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Where's the best place to buy a used Mac Pro 4,1+
- Thread starter Obioban
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Craigslist or eBay... If your worried stick local but I have not had many issues with eBay and have bought a lot of stuff.
On the sliding scale of places I have gone for used Macs—
Macofalltrades—more expensive, but tradeoff is you have limited customization options instead of buying products as-is, everything is well-described, and there are warranties and a more expansive return policy.
eBay—cheaper, can be a hassle from a buying standpoint (badly described items, what I can only assume are fake accounts to drive up bids because they do so nonsensically, bad shipping—got a Mac sent to me in literally just a cardboard box once with no padding.) On the plus side, eBay is generally weighted to side with buyers in case of disputes.
Craigslist—cheapest, but full of misleading listings and the chance they're just there to kill and/or rob you when you meet
Macofalltrades—more expensive, but tradeoff is you have limited customization options instead of buying products as-is, everything is well-described, and there are warranties and a more expansive return policy.
eBay—cheaper, can be a hassle from a buying standpoint (badly described items, what I can only assume are fake accounts to drive up bids because they do so nonsensically, bad shipping—got a Mac sent to me in literally just a cardboard box once with no padding.) On the plus side, eBay is generally weighted to side with buyers in case of disputes.
Craigslist—cheapest, but full of misleading listings and the chance they're just there to kill and/or rob you when you meet
They can be use on the cMP, BT 4.0 is not a real requirement. So they should work without any upgrade. However, if you prefer upgrade to BT 4.0, that's pretty easy on the cMP.
The Mac Pro survived, surprisingly (not even a crushed foot as is sometimes seen). The iMac G4 had its hinge splayed open and irreparably warped.
Luckily, these kinds of sellers are the minority, but it's always the gamble you take. The advantage of eBay over Craigslist was I could say "this is bull, I want a refund, and it's not worth me sending you back a destroyed computer" and I just took the remains to an eWaste spot after I got my refund.
I bought an Ebay 4,1 a month or so ago, but before I did, I inquired of the seller about packing. It arrived in great shape with lots of surrounding styrofoam, but the Mac Pro was not bagged, so it took me a good 1/2 hour to get all the loose styrofoam bits out of the machine. I sent the seller a suggestion that they bag the Macs in the future.
I went the eBay route and got my 4,1 back in November2015 and my 5,1 in February2016. In both cases had no issues. Check the buyer's feedback ratings if you're buying from eBay, that's all. Since you're looking for dual processor setup Ian, just get the 5,1. There are more dual processor 5,1's on eBay and are still supported by Apple.
