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$450 budget where to buy MacBook Air
- Thread starter Applepie047704
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You might get a heavily used 2009 model. I've seen some open box and refurb MBAs for $900.
Try Craigslist.
I wouldn't go Windows like many are suggesting in this thread. Mac OS is the best out there, nothing like Windows. Windows is garbage. Whatever you do, DO NOT buy a Windows laptop. You'll regret it later in life. Once you go Mac, you never go back.
Not to start a conflict, but Windows OS is far from garbage. I do agree that Apple laptops are far better built than Windows based laptops, they cost ~2X more.
I've been using OS X now for over 9 months, and there is nothing that OS X can do that Windows cannot.
With the OP's budget, a MBA is not looking very likely and he'll have to settle for Windows based laptop.
Where did you get college out of the OP? Based on the tone, budget, and "necessity" of the macbook air I'm guessing it's not post secondary.
"Free" money is a good thing if you can do it, and if it works out for you, more power to you.
However, let me tell you my story of how I was completely screwed over by one of these plans. Yes, it was my own fault for not reading the fine print, but the damage was done.
I ordered a 12" PowerBook G4 back in 2003. I was in university, tiny income, poor credit rating, back then Canadian dollar was nowhere near US par and Mac prices were that much more insane. The PowerBook I wanted rang up at about $2700. I couldn't afford that all at once, but Apple's website offered a 0% financing deal. So I applied, and bought the PowerBook, configured to my liking.
While I was checking out, Apple's website offered me that page with the list of addons. "Final Cut Express - Add $149" was one of the options. Since I wanted to do video editing, I checked the box.
So, Final Cut Express shipped out immediately and $149 (plus tax) was charged to the loan account. A few weeks later, my BTO PowerBook was shipped, and the remaining $2700 was charged.
Ah, but the fine print said that 0% financing only applied to the FIRST ITEM charged to the account. The rest? Standard loan terms -- at 28.8%.
So I got an interest free loan on $150 and paid a TON of interest on $2700 that I had to pay down slowly. Combine that with some payroll screwups at my university and the bottom line is it took YEARS to climb out of that hole. I never tallied up the total interest paid. I don't want to know.
So, by all means finance if you want, but be careful. Offering 0% to one person means totally screwing someone else to make up the difference. Don't become the other guy.
Or, buy an iPad. You didn't specify your uses, but for all your basic computing needs, it will perform just fine. Plus, if you jailbreak it, you'll be able to do some advanced computing stuffs as well.
OUCH, that hurts..the way the apple financing works is if you do a 12 month interest free loan and pay it off BEFORE the due date...no interest, pay it after that all interest is accrued to the bill from day one, i think it is 18%"Free" money is a good thing if you can do it, and if it works out for you, more power to you.
However, let me tell you my story of how I was completely screwed over by one of these plans. Yes, it was my own fault for not reading the fine print, but the damage was done.
I ordered a 12" PowerBook G4 back in 2003. I was in university, tiny income, poor credit rating, back then Canadian dollar was nowhere near US par and Mac prices were that much more insane. The PowerBook I wanted rang up at about $2700. I couldn't afford that all at once, but Apple's website offered a 0% financing deal. So I applied, and bought the PowerBook, configured to my liking.
While I was checking out, Apple's website offered me that page with the list of addons. "Final Cut Express - Add $149" was one of the options. Since I wanted to do video editing, I checked the box.
So, Final Cut Express shipped out immediately and $149 (plus tax) was charged to the loan account. A few weeks later, my BTO PowerBook was shipped, and the remaining $2700 was charged.
Ah, but the fine print said that 0% financing only applied to the FIRST ITEM charged to the account. The rest? Standard loan terms -- at 28.8%.
So I got an interest free loan on $150 and paid a TON of interest on $2700 that I had to pay down slowly. Combine that with some payroll screwups at my university and the bottom line is it took YEARS to climb out of that hole. I never tallied up the total interest paid. I don't want to know.
So, by all means finance if you want, but be careful. Offering 0% to one person means totally screwing someone else to make up the difference. Don't become the other guy.
That's how I assumed my particular financing deal worked, too, but it wasn't. I guess I didn't study the fine print enough.
Mine wasn't through Apple itself, it was a deal offered by a credit company, possibly MBNA, at that time.
So, what would've happened when stock market went down ? Being lucky doesn't make it any good option for others. (I assume you can't predict the future
)come on - a refinance is most definitely not the same thing as financing a laptop.
either way i don't see how any of this is particularly relevant to someone whose computer budget is currently $450.
i don't mean to be snarky, we've all be there. in my opinion you don't get wealthy borrowing money - but obviously there are exceptions...but again - not for someone with a $500 budget. A computer is not an investment.
So, what would've happened when stock market went down ? Being lucky doesn't make it any good option for others. (I assume you can't predict the future
My point was even if they put the money in the bank they would have been better off than buying down the mortgage. The stock market did go down and came back. My other point was, why put cash into a depreciating asset like a computer when someone offers free financing and you can afford the payments. it is a free loan, no fees or interest.
Haha, Windows OS is garbage. Yes, it's functional but it is in fact garbage and very unstable. I don't remember the last time I had to reformat any of my Macs in 10 years, and yet Windows has so many problems I have to do it twice a year to my Windows PCs.
Also I'm a computer tech so I speak from experience.
ah yes - the lucrative world of hindsight futures.
there is no such thing as a free loan. Miss a payment, late on a payment, don't pay it off in time and boom, the post-offer interest rate kicks in which is currently an insane 23%
second - i'm not sure it's guaranteed that someone whose budget for a computer is $450 is likely to have enough credit to secure one of those loans.
