Should I buy used macbook 13 unibody (2008) or new cheap Asus PC?

mstipic

Estimable
Mar 6, 2014
3
0
4,510
I need a cheap laptop. Budget is 300-350 eur. I'm cant decide between these two:

-Used Macbook 13" 1280x800 unibody-aluminium late 2008, a good looking laptop from my friend. Almost no scratches. Specs: Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, Geforce 9400m. OSX mavericks.

-New Asus X451CA, 14" 1366x768 2 year warranty. Specs: Celeron 1007U (similar to i3), 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, Intel HD 2500 graphics. Windows 8 Pro.

Both are priced 350 eur. Usage: Android and Web development, email, browsing, youtube, document editing.
(I don't want to buy a used pc laptop)

5 years old macbook or new asus pc?
 

Sharphawk1234

Estimable
Mar 5, 2014
25
0
4,590
I would have to say the new asus because its under warranty for 2 years so you know its life will be at least 2 years versus the mac which although it looks good on the outside, theres no guarantee that it wont break down in less than a year. With that said, the mac could last longer than that you never know. Performance wise I would lead to the asus as well because even a cheap processor today is usually faster than an enthusiast cpu from 5 years ago. Also the resolution is a good bit better on the asus.
 

SteelersNation

Estimable
Mar 6, 2014
1
0
4,510
I would say The asus as well Its to bad its a celeron instead of the Pentium (basically 13 without hyper threading) Its new and has that warranty in case something does go wrong. And this laptop will get the job done no problems.
 

mstipic

Estimable
Mar 6, 2014
3
0
4,510
Thank you for the answers. I also found out another much cheaper (200eur) Macbook (15" pro) on sale from a person I know.
Macbook Pro 15" Late 2007 model (not unibody). Specs C2D 2.4GHZ, Geforce 8600m gt, 4GB RAM. i have a few questions...

1. What is the normal cpu temperature (idle/load, celsius) for this model? Are the fans very noisy?
2. Which version of OSX is most suitable for this model (smooth performance+app support)?
3. Is this model prone to failures? Any other known problems?
5. How long should the battery last? (new original battery, low-medium cpu/gpu load)

(I prefer OSX over Windows, but if this also it isn't a good buy, I'll go with Asus and Win8)
Thanks
 

Sharphawk1234

Estimable
Mar 5, 2014
25
0
4,590
A lot of your decision is going to be made off of what condition it is in. No one can tell you the mac will last 2 or more years because no one knows. Even if someone is a mac fanboy they cant tell you itll last longer than a few months cause no one knows. Personally I would rather go with the new one and have itunder warantee because something is destined to happen to it and I would rather have it covered by the warantee than pay out of pocket.. Plus were talking about a 7 year old machine here...