Need a new computer for homeschooling? You can do worse than a sub-£30 2007 MacBook off eBay
- Reference: 1602864067
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/10/16/need_a_new_computer_for/
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Institutions and parents alike are waiting longer and paying more for machines - even the so-called cheap laptops. Of course, there's another way. There's always another way.
Readers of this publication may know I've got something of a penchant for [2]collecting old tech . Indeed, my office houses a small museum of elderly computers, some of which receive routine usage. I'm writing this article on my favourite computer of all time — an Apple PowerBook G3 Lombard.
Now, I'm not suggesting you buy your offspring a 22-year-old computer that's not even capable of proper multitasking, let alone running a modern web browser. But for anyone struggling to obtain a machine for home learning and Zoom calls, you could do worse than get an early-model polycarbonate MacBook.
These machines were some of Apple's first Intel-powered machines. They fall within a particular vintage sweet-spot. They're old enough to be obsolete, yet also common as muck. If you spend more than £30 on one on eBay, you've been ripped off. The cheapest one I ever got for was £15, including postage.
Matt's mostly Mac collection of classic computers. It's remarkable to think that upon their release, these machines would collectively have cost around £20,000.
Buy, install, and tweak
As for where to buy it, for eBay, you can substitute any auction system, because you tend to pay the market rates. eBay (other online auctioneers are available) also benefits from specialist sellers auctioning decommissioned workplace kit, making it easy to get a bargain. Failing that, you can usually find preloved MacBooks on Shpock and Gumtree and via pawnshops (Cash Converters, etc), but they're usually way overpriced, because people think: "Well, I spent £1,000 on this over a decade ago, so it MUST be worth at least half that?"
A huge factor in why they're so cheap is because they can't run any version of MacOS beyond version 10.7 Lion*, which was long abandoned by browser makers. The latest versions of Google Chrome and Firefox require newer versions of Apple's operating system, which simply refuse to play nice with early-generation MacBooks.
But they can run Windows 10 with a gentle bit of coaxing. Not officially, mind you, but it's possible - with one user calling the combo " [3]shockingly usable ". And Linux, obviously.
Most Linux distros should play nicely with an old MacBook when it comes to things like drivers — although you might have to make some tweaks when it comes to the keyboard and mouse. I'm inclined to steer people towards [4]Elementary OS , which also apes the MacOS aesthetic nicely. Like all Linux systems, if you get stuck, help isn't far away. There's also Ubuntu, or perhaps Linux Mint. And you can add your own suggestions below.
Apple seeks damages from recycling firm that didn't damage its devices: 100,000 iThings 'resold' rather than broken up as expected [5]READ MORE
When you cross those thresholds, you ultimately end up with a machine that's capable enough for most day-to-day tasks, particularly those done within the context of homeschooling. By ditching the last supported MacOS version, you get access to the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, and [6]even Edge . We don't judge. And the Core2Duo processors used in these machines are powerful enough to render web pages and play online video without any punishing sluggishness.
And they're repairable...
Another reason why I'm somewhat evangelical about these old machines is that it's still easy enough to obtain aftermarket upgrades and parts. Unlike [7]newer Apple laptops , Cupertino designed early polycarbonate MacBooks to be simple to self-service. To install fresh RAM and an SSD, you just need to loosen three screws and slot the new components in. It couldn't be more straightforward.
These machines use standard DDR2 SDRAM. A pair of 2GB sticks will set you back [8]less than £16 . While you're at it, you'll want to replace the old mechanical hard drive with a faster, more power-efficient SSD. A 120Gb SATA III drive shouldn't cost more than £20, and you get your pick of manufacturers to choose from: Kingston, Western Digital, and err, [9]FattyDove .
Admittedly, a battery replacement isn't out of the question. We are, after all, talking about 13-year-old computers that have seen some usage. There are no shortage of manufacturers flogging these, and some are half-decent. I [10]spent £25 on one , and it works great.
If you're more mechanically minded, you might also want to consider opening up the case to remove any accumulated dust and replace the laptop's thermal paste. This isn't obligatory, and it does require the removal of an intimidating amount of screws, but it'll make your machine run cooler and improve its battery life drastically.
So, worst-case scenario, you're looking at spending £100 on a computer with a proper SSD (none of that eMMC muck), a 13-inch screen, a fresh battery, and a decent-enough processor. That's not a bad deal. And that's without mentioning the warm fuzzy feeling you'll get from saving a perfectly good laptop from the great e-waste pile in the sky.
