Because I’m now in a smaller house, I was thinking of getting a laptop instead of setting up my old PC as it takes up too much room with the desk etc

I fancy a macbook but can’t afford new, so I was thinking of getting a used one

The other option is buying a new laptop

I’ll just be using it for internet, typing letters, storing photos

So used macbook or new laptop?

I’d go for a laptop. I have a macbook Pro. It’s ok, nowt special really. It all depends inf you lare desperate for the Apple OS.

And also depends on how much space you need. It will cost £££££s for a Mac with a decent-sized HD.

My brother in law just got a refurb one from the Mac store – a great saving from new and came with a 500GB HD (cost £949 I think) but I can’t see the justification myself – I bought a £300 Windows laptop with a 1TB HD and it is perfectly suitable for light home duties (and I use Macs all day every day at work and do like them).

Whats your budget?

Doesn’t really sound like you ‘need’ a Macbook but they are nice bits of kit. Could you stretched to a refurbished one to save the worry over 2nd hand?

I bought my 27in iMac from Apple as a refurbished unit about 5 years ago, saved a large chunk over a new machine and is still going strong and is in use daily. When bought it was indistinguishable from new and came with full Apple care.

http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/specialdeals/mac