I have been a Windows user for many years. However, it was frustrating to me the way my old Windows XP computer became obsolete without apparent reason. It had been 10 years since I bought it at a discounted price. I really enjoyed it for the first several years to the point that I never considered upgrading it to a newer version.
For the first 5 years the computer used to “FLY” with an average one minute start up. As the years went by, start up became slower and slower until two years ago when it became pretty much unusable as it would take over ten minutes to start up.
After boot up it would just keep popping up messages indicating that applications required updates but those updates were not possible because the Windows version I was using was out of support. I thought that the slowness could have been caused by corrupt applications or application installations that never finished but had left config files on the system.
In an effort to resolve the problem I decided to reset the computer back to the factory settings to at least be able to run my old applications in a better way. Right after the reset was complete the computer was fast again which made me think that I was right and the Windows system had gotten corrupted.
However my happiness did not last long as the computer spent two days downloading and installing updates that brought the computer back to the same state of slowness where it was before the reset. Disillusioned, I ended up buying a new notebook with Windows 8.1 preinstalled and gave up my beloved Windows XP.
My new notebook had already solved my slowness problems when I saw a refurbished Apple MacBook at a price that I could not believe, $125 plus $15 for shipping. Since it was a 2006 model, the age of the laptop made me think that it would be totally useless and pretty much junk just like the old Windows XP computer that I had recently replaced. But, I had always wanted to own an Apple computer and that was the perfect opportunity to buy one for a price even lower than what I paid for a used iPad 3, so I went ahead and placed my order.
When I opened the box I was surprised to find a notebook that looks better than many newer laptops that are much more expensive. I started it up and found that Mac OS X 10.6 came preinstalled and booted up in one minute.
Taking into consideration that there are 5 newer versions I guessed that I would have the same issues I had with my XP computer but my doubts were alleviated right after the machine installed with all available updates and kept performing at its best.
At this point, I can say that I’m extremely happy with this ten year old Apple computer which is running all of the applications I need including internet browsers and cloud services without a single glitch. The battery lasts 3 hours at the very least which gives me more “unplugged” time than what I actually need, the screen is bright and clear as if it were brand new, and the wireless network connection is stable and reliable. The touchpad works as smooth as any other Apple device that you may have used.
All this beauty is achieved with only 1 Gb in RAM, which clearly tells me that the memory management and allocation totally overperforms Windows based computers. I can’t imagine what it would do with 2 Gb which is its expansion limit.
I highly recommend these MacBooks to anyone who is looking for an affordable, portable computer to be used for their day to day internet and home activities. In case higher performance is required, there are newer refurbished MacBooks out in the market that will cost just a few dollars more. All things considered, I highly recommend the refurbished Apple MacBooks as a great investment.