[11]Apple might not thank you but the planet [12]will . ®
*There's a technical explanation. Recent versions of MacOS require a 64-bit UEFI; these have a 32-bit one.
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/12/pc_sales_up_2020/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/07/dyspraxia_and_the_ibook/
[3] https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2007-mac-mini-and-windows-10-shockingly-usable.2163660/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2017/06/28/elementaryos_ubuntu_unity_replacement/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/05/apple_geep_canada_lawsuit/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/22/microsoft_edge_for_linux_october/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2015/04/16/retina_macbook_ifixit_teardown/
[8] https://www.amazon.co.uk/TECMIYO-PC2-5300-DDR2-667-PC2-5400-Unbuffered/dp/B08884M5X9/
[9] https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fattydove-120GB-SATA3-Laptop-SSD-120GB/dp/B07DPL439L
[10] https://www.amazon.co.uk/Replacement-Battery-Macbook-MA561FE-5600mAh/dp/B07FTCM1NB/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/15/brit_mps_letter_to_apple_ewaste/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/02/united_nations_warns_of_global_ewaste_wave/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Did this with a BlackBook
> "The only problem is that it gets hot quite quickly - some people have drilled holes in the underside in front of the internal fan to improve ventilation, but I haven't been that brave yet."
Potentially silly question, but have you changed the thermal paste? The stock paste used on these machines isn't very good, and if it hasn't been changed, it's almost certainly flaky and brittle by now. A fresh blob of Arctic Silver should improve thermal performance. Also, consider cleaning out any dust from the innards!
Re: Did this with a BlackBook
No, I haven't changed the paste yet, though overheating is a known issue on these due to the lack of ventilation (Apple put in a fan but didn't think to allow the air to go anywhere).
Re: Did this with a BlackBook
I can highly recommend a good thermal paste do-over - I had an, er, 2008 perhaps Macbook and it would run fans full blast all the time (and to be fair, I was hammering it) but once I redid the thermal paste and cleared out the vents, sure, it'd still run hot when being pushed, for just general odds and sods it was pretty quiet and cool.
Steven R
Top tip for a Lion browser
I have a 2008 white MacBook as an emergency spare if my SO's 2009 MBP suddenly dies.
It dual-boots Xubuntu 20.04 and MacOS 10.7.
No, there are no mainstream browsers for Lion, although Opera supported it later than most. But there's a Firefox fork that works well:
https://parrotgeek.com/fxlegacy.html
I found it worked extremely well on every modern site I tried. Makes Lion pretty usable again, combined with an old version of iWork or LibreOffice.
Re: Top tip for a Lion browser
I have one of those... Haven't switched it on in years. Thanks for the browser tip. As for Office, it still has a perfectly usable copy of MS Office, from that period, installed.
Re: Top tip for a Lion browser
Yes, The MS Office will be perfectly usable, I'd guess 80% of it is still inside the current version.
Re: Top tip for a Lion browser
Waterfox Classic also runs on 10.7.
For £30 you could get an ex-business surplus ThinkPad like an X61.
And that not only will run the latest consumer OS but is also generally much better supported on free operating systems like Linux and BSD with a much more recent Core 2 Duo processor.
It is a hard choice because I like the novelty of a PowerPC laptop but ThinkPads are just better in the long run for everything I do.
That said, I suppose with Linux these days, other than slightly less packages, you don't even notice you are running a non-intel machine. I am eying up those Talos II POWER9 machines from Raptor Computing for my next workstation (due for a replacement in another 3-4 years).
I also dislike the look of macbooks oddly enough. They look like toys rather than tools and the OS just feels like an "old" install of FreeBSD with an ugly heavy window manager.
For sure, older ThinkPads for the win. Also, especially if you stick with Windows, older-model (not *too* old) Dell Latitudes, the mid-generation ones still made with metal and with lots and lots of eBay parts availability.
Both those are the only laptops I recommend, really, even when someone tells me that they are looking to buy a new model. Unless you're ready to drop coin on a really nice machine, you can buy a recent ThinkPad or Dell out of business lease that originally cost multiples of what their budget for that new one is, yet get real quality, reliability and easy self-servicing.
I have a Latitude e6220 with memory maxed out and an SSD, still a very usable machine and solid as a rock. Shame about the 768p screen, though apparently it is possible to add an HD screen (the same as the Thinkpad x220) with a little jiggery-pokery.
Second hand Latitude E5550 here, with 16G ram and a 2T spinny disc. Running stock Mint Cinnamon without a worry, and plenty quick enough for full HD video viewing.
I can't remember the last time I bought a new laptop - certainly some years ago.
