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A spoiled dilemma

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seyhee0919

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 26, 2013
6
0
Feel free to say the following if it pertains: "you don't need it"

My dad is in need of a laptop and I have a great less-than-3 year old Lenovo ThinkPad that's served me really well that I could give to him. It's got an i5, 8GB RAM, 160 GB SSD and Windows 7 (he hates Windows 8). I really don't mind giving it to him; it'll take some of the jitteriness he might have now that he doesn't have his work laptop.

However, it gives me some sort of jitteriness that I won't have a laptop if I do give it to him. I have a Mac Mini from 2010 (but 2009 model) that's served me very well for about 4 years now, going to start its fifth soon (but its hard drive was replaced in 2012). I also have a retina iPad Mini with a keyboard which does actually a decent (but not superb) job acting as a sort of notebook replacement.

But of course, it's not a notebook replacement. With FL's upcoming sales tax holiday, I figure this is as good of time as any to consider getting a laptop. I'm specifically eyeing the previous generation rMBP (aka the one before Tuesday). It's $1299 at Best Buy and I can get $100 more knocked off for it with coupon. I'm not sold on the Air, but that's just because that retina screen is too much to ignore.

I'm wondering though: do I really need it? Or should I really just wait until my Mac Mini breaks down completely and then bite the bullet with tax and all and get a new machine then? The techie in me really wants a nice rMBP but at the same time I was hoping to hold out getting a new computer until I graduated medical school.

I'll appreciate any opinion offered. (although don't go too heavy on the criticism. I face that enough in the hospital right now lol)
 
Meister

Meister

Suspended
Oct 10, 2013
5,456
4,310
Push your mini as long as you can.
Use the ipad mini as a notebook replacement.
 
Last edited:
maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,448
43,370
Sounds like you have some mobility needs and obviously the Mini isn't a good fit. I'd take the plunge and get a MBP at this point. You're saving some money thanks to bestbuy and the tax holiday.

If I were you, I'd take the plunge :)
 
D

deeddawg

macrumors G5
Jun 14, 2010
12,245
6,393
US
And don't forget to consider refurb pricing from Apple. May or may not improve on the Best Buy price
 
M

mad3inch1na

macrumors 6502a
Oct 21, 2013
662
6
For the price offered at BB, you may want to consider the 8GB/256GB model if you are really serious about buying. If you use the Apple education store, you can get it for $1400, and it also comes with a $100 Apple gift card, which can be used for future purchases or sold online. You will realistically be getting it for $1300-$1310. The 256GB SSD, 8GB of RAM, and slight processor bump will most likely be worth it as long as that price is allowed for the Tax Holiday.

If you don't mind your current setup, I would wait. If you don't have an SSD in your Mac Mini, put one in there. I personally can't stand doing productivity work on an iPad, so I can understand the frustration. I used an iPad Air to take notes in class for about half a year, but not having a cursor is such a headache for basic tasks like copy/paste and selecting text. If you aren't as productive as you think you would be with a laptop, then you should consider getting one now.

Matt
 
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seyhee0919

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 26, 2013
6
0
Hey all,
Bit the bullet on the final day of sales tax holiday but of course not w/o drama. Couldn't buy it for some reason online and do in-store pickup so I had to go down to Orlando to purchase it with my father, had an extremely rude Best Buy manager insult me, couldn't use the coupon, bought it anyway because I determined that I needed it (forgot that I have a rotation in Jax for a few months), called Best Buy customer service and they were able to give me $100 credited back.

tl;dr -- I got the computer I wanted.

Thanks all, appreciate your advice.
 
r0k

r0k

macrumors 68040
Mar 3, 2008
3,611
75
Detroit
seyhee0919 said:
Hey all,
Bit the bullet on the final day of sales tax holiday but of course not w/o drama. Couldn't buy it for some reason online and do in-store pickup so I had to go down to Orlando to purchase it with my father, had an extremely rude Best Buy manager insult me, couldn't use the coupon, bought it anyway because I determined that I needed it (forgot that I have a rotation in Jax for a few months), called Best Buy customer service and they were able to give me $100 credited back.

tl;dr -- I got the computer I wanted.

Thanks all, appreciate your advice.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear it worked out. I'm often inclined to walk out on rude salespeople but then I would wind up not getting what I need when I need it. Did you let BB customer service know the rude rep's name? The object isn't to get the guy fired if he was having one bad day but to make sure BB knows about him by name so if he is doing this all the time and they get a few complaints about him saying he is rude they take some action.
 
S

seyhee0919

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 26, 2013
6
0
r0k said:
Glad to hear it worked out. I'm often inclined to walk out on rude salespeople but then I would wind up not getting what I need when I need it. Did you let BB customer service know the rude rep's name? The object isn't to get the guy fired if he was having one bad day but to make sure BB knows about him by name so if he is doing this all the time and they get a few complaints about him saying he is rude they take some action.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. I called Best Buy and let them know that by no means did I want "harsh disciplinary action" towards him but I did want it to be known that by no means was his behavior excusable. The fact that this was an assistant manager giving me a hard time was what appalled me more. All of the salespeople were friendly for the most part.
 
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