Both the 2008 MBP and the 2007 Asus notebook I've used had terrible issues with CPUs and GPUs overheating. The Asus would frequently overheat past 105C on its GPU chip and shut off, despite the fact that the main game I played on it was Abe's Oddysee, an entirely 2D game from 1997. The MacBook is a little bit better due to the size, but worse in other aspects due to the fact that there are no vents and the heat is distributed through the laptop's metal body, which means it can get quite burn-y when you do anything remotely intensive, which includes web browsing. The MacBook eventually got so bad that its battery expanded and bent the laptop out of shape like this: (imported from here) So nope, I'd say bad idea. Just down to the hardware, not any bias against Apple. 2006-2008 was a terrible time for mobile chipsets in my experience. If you insist on going for a MacBook I'd recommend going for one of the early silver and black models, like this kind: (imported from here)
Wow, that's just bad. Another reason why plastic > metal for laptops/phones (not that batteries should expand anyway, terrible battery + metal case = not good). And yeah, try to find a laptop with a 1st gen Core i3/i5, the improvement over the mobile C2D's is massive. Sandy Bridge's are even better, but you're already looking at a 2011 laptop then.
I can confirm that the battery expands. The battery in my mom's 2008 MacBook pro expanded and kept the trackpad from clicking. At least they were still somewhat upgradable and fixable in those days.
Don't go for that generation. The chassis on them like to bend. Go for an early unibody, similar to mine. The early 2009 15" and 17" are fairly powerful, mine's (January 2009 model) equiped with a 2.66 GHz C2D and an Nvidia 9400m/9600mGT combination. Beware, they like to get REALLY hot. I'd recommend SMCFanControl and run the fans at a solid 3500RPM all the time, kicking them up to 6000 (max) ONLY when it gets too hot, because you could damage something. Oh, almost forgot, beware the screen overlays too. Sometimes they can become unglued and fall off of their magnets, speaking from personal experience. Careful as they're glass/brittle plastic (I can't tell you if it's one of the other). Also, the screws on the bottom pan like to fall out after it's been serviced, like mine have. ALSO, it's a bit of an unconventional screen resolution at 1920x1200, felt that was relevant for some reason.
Might as well go for a 2010 model with a Nehalem Core i, much more powerful and not much more expensive. I'd avoid 2009+ Macbooks though, they are a true pain in the arse to repair. Also glossy screen. Ew. No want.
I actually wish that someone told me to avoid the 2009s specifically back when I was first looking at them on the used market. They had an incredible amount of teething problems with the unibodies. The 2010+ are so much better built. And the overlays don't fall out as often.
Still terrible to repair, still have a horrible horrible glossy screen (Apple's screens are actually very good, but glossy screens are the worst thing to look at ever). I'd much rather have a big, black, bulky Thinkpad, knowing that I can beat the crap out of it and it'll still work fine. Also has a proper matte finish screen. For me, reliability, build quality and toughness are the most important things on a laptop. Macbooks are well built but very fragile.
I've been in mine a couple times, they are't that bad. You just have to vaguely know what you're doing and be great friends with something like a credit card to get some of the connectors loose. Oh, and the glossy screen from hell is an understatement. I regularly use mine as a mirror.
The problem is when you're doing anything with low brightness (dark scene in a movie, steam etc) and the screen becomes a mirror. It's the one thing I hate of every smartphone and tablet ever. Although in those it's necessary, because a matte screen is as awful to touch as a glossy screen is to look at. - - - Updated - - - Then just buy a PC :| And make sure to get one with a Core i first gen, they are much better than C2D's and not much more expensive.