Finally - there's the credit score itself to consider. a big increase in both new credit and the debt to credit ratio is going to have an effect on that score.
those 0% financing offers certainly have their place and can be a great way to make purchases, but i don't think it's a good idea to buy something like a computer with such an offer unless of course you have the capital to pay it off at any time should something come up. That's obviously just my opinion and i'm not a CPA but I can't in good conscience recommend that someone looking to spend $450 on a computer borrow more than twice that to buy a top of the line new machine.
well not to try and argue with the wisdom of an experienced "computer tech" but i think you're being a bit silly here.
most of us are Mac people here so you don't need to convince anybody of the relative inferiority of Windows to Mac OS but "having to reformat twice a year" is a relatively small price to pay for a $400 computer which is what this guy is looking for.
If Windows is an issue, there are any number of linux distributions out there that are perfectly adequate. in fact that's exactly what i do with my cheap computers. $200-$400 computer, format, install Linux Mint - enjoy.
I don't think a $450 budget is reasonable for Macbook. That's going to be an old machine that is almost certainly going to need a new battery. They're not easily upgradable and at that price you really have no idea what you are getting.
I would save up another few hundred if my heart was set on a MBA or i would cut my loses and get a perfectly decent Lenovo etc.
either way this is all moot because i am not sure this kid is being realistic with his "needs" based on his other posts.
"I need a MacBook air for school and a msc pro and iMac because I need two comPuters at home." and has a budget of $1300...
That post sounds like someone who has been ignorant of the state of Windows in the past few years. And I'm not saying that to be insulting, but to highlight how much has changed.
5-7 years ago, right after I switched to the PowerBook (the 28.8%-interest PowerBook, sigh) I would have agreed with that post. Windows was a pain, there was such a high risk of malware, spyware, adware, BSODs, etc. I switched just in time, I never had to deal with any of that stuff. OS X, iLife, etc. felt lightyears ahead of what you could do with Windows.
Today, Windows has pretty much caught up. And, to back up my "ignorant" comment, I have to say that I was so busy being an Apple user that I didn't even notice, not until last December when I stepped into a Microsoft Store in Toronto. I did it to have a laugh, really ("let's see what kind of crap Microsoft is trying to pass off these days"), but came out surprised and impressed. Surface Pro is a very nice looking machine and Windows 8 is actually pretty cool. Shame on me for not paying attention to the industry.
Also, these past few years Apple has gone down a certain path that not everyone likes (Want an upgradeable machine? Want a replaceable battery? Non-glossy screen? Too bad.) If I was to buy a new laptop today, I'd be very torn between a Windows 8 ultrabook or a MacBook Air.
"Free" money is a good thing if you can do it, and if it works out for you, more power to you.
However, let me tell you my story of how I was completely screwed over by one of these plans. Yes, it was my own fault for not reading the fine print, but the damage was done.
I ordered a 12" PowerBook G4 back in 2003. I was in university, tiny income, poor credit rating, back then Canadian dollar was nowhere near US par and Mac prices were that much more insane. The PowerBook I wanted rang up at about $2700. I couldn't afford that all at once, but Apple's website offered a 0% financing deal. So I applied, and bought the PowerBook, configured to my liking.
While I was checking out, Apple's website offered me that page with the list of addons. "Final Cut Express - Add $149" was one of the options. Since I wanted to do video editing, I checked the box.
So, Final Cut Express shipped out immediately and $149 (plus tax) was charged to the loan account. A few weeks later, my BTO PowerBook was shipped, and the remaining $2700 was charged.
Ah, but the fine print said that 0% financing only applied to the FIRST ITEM charged to the account. The rest? Standard loan terms -- at 28.8%.
So I got an interest free loan on $150 and paid a TON of interest on $2700 that I had to pay down slowly. Combine that with some payroll screwups at my university and the bottom line is it took YEARS to climb out of that hole. I never tallied up the total interest paid. I don't want to know.
So, by all means finance if you want, but be careful. Offering 0% to one person means totally screwing someone else to make up the difference. Don't become the other guy.
Why didn't you just return it after finding out the interest was 28%?
I didn't notice until I saw interest charges a month later when the first bill arrived. In hindsight, I probably should have returned it, or called MBNA to complain. The reality of it was that I was embarrassed at myself for making such a dumb mistake, and my pride, combined with optimism, said "no, it's OK, we can do this". At the time I figured I'd just pay down the loan as quickly as I could, and I moved money from another credit card (at only 18%) to pay down the MBNA debt.
Things got worse because I was on the university payroll at the time (being an RA and TA). Their student payroll system made deposits once a month, and due to a paperwork error at the university office, they missed one of mine, meaning I had no income for two months, during which time I was forced to rack up more debt on the credit card. All combined, it was a deep hole to climb out of.
You don't even need to spend $450 nowadays to get a more than capable Windows laptop. Great hardware, bad OS. That's all I'm saying.
agreed on all counts. i myself will never leave OSX unless something changes drastically, but we have some Windows 8 computers at work that are perfectly fine. and i still use XP as my primary VM.
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yes - i'd say this not an atypical story. you've obviously learned from it which is more than many people but i imagine that these finance offers target young people. i mean a computer isn't exactly a huge essential purchase to most people. i'm certainly not wealthy by any means, but i could come up with 1-2k if i absolutely had to.
and being a bit older i've learned that i don't "absolutely have to" when it comes to buying tech. in other words, i save the money and THEN buy it.
And of course, your experience is universal.
I'm happy with OSX, but I am also secure enough in that decision that I do not have to childishly denigrate other people's decision by calling it garbage.