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Wait for Snow Leopard and School deal?

A

AiRoN ShoW

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 10, 2009
2
0
Hey everyone, I know that this question is asked tons but I am still having trouble deciding.

Ok here the situation. I am graduating this year and heading off to college in the fall. I will be going into the graphic design field, and from what the school told me a mac would do best.

I am looking at a MBP 15.4. maybe the 17 if the price isnt to different.

I understand that they give a discount at the school now which is nice but I also hear that there is usually better discounts for Back to School.

I could use it now. But its not super needed.

What should I do? Buy now? Or wait till the back to school deal is on and possibly Snow Leopard is released with maybe a update to the MBP's?

Thanks so much for any comments:D
 
It depends on how much of a discount your school is offering. Don't forget that Apple offers an education discount of about $100-$200 all year, and with the back to school program you'll get a free or $100 off ipod.

If the Macbooks are updated in the next few months it will only be a minor speed bump which won't be noticed by most users. Snow Leopard will be demoed this summer but may not be released until September or so.

Also, I would stick with the 15" MBP to save some cash and if you want you can always get an ACD later. New, larger ones may be released in the next few months as well.
 
Wait until the Back to School deal is on, purely for financial reasons, 10% off and usually you get a free iPod too, but dont bother waiting for Snow Leopard, whilst it is good its not the holy grail. When Snow Leopard does come out and i have to buy Mac's for my company the first thing im going to be doing is downgrading them all to Leopard. I bet if you get Snow Leopard on your machine, for educational software and college networking reasons you'll end up doing the same.
 
i am in the same boat... looking to get an iMac but it would be nice if they threw in an ipod too. i heard some people say the summer back to school promos usually start in june... is this true?
 
Wait for the promo. Extra cash for first-year students is always a good thing.

Just don't expect SL to be shipping by then.
 
Seriously? This seems to come up 3 times a day. The answer is the same: if you need it, buying it now is your best option. Nobody knows for sure when SL is going to come out, you could be waiting a long time. The Back-to-School promotion is most likely going to happen, so at the least you'll get a rebate on an iPod if you wait until summer.
 
xboxmookie said:
i am in the same boat... looking to get an iMac but it would be nice if they threw in an ipod too. i heard some people say the summer back to school promos usually start in june... is this true?
Click to expand...

I'm in your boat too (iMac + back to school = ipod touch).

Last year Apple started their back to school promotion in June so it would make sense that they would do it again this June.

Something to keep in mind is that they can change the deal. Although will probably not cancel it, they can change the terms; for instance, last year the low end iMac was exempt from the free ipod deal (I believe).

Hopefully we can still get the free ipod that we want this year *knocks on wood*.
 
I'll throw this out there.

When I had to buy my laptop for industrial design I ended up getting at my school (highest end MBP) they gave me free 3 year applecare. It ended up being about the same discount as the ipod but I had an ipod so getting the applecare, which I was going to buy anyway, turned out to be a better deal for me.

Look to see if your school sells computers there, they may have a deal that is better then what you could get from Apple.
 
Sweet thanks guys for all the advice! I think that I will wait till this summer for the back to school deal. More money in the pockets is always nice.
I do have another question though, do you think it is possible that Apple will make any slight changes to the processor speed before WWDC?
 
Likely not with the recent spec bumps when the desktops were updated. Also, Intel's roadmap doesn't have very much to upgrade to until around Q4 2009. Then again, stranger things have happened so I guess it's technically possible.
 
Not that it's likely, but what I'd be more excited about hardware wise, is if the 15" got the battery the 17" has.
 
If you need it buy it,
If you can wait, wait
If you can't wait and need it, get it
If you can't wait but don't really need it, wait.


...At least until Snow Leopard is released :)
 
Wait until you actually start college before you buy. I don't think the education discount applies to students still in high school, I could be wrong.
 
Tomorrow said:
Wait until you actually start college before you buy. I don't think the education discount applies to students still in high school, I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

It doesn't.

Do you qualify for Apple education pricing?

Apple offers special education pricing on Apple computers, software and select third party products to the following groups:

* College students
* Teachers, administrators, staff, and board members of all grade levels

Quantity limits apply. See terms and conditions.
Click to expand...

You can, however, use it if you are just entering college (i.e. the summer after you graduate high school/before you enter college).
 
How does apple verify if you're in school or not? It used to ask me for my id number when I made a Educational Discount purchase, but now it just asks for my school and then directs me to the store. What's stopping anyone from using it?
 
The only thing is... the 17"... is only like and inch in every direction (Apart from thickness) bigger than the 15".. so for the screen real-estate and 1920x1080 and 2.3MP... it is really worth it...

If you can afford it... get the best that you can... because it will last you... I still have a couple of old G3 Powerbooks... that have CS1 on them!!! and hey.. they still are pretty cool machines!!!

I would however... look for as much discount as you can get... In england... you can get a higher education discount that is 15% (I think??) and an Education discount which is 5%.... also... with the Back To School Promo... you may be able to get yourself a good deal...

I would also recommend you to get your software through the education store... with adobe.. you can save over £1000 buy buying it that way... and with Quark you can get it for about £100 with over £600 saving!!!

Anyways... Hope that this is useful!!!

J
 
Corrode said:
How does apple verify if you're in school or not? It used to ask me for my id number when I made a Educational Discount purchase, but now it just asks for my school and then directs me to the store. What's stopping anyone from using it?
Click to expand...
Last year I was asked for school ID upon purchased a MBP for my friend at the store. I go to California State University Fullerton, it has its education store, so if you purchase online, apple website will direct you back to your school & you need to log in. I'm sure others are the same.
I think it's fair.
 
Not Possible

Macintosh computers are shipped so that they only run with the latest System software. If you buy a Mac with Snow Leopard - It isn't going to allow you to put Leopard on it.

software
kastenbrust said:
Wait until the Back to School deal is on, purely for financial reasons, 10% off and usually you get a free iPod too, but dont bother waiting for Snow Leopard, whilst it is good its not the holy grail. When Snow Leopard does come out and i have to buy Mac's for my company the first thing im going to be doing is downgrading them all to Leopard. I bet if you get Snow Leopard on your machine, for educational software and college networking reasons you'll end up doing the same.
Click to expand...
 
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