AppleLoan/Lease vs. saving up, which Mac considerations...

[Codemonkey]

Hey all,

I've got a 600MHz Snow iMac (stock) that's coming up to 3 years old, and I think it's time to 'trade up'. I have a couple of questions for those who use their Macs in a SoHo type setting:

What makes more sense:
- Purchasing the computer outright (which would take a few more months of 'saving up')
- Financing it through AppleLoan
- Leasing it at my local Apple retailler (Westworld Computers)
- Financing it some other way, like on a line of credit?

Macromedia Studio MX is pretty much unbearable, and the 1024x768 rsolution is killing me for interface design and graphics work. I'd like to keep it around for my wife, but I think that I can get a pretty good trade-in value for it so I'll likely go that route.

Anyway. Part of me wants to go the lease/loan route, because I would like to get my hardware sooner than later - but I understand that my lusting and impatience might be clouding the fact that in the end I'll be paying much more than the computer was originally worth, and likely long after I've retired it.

Also, I'm considering the 17" iMac. In a business/graphics environment, do you believe that this would be enough horsepower to last 3-4 years? Is there a simple comparison between it and the 1.6 GHz G5 I can look at? Or does anyone have direct experience with the two?

Sorry for all the questions, but this is a big decision for me.

Thanks for any input you might have!

Chris.

 

[SilentPanda]

Just save... if it was gonna take you 3 years to save you might consider a loan or something... but if it's a few months... who cares.. at worst you'll get better hardware for less money.

 

[hugemullens]

I used the apple loan to buy my old powermac and i regret it. The intrest was way to much. I would say save up, like the previous poster said, worse thing that can happen is you get more computer for the same amount of money.

 

[gemio17]

Originally posted by hugemullens
I used the apple loan to buy my old powermac and i regret it. The intrest was way to much. I would say save up, like the previous poster said, worse thing that can happen is you get more computer for the same amount of money.

ditto-my rookie mistake, I financed thru apple loan and my interest was at 24%!! Yikes, def. save up or if you can get a personal loan thru your bank- I have done this in the past and gotten a 12% rate with auto-deduct from my checking each month, with no penalty for paying it off early. It's worth looking into if your bank does that...and you want that PB NOW!!!!

 

[tiktokfx]

MNBA charges a ridiculously high rate. The estimates on the loan page are assuming you get the lowest rate (10% or so I think?) My application got me 26.99%, which is the maximum interest rate my state will allow.

Needless to say, I didn't finance it through them.

 

[debo]

My interest rate with apple was only 14% and I'm just 21 with good credit. And there is no penalty for paying it off early either.

 

[Codemonkey]

Good to hear - my credit's golden, I'm over 25 and if I manage to bring in a large-ish contract or two then if I can pay it off early, I'm laughing.

If I can get the 9.99% rate, I think I'll likely go that route.

Or not.

LOL I hate commiting to that much money.

 

[gemio17]

I had outstanding credit and was 22....WHATEVER MBNA!!

 

[kuyu]

I financed my emac, and regreted it the whole time. I've now saved about $1500 for a new laptop, and probably wont buy the biggest baddest one that I have the money for.

Keep in mind: Having the money and being able to afford something are COMPLETELY different. Just cause you've got the funds doesn't mean you can afford to part with them. Save up, then buy the lesser model. After all, it's still a mac, and that's reassuring.

Good luck!

 

[Coca-Cola]

I would go ahead and get what your heart desires. If you can get a good credit card rate, do that. Sometimes they have no interest balance transfers to other cards. But whatever you do, don't keep adding new charges. ie software and burgers.

 

[absolut_mac]

Apple Financing

Originally posted by Codemonkey
If I can get the 9.99% rate, I think I'll likely go that route.

I honestly don't think that anyone gets that rate, including Bill Gates - and I'm sure that his credit is more than good enough.

The 9.99% is just a hook.

When they offer such a wide spread, 9.99% to 26.99%, I can guarantee you that over 95% of the loans are at the highest rate. It's just a slightly different take on the "bait and switch" tactic

 

[Codemonkey]

Re: Apple Financing

Originally posted by absolut_mac
I honestly don't think that anyone gets that rate, including Bill Gates - and I'm sure that his credit is more than good enough.

The 9.99% is just a hook.

Bah, fine. I kinda thought so. I'll just throw it on a line of credit... iirc I'm at 2 1/4 above prime anyway.

Cola: You're an angel - that's the kind of free-wheeling no-remorse spending advice I was lookin' for!

 

[gemio17]

"The 9.99% is just a hook.
- When they offer such a wide spread, 9.99% to 26.99%, I can guarantee you that over 95% of the loans are at the highest rate. It's just a slightly different take on the "bait and switch" tactic"

ABSOLUTELY correct!!!! Even if you are able to secure a low rate, in a couple of months they'll have it up to something ridiculous....variable rate-what an evil concept....

 

[chicagdan]

Don't get the Apple Loan -- it's too tempting to keep throwing stuff on the revolving line of credit as you pay off your computer. "Well I don't really need an iSight and don't know anyone to link up with ... but I do have room for it on my credit line ..."

Few people know this, but if you get an MBNA line of credit on MacMall instead of via the Apple Store, you can use it anywhere MBNA lines of credit are used ... on the Apple Store ... or to buy some jewelry for a woman on BlueNile.com, for example. Yeah, sometimes life comes down to those kinds of decisions.

 

[flyfish29]

Originally posted by tiktokfx
MNBA charges a ridiculously high rate. The estimates on the loan page are assuming you get the lowest rate (10% or so I think?) My application got me 26.99%, which is the maximum interest rate my state will allow.

Needless to say, I didn't finance it through them.

I had great luck for the most part with MBNA. I have perfect credit so I got the 9.9% rate, but plan on paying it off early. It costs nothing to see what your rate is by applying. then you can decide what to do. Just make sure you talk directly to an MBNA rep and confirm the rate. I had an issue with this, but they finally resolved it no problem.

what I would do is this: Get a loan if the mac is that important for a few months. If you have almost all the cash now though you can make a monster payment the first month and virtually pay no interest. You could also do this. Use one of those 0% credit card offers for 6 months or somehthing...take your savings and pay it off before you pay the interest charges. (be sure to pay it off on time or else those sometimes accrue interest on the "free 6 months" and will give you a huge interest charge that first month of interest. I have used citibank on these 0% cards and had great luck financing large purchases for short time periods by putting it on the low interest offer and paying it off before the interest gets charged.

Of course to do this last one you have to be very disciplined to save and pay it off.

Good luck.