Do You Future Proof Your Purchases?

[shambo]

I am a big up person for 'future-proofing' all of my purchases, be it a television set, fridge-freezer, or even electric toothbrush, I throw as much money I can afford on the latest toys and gadgets. Hence when it came to upgrading my lowly 13" Macbook earlier this year I opted to buy the high end 15" Macbook Pro and I'm loving it, not only for the beautiful machine it is but also because I know I have future-proofed myself for the next couple of years. :cool:

Are you one to follow this policy too?

[u49aa2]

Actually i do the same, the majority of my main gadgets are top of the line. My brother is the same. Join the club ;)

[AngryApple]

When I save enough money to buy a MacBook Pro, I plan on buying the highest model.

[pjk2117]

thats funny, because i do the exact opposite. i know that i want a new computer often so i buy pretty much the lowest and then get rid of it when im ready to get a new one. these things arent designed to last very long so why try to make them? buy cheap and cycle through!

[ltldrummerboy]

I also bought the 2.8Ghz 15" model. Once developers start making use of OpenCL (ffmpeg) this thing will scream.

[7even]

oops, double post

[7even]

No, because computers keep getting cheaper and faster. In fact, I just upgraded my previous low-end MBP to a new MBP of the same $ value for just a little more than it would have cost me to buy the high-end model in the first place, and this machine is better than the previous high-end one.

[SMC1991]

I always "future proof" at the right value.

For instance, the Core i7 extreme processor costs 2x the one below it, and offers maybe 30% more performance. In 4 years, they'll be roughly around the same position performance wise, but I will have paid less, and probably in a better position to upgrade.

I always get the higher-mid grade electronics, which offer me performance to last longer than cheaper products if I need them, but yet they won't set me back too much.

[shambo]

I always "future proof" at the right value.

For instance, the Core i7 extreme processor costs 2x the one below it, and offers maybe 30% more performance. In 4 years, they'll be roughly around the same position performance wise, but I will have paid less, and probably in a better position to upgrade.

I always get the higher-mid grade electronics, which offer me performance to last longer than cheaper products if I need them, but yet they won't set me back too much.

So which MBP do you have? I'm guessing mid level 15"?

[RKpro]

I don't because it's impossible to future proof anything anymore. Technology changes too quickly. I don't buy top of the line, but I upgrade more often now. I get a new notebook about every 12-18 months. Macs are particularly are good for this strategy because they depreciate much slower then Windows based laptops. And you can't really future proof the current MBPs because the most future proof models (the most expensive) are held back by the 9600m GT which is far from future proof. It wasn't considered amazing a year ago, and now you can get cheap notebooks with the same performance.

I'm thinking about upgrading my current mbp when the next major update comes around. And it can't be too long away because Intel's got a fresh batch of CPUs coming later this year, and the 9600 could use an bump as I've mentioned. I'm guessing this would be around February.

[Corrode]

I've found the best way to make your Apple products last the longest is to wait until a major upgrade, then buy the day they come out. That way, your product will last as long as possible before Apple either drops support for it, or has its next major release/update.

(i.e. 13" MBP)

[spike8585]

I just bought the 17 inch, 2.8Ghz uMBP. So yea.
I am also waiting for my Intel X25-M 160gb Gen2 SSD.
Futureproof!

[oregon2]

^^^^Agree. Future proofing and buying high end is stupid, especially in the case of the MacBook Pro. The performance difference is small in most situations and is simply not worth the extra amount of money. And in 5 years time, both computers are going to be slow.

Question: Just how much are you paying for your MBP's?

[NC MacGuy]

You've only "future proofed" yourself until the next iteration or new product release. I've been through so freakin' many PB,MB,MBP's it's not funny and I used to always "future-proof" as you call it but there's no such thing. Even the last greatest uMBP 15" I bought was worth <2/3's what I paid in the course of a week after the new MBP's were released.

Don't kid yourself, there is no "future-proofing" in the electronics age.

MBP's have only been around for 3 years and look how many refreshes they've seen in that short time. Buy what you need for a year-2 out and count on wanting something better and cheaper in the fairly near future is my motto. Bought a nice base model 13MBP and installed 4GB RAM, an Intel X25 160GB G2 and an OptiBayed 500GB Scorpio Blue. That should be future-proofing enough for me until the next one comes along.

[shambo]

^^^^Agree. Future proofing and buying high end is stupid, especially in the case of the MacBook Pro. The performance difference is small in most situations and is simply not worth the extra amount of money. And in 5 years time, both computers are going to be slow.

Question: Just how much are you paying for your MBP's?

High end 15" £1,650 something.

[SMC1991]

So which MBP do you have? I'm guessing mid level 15"?