Older ThinkPads are surprisingly pricey right now, compared to what they went for prior to the pandemic! I think it's for the reasons you mentioned -- they're usable, even if they're quite old.
NIce collection!
You need a Clamshell in the mix. I have one in Lime Green. I installed Deepin on white a pre-polycarbonate, wasn't the greatest experience.
Re: NIce collection!
Clamshells are crazy expensive! Every time I try to bid on one, they end up going for north of £100, even if they're in pretty dismal condition!
Recycle!
Not much experience with Mac, but I'm writing this comment (in the pub, it's Friday) from my 2010 Panasonic running Artix Linux - less than £100 on eBay for a reasonable i5 with 8GB of RAM, one SSD install later and it runs really well. I also recently set up a Dell Latitude i3 that my old employer threw away for my sister. Plenty of scope for cheap computing, as long as you move away from the bloat and planned obsolescence of MS.
Trouble with laptops is that unless you buy a toughbook, they are inherently fragile.
Second hand laptops tend to come with broken screen hinges, worn out mousepads. duff batteries and intermittent power inputs.
A second hand desktop PC is far better bet and they can often be picked up free or almost free. I've rescued them out of skips in the past.
I'll agree that second hand desktops can give a lot more bang for buck, but if you're spending <£100 on a laptop:
A: It'll be of a certain vintage
B: If it's a popular one,being of a certain vintage that means *tons* of teardown tutorials on Youtube
C: Parts will generally be cheap.
Broken screens can be replaced without too much trouble, just a little patience. Same for trackpads. Batteries are cheapy cheap, and the power input? most are on a daughterboard that can be swopped in a fairly straightforward manner.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm a twenty year, died in the wool IT tech so I have certain skills and attitudes that make me think things are easier than they are to a layman, but on the flipside, I fucking hate working on laptops - all those fiddle bits - and even I have done literally all of the above, while drunk. if I can do it after a bottle of Merlot while singing along to Death in Vegas songs, you genuinely can too.
Buy something really cheap, and broken, and just try it. Chances are you'll spend a takeaway dinner and an evening in the pub on it.
Worst case, you have a brick on your hands, but have learned something.
Best case, you can charge beer for swapping screens out.
Steven R
Powered by red wine and anger at laptop manufacturers for using plastic clips bloody well everywhere.
Well, it ain't no MacBook...
...But my 32-bit HP Pavilion laptop with an AMD A6-6310 runs all manner of distros rather well, if I don't want to do more than browser the web and watch movies. And as long as I don't run a bloated desktop environment but Mate or XFCE4 with lightdm is very usable. I'm a little worried about it's future because if Firefox and Chrome get too much bigger I might have to switch to minimal DE like Enlightenment.
Zoom Machine...
...mine is a Thinkpad L440 which cost a bit more than £30 (more like £100) but has i5 and 8Gb. Runs Mint linux and allows the installation of the Zoom application and the Microsoft Teams linux 'beta' application.
I use this machine with its flatteringly vague webcam for teaching and the obligatory online meetings (the ones I can't get out of). I just use the mechanical hard drive it came with. No problems, everything works but lid-close suspend appears not to be available on this cheaper Thinkpad model (didn't work in Windows either, googling yields nowt).
If prices of new computers keeping going up...
will my SGI Indy eventually be worth 5 grand again? Maybe then somebody will port a modern browser to IRIX.
Been There, Done That...
Did all of the stuff that the article says to my wife's 2007 vintage white Unibody MacBook.
2Gig of RAM, 120GB Samsung SSD, cleaned the heat exchanger (dead cat, I think), new thermal paste, installed Linux Mint with a MacOS skin on it. ET VOILA! Runs like a charm.
The only thing it won't do is connect to my router with WPA/AES encryption. But falling back to TKIP works.
Re: Been There, Done That...
Is the wireless module in those swoppable? I think my 2k8 unibody was, and if it is, it's just a PCI-E device, so as long as you have drivers - which Mint will - then you're sorted.
Steven R
Did this with a BlackBook
Got a black Macbook 2,1 for €20 a couple of years ago, fitted it with a new battery (another €20 from Aliexpress) and Librebooted it (it's one of the few machines that can be modified entirely in software). Currently running Trisquel Lite to keep it fully "libre". Lent it to my daughter as an emergency PC for university, though she complained about the weight...
Of course, as it's libre, there are no drivers for the webcam (a plus in my book) but you can easily attach one via USB if necessary.
The only problem is that it gets hot quite quickly - some people have drilled holes in the underside in front of the internal fan to improve ventilation, but I haven't been that brave yet.