# Looking for a place to buy a used MacBook Air



## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

I am looking for a business in Canada that sells gently used MacBook airs. I know about the private sales on here, kijiji and eBay etc but I need to put the order on a mastercard and it be from a 'proper' business for accounting purposes. Anyone know of reputable places...preferably with a good website? I'd take one from the refurb section of apple.ca but I'd like to get the cost under $1K if possible


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## rgray (Feb 15, 2005)

The MacGroup in Ottawa sells used, has a 'real' bricks'n'mortar store and a website but doesn't have any Airs listed at the moment.

The Apple Refurb store has 4 right now as low as $1299 - sold as new, 1 year Applecare so might be a better deal.


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## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

I've found these so far...

located in the heart of midtown Toronto
MacDoc.com
Simmply Macs 416•534•9700
carbon computing. sales.


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## fyrefly (Apr 16, 2005)

There's also:

.:: Welcome to ClickOn Macs ::.

Mac & PC Notebooks, Desktops, iPod, Accessories and Software at ShopCSC Online : Computer Systems Centre


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

Andrew Pratt said:


> I've found these so far...
> 
> located in the heart of midtown Toronto
> MacDoc.com
> ...


Note: MacDoc does not take credit cards as is the op's preference.


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## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

I think I may just go for a new refurb white book instead...cheaper and I can pass it onto my daughter in the coming years where as the Air's will likely start feeling slow sooner


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## John Clay (Jun 25, 2006)

Andrew Pratt said:


> I've found these so far...
> 
> located in the heart of midtown Toronto
> MacDoc.com
> ...


Also note that Midtown Digital is the reincarnation of CPUsed/BeamEcho, so take from that what you will.


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## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

John were they untrustworthy?


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## John Clay (Jun 25, 2006)

Andrew Pratt said:


> John were they untrustworthy?


http://www.ehmac.ca/anything-mac/76967-beamecho-cpused-gone-out-business.html?highlight=cpused
http://www.ehmac.ca/everything-else-eh/73743-beam-echo.html
http://www.ehmac.ca/anything-mac/5674-cpused-poor-after-sales-experience.html
http://www.ehmac.ca/anything-mac/60504-beam-echo-umm-testimonial.html

Plenty of similar stories out there. Caveat emptor.


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## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

Thanks


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## rgray (Feb 15, 2005)

Andrew Pratt said:


> I think I may just go for a new refurb white book instead...cheaper and I can pass it onto my daughter in the coming years where as the Air's will likely start feeling slow sooner


Good thinking. That is what I did. I had an Air but got tired of carrying the Superdrive and a powered USB hub all the time. The MacBook does it all for me.


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## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

I'd still love an Air...I think they're incredible machines but are not going to win any competition for bang for the buck...esp at the moment while we wait for them to be refreshed.


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## fyrefly (Apr 16, 2005)

rgray said:


> Good thinking. That is what I did. I had an Air but got tired of carrying the Superdrive and a powered USB hub all the time. The MacBook does it all for me.


If you need a disc drive that much and multiple USB ports at all times, the Air is not for you. Never was.

I use my MBA Superdrive all of 2-3 times a year if that, so I love my Air. But again, that's based on my usage.



Andrew Pratt said:


> I'd still love an Air...I think they're incredible machines but are not going to win any competition for bang for the buck...esp at the moment while we wait for them to be refreshed.


The air's are indeed long in the tooth at this point. IMHO, the problem lies in:
1) Chip quantities - Intel has had trouble delivering i3/i5 mobile chips - especially the ULV ones used in the air.
2) Integrated Graphics - Because of the current Intel/NVidia legal battle, Apple can't use NVidia graphics chips with the new i3/i5 processors - so they'd have to stick with the crummy intel integrated video (making the MBA revD a step back graphics-wise) or put in a discrete solution from ATI, but still have the Intel graphics there (they're built right into the new processors). Neither of those is probably very palatable for Apple in such a space-starved machine.


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## rgray (Feb 15, 2005)

fyrefly said:


> If you need a disc drive that much and multiple USB ports at all times, the Air is not for you. Never was.
> 
> I use my MBA Superdrive all of 2-3 times a year if that, so I love my Air. But again, that's based on my usage.


Indeed the Air was fine for what it is and I would still use it but life changes and needs change. I enjoyed it when I didn't need the extras.


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## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

Has anyone dealt with ClickonMac before? They have a MacBook that might suit my needs that sounds good...but I'm not sure if they're trust worthy or not seeing as this will be a blind purchase. Thoughts?


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## Rob (Sep 14, 2002)

I've dealt with Clickon for many years. It's a great place that I would highly recommend.

I wouldn't buy any used laptop sight unseen, however. The screen is everything in a laptop. Expectations are going to vary widely, and it's impossible to get a rating system that everyone will interpret exactly the same.


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## mimosa (May 22, 2010)

Avoid Carbon Computing, aka Condescension Computing, patronizing and not customer satisfaction oriented. I tried to exchange a Brother HL-2140 bw laser printer and the manager used the old, "if you want better quality, spend more money". He'd look right at home in a used car lot...


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## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

I ended up buying a used MacBook from ClickOn computers in Toronto...the sale went very smoothly and I'd do business with them again.


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## J-Money (Jul 30, 2005)

If you still want an Air, I've been thinking of getting rid of mine for an iMac, for photo editing purposes.

Can go through PayPal for credit card payments. Send me a PM if you're still interested.


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## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

At this point the only thing I would trade the MacBook for is an ipad.


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## J-Money (Jul 30, 2005)

Yeah, that's prob the direction I'm going. iMac for photo editing, and iPad for photo dumping + portable use.

I'm still not sure though, cause I love the portability of my Air. It's just that the 13" screen is very restrictive when editing pictures.


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