Actually, I had a high-end 13". I had to take it back in July because of an issue I had with Apple. Now that that's solved, I hope to get another of the same exact machine soon. I choose 13" for portability, but the low end 13", and even worse, the MacBook Polycarb are a bad investment. The high-end 15" is a relatively solid investment, the worst is the very high-end Mac Pro, which gets blown away next iteration.

[oregon2]

High end 15" £1,650 something.

I'm gonna declare that a waste of money. You should have gotten the refurbed 15" (half the price) with almost equal performance. Then when the new ones come out, you can wait and get a refurb new one, which is way more powerful than your "future-proof" current laptop and you will have spent the same amount of money.

Or you could just get the option that is most cost effective and use it until it is unusable.

[shambo]

I'm gonna declare that a waste of money. You should have gotten the refurbed 15" (half the price) with almost equal performance. Then when the new ones come out, you can wait and get a refurb new one, which is way more powerful than your "future-proof" current laptop and you will have spent the same amount of money.

Or you could just get the option that is most cost effective and use it until it is unusable.
You would never be able to get a high end 15" bad boy for £850 but I'm happy to be proved wrong.

[Davidkoh]

nothing is future proof, in 2 years both will be left behind and suck. I buy the cheapest 13" all the time, upgrade each 10th months or so. I keep my Macs for 7-10 months before buying a new, rather do that then sitting with em longer ;) Might upgrade this one with an SSD I can bring with me to the other computers :)

[Chaszmyr]

For reasons some other people in this thread have already explained: If you want to buy high end because you'll feel good about having a top-of-the-line product then go for it. If you want to buy high end so it will be "future proof" you're throwing money down the toilet.

It's a much better deal to buy low to mid end stuff and upgrade more often. You'll never have the feeling of having the very best, but it will cost a lot less money to always have good quality up to date gear.

[TuffLuffJimmy]

As much as I love my 15 incher tossing off over it is a big no no for me. You?

Well I don't know. I mean only an absolute FOOL would think that buying an expensive laptop is anyway of "future proofing". :rolleyes:

laptop+Apple+expensive (but midrange) graphics card =/= future proof

in fact:
laptop+Apple+expensive (but midrange) graphics card = anything but future proof

[Harmless Abuse]

I think this is one of the funniest things ever.

I doubt anything can be future-proofed. I don't care if you spend $20,000 on it now, when the next round of big things come, like USB 3, or the practicality of SSDs, then your HUGE investment is worth less than half.

Say you spent $500 on an awesome electric toothbrush that you had to have because your dentist swears by it. But then a month later suddenly toothbrush 2.0 comes out with some amazing bristles that last three times as long and the ability to play music or something. You didn't know, there was no way of knowing for some reason. You get angry, try to sell your sweet toothbrush, get $200 for it. The guy who only spent $100 on a brush only slightly worse than yours is laughing so hard you get angry and avoid them.

Computers depreciate so fast, they're the worst thing to invest in. Ever. I'd invest in puppies before I spent everything on a computer only I'll enjoy using =\

[SMC1991]

Exactly, which is why I feel better buying middle of the road, which seems like the best investment.

[shambo]

Well I don't know. I mean only an absolute FOOL would think that buying an expensive laptop is anyway of "future proofing". :rolleyes:

laptop+Apple+expensive (but midrange) graphics card =/= future proof

in fact:
laptop+Apple+expensive (but midrange) graphics card = anything but future proof
I apply my 'future proofing' policy to everything I buy, even food.

Anyway what is your definition of future proofing then? :rolleyes:

[thegoldenmackid]

I don't really believe that "future-proofing" is possible.

[TuffLuffJimmy]

I apply my 'future proofing' policy to everything I buy, even food.

Anyway what is your definition of future proofing then? :rolleyes:

There's no such thing as future proofing with technology! In fact buying this generation of laptop was probably the dumbest thing to do in an attempt to future proof. Since just about everything about it will be obsolete soon. We'll have USB 3.0, Firewire 3200, Solid State Drives, Intels dropping their new mobile processors soon, ect.

[Davidkoh]

There's no such thing as future proofing with technology! In fact buying this generation of laptop was probably the dumbest thing to do in an attempt to future proof. Since just about everything about it will be obsolete soon. We'll have USB 3.0, Firewire 3200, Solid State Drives, Intels dropping their new mobile processors soon, ect.

Exactly, and when they do I will sell my machine I spent 1800 on (cheapest 13" MBP here in sweden) with a 400 dollar loss or whatever, and put up 400 dollars to buy a new one :) Cheaper then applecare!

[TuffLuffJimmy]

Exactly, and when they do I will sell my machine I spent 1800 on (cheapest 13" MBP here in sweden) with a 400 dollar loss or whatever, and put up 400 dollars to buy a new one :) Cheaper then applecare!

I don't know if you'll be taking just a $400 loss, after all more than just the computer itself will be obsolete. It's not like other generations. Maybe Apple has one more revision with this same basic hardware, but I doubt it.