First lets get the rebate thing out the way:
Printer Rebate
"Purchase and take possession of an Apple Macintosh computer and a qualifying printer between April 21, 2009, and July 20, 2009, and receive up to $100 via
mail-in rebate. Purchases must be made at the Apple Online Store for Canada, an Apple Retail Store, or through Apple Telesales in Canada. Qualifying orders
from the Apple Online Store or Apple Telesales that are placed during the promotion and ship after the offer ends are eligible."
I am not really sure what take possession means. Is this same condition for the ipod deal too? If someone could clarify I would appreciate it.
This was the printer I was considering, mainly cause it is wireless
http://store.apple.com/ca/product/TT866VC/A?fnode=MTY1NDA1MQ&mco=MzA5NTk2Mw&s=priceLH
Now on to the mac:
Let me start by saying my present situation. I am a fourth year computer science student getting into either the network or web design field. I currently have a windows machines that roughly 3 years old (Asus G1) which still looks brand new. (I am obsessed with keeping my tech in pristine condition) I will most probably be doing some video editing, 3D modelling (I am taking computer graphics course this fall), a getting an external blu-ray drive when it is available since the current laptops do not come with any such option. SSD are not that much of a concern or need for me. This will be my primary computer as I am too used to laptops to ever switch to a desktop again.
So when comparing:
Weight does not matter much to me as I am a pretty big person, and at most I will have one lined paper book and a textbook on me. I usually do not buy textbooks or never carry them to university. I digress; moving on..
-----13" 2.53GHz Vs 15" 2.66GHz-----
RAM - both come with 4GB 1066 MHz DD3 SDRAM expandable to 8 GB
Processor - 13" is 2.53, 15" is 2.66 (Is the 0.13 GHz matter?) Both have 3MB L2 Cache and a 1066 MHz front side bus
Hard Drive - 13" get 250 GB, 15" get 320 GB (Hard Drive space is always good but not priority for me, I have several external drives)
Video Card - 13" has the 9400M integrated and the 15" has the 9400M and 9600M GT with 256 MB GDDR3 memory
Both have the same slot drive, the same ports relatively (except that the 15" has separate in and out ports), the same iSight camera (apparently there is some discussion going on about it. They have a 1.3 Webcam but they are limited to 0.3 resolution. You can check the thread here if it peaks your interest:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/721211/)
They both have the same awesome keyboard and trackpad
They have different batteries:
13" has the 58WHr and the 15" has the 85WHr, but I am assuming they will give the same amount of battery life relative to their system and what the task is
Price - $1,629.00 for 13" and $2,149 for 15" (yes that is Canadian $)
As you can see I have done a fair amount of research assuming there is someone who has not fallen asleep by this huge post. I am quite split on the topic. On one hand I want the graphics card of the 15". (PS: I don't game that much on the PC. I probably will when SW:TOL comes out; Star Wars + the awesomeness of WoW, cmon!!) Sigh I digressed again lol
I dunno if spending $520 more is a good deal. Keep in mind I am hoping this laptop last me until summer of 2012 at least. And no I cannot wait for the next revision/improvement. I have been waiting since 2006, complaining about this is not there and that is not there, and I'll buy it later... No more
I will be a new mac user, and I sure I will enjoy either machine. I regret to say that I am one of those people who bitched about the lower 15" because that matching with the 9600 would have been perfect for my needs. But alas you can't have everything. So help me decide please....
Thanks for taking the time to read this ridiculously long post. Hopefully I did not bore anyone to the point of exhaustion
Info gathered from
http://iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=4144
Printer Rebate
"Purchase and take possession of an Apple Macintosh computer and a qualifying printer between April 21, 2009, and July 20, 2009, and receive up to $100 via
mail-in rebate. Purchases must be made at the Apple Online Store for Canada, an Apple Retail Store, or through Apple Telesales in Canada. Qualifying orders
from the Apple Online Store or Apple Telesales that are placed during the promotion and ship after the offer ends are eligible."
I am not really sure what take possession means. Is this same condition for the ipod deal too? If someone could clarify I would appreciate it.
This was the printer I was considering, mainly cause it is wireless
http://store.apple.com/ca/product/TT866VC/A?fnode=MTY1NDA1MQ&mco=MzA5NTk2Mw&s=priceLH
Now on to the mac:
Let me start by saying my present situation. I am a fourth year computer science student getting into either the network or web design field. I currently have a windows machines that roughly 3 years old (Asus G1) which still looks brand new. (I am obsessed with keeping my tech in pristine condition) I will most probably be doing some video editing, 3D modelling (I am taking computer graphics course this fall), a getting an external blu-ray drive when it is available since the current laptops do not come with any such option. SSD are not that much of a concern or need for me. This will be my primary computer as I am too used to laptops to ever switch to a desktop again.
So when comparing:
Weight does not matter much to me as I am a pretty big person, and at most I will have one lined paper book and a textbook on me. I usually do not buy textbooks or never carry them to university. I digress; moving on..
-----13" 2.53GHz Vs 15" 2.66GHz-----
RAM - both come with 4GB 1066 MHz DD3 SDRAM expandable to 8 GB
Processor - 13" is 2.53, 15" is 2.66 (Is the 0.13 GHz matter?) Both have 3MB L2 Cache and a 1066 MHz front side bus
Hard Drive - 13" get 250 GB, 15" get 320 GB (Hard Drive space is always good but not priority for me, I have several external drives)
Video Card - 13" has the 9400M integrated and the 15" has the 9400M and 9600M GT with 256 MB GDDR3 memory
Both have the same slot drive, the same ports relatively (except that the 15" has separate in and out ports), the same iSight camera (apparently there is some discussion going on about it. They have a 1.3 Webcam but they are limited to 0.3 resolution. You can check the thread here if it peaks your interest:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/721211/)
They both have the same awesome keyboard and trackpad
They have different batteries:
13" has the 58WHr and the 15" has the 85WHr, but I am assuming they will give the same amount of battery life relative to their system and what the task is
Price - $1,629.00 for 13" and $2,149 for 15" (yes that is Canadian $)
As you can see I have done a fair amount of research assuming there is someone who has not fallen asleep by this huge post. I am quite split on the topic. On one hand I want the graphics card of the 15". (PS: I don't game that much on the PC. I probably will when SW:TOL comes out; Star Wars + the awesomeness of WoW, cmon!!) Sigh I digressed again lol
I dunno if spending $520 more is a good deal. Keep in mind I am hoping this laptop last me until summer of 2012 at least. And no I cannot wait for the next revision/improvement. I have been waiting since 2006, complaining about this is not there and that is not there, and I'll buy it later... No more
I will be a new mac user, and I sure I will enjoy either machine. I regret to say that I am one of those people who bitched about the lower 15" because that matching with the 9600 would have been perfect for my needs. But alas you can't have everything. So help me decide please....
Thanks for taking the time to read this ridiculously long post. Hopefully I did not bore anyone to the point of exhaustion
Info gathered from
http://iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=4144