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onecoolazzgeek

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 10, 2010
48
0
Hey all. Long time lurker. I had a question to bring forward. I have a 2012 MBA 13 with 256gb and 4gb ram that I bought from Best Buy for 1157.98. Well, since Apple lowered retina prices today, I did some looking around and found an open box 13 Retina 128gb for 1406.99. That price is based off the previous retina price (1699) instead of the current (1499) so I'm thinking I can get them to mark the open box price down to 1206.99. Should I go for it? Any thoughts from owners?

About me:
Writer
Eventual programmer
College student
No need for gaming (built an HTPC for that)
 

onecoolazzgeek

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 10, 2010
48
0
Yeah, I'll be able to. Only had the MBA for 2 weeks and Best Buy doesn't limit returns unless you get crazy with it (This is an exchange I made before).
 

Rocco83

macrumors 6502
Jul 3, 2011
285
407
Do you need the extra horsepower from the rMBP? If not I would stick with the Air. There really isn't a lot of apps yet utilizing the Retina display and most likely you won't see a large shift towards them for awhile yet. I was thinking about this as well, but by time everything I use on my Air takes the shift to Retina it will be time for an upgrade anyway.

Really depends what you do with your laptop and how much horsepower you need.
 

Osamede

macrumors 6502a
Oct 28, 2009
816
513
Do you need the extra horsepower from the rMBP? If not I would stick with the Air. There really isn't a lot of apps yet utilizing the Retina display and most likely you won't see a large shift towards them for awhile yet. I was thinking about this as well, but by time everything I use on my Air takes the shift to Retina it will be time for an upgrade anyway.

Really depends what you do with your laptop and how much horsepower you need.
Wrong, wrong wrong. Forget about "Apps" - your browser or any photo display you are looking a a major difference. Which will only get more different over time. Never knowingly buy obsolete technology. Also, with the now very small diffference in weight comparison the MBA has to get slimmer and lighter to be worth it.
 

onecoolazzgeek

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 10, 2010
48
0
As far as apps go, the most important app I will be using in the immediate future is Scrivener which, from my understanding, is already optimized for retina display. Everything else I will use on the regular (Chrome, iTunes, Xcode, iPhoto, Photoshop, and Drawnstrips) have also been optimized. So, with that said, as long as I can get this deal is the drop in ssd space worth the ram increased.
 

onecoolazzgeek

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 10, 2010
48
0
Update

Been awhile so I just wanted to update. I went to Best Buy and for some reason they refused to lower the price of an open box retina below 1406. However, this week they had a deal that made the retina 1419 new which meant the open box price was 1262. I ended up being able to take back my MBA and exchange for this Retina 128gb for just 100 bucks after tax! If you are in the market for a rMBP, you should be able to force a similar deal with Best Buy for an open box one. Good luck!
 

Foreverbfc

macrumors newbie
Aug 11, 2010
15
23
Been awhile so I just wanted to update. I went to Best Buy and for some reason they refused to lower the price of an open box retina below 1406. However, this week they had a deal that made the retina 1419 new which meant the open box price was 1262. I ended up being able to take back my MBA and exchange for this Retina 128gb for just 100 bucks after tax! If you are in the market for a rMBP, you should be able to force a similar deal with Best Buy for an open box one. Good luck!

Now that you've owned the two, what are your thoughts? Performance, portability, screen Res difference, etc, etc...

Trying to differentiate and ultimately decided on one of these machines, so someone who has owned the two could provide a helpful perspective to my delima.

Thanks,
Nathan
 

Santabean2000

macrumors 68000
Nov 20, 2007
1,881
2,002
Now that you've owned the two, what are your thoughts? Performance, portability, screen Res difference, etc, etc...

Trying to differentiate and ultimately decided on one of these machines, so someone who has owned the two could provide a helpful perspective to my delima.

Thanks,
Nathan

For me, with the new pricing, it's a no-brainer; rMBP for sure.

What real advantage does the 13"MBA have..? None as far as I can see. The only 'Air' model these days is the 11" - which to me is still a great option, esp as it can be configured as powerfully as the 13".
 
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