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Buy a Macbook for College? When?

O

oyanine

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 19, 2006
4
0
My nephew is going to college in the Fall and for his graduation present, the family wanted to get him a new computer. His mother wants to get something "NOW," but I see the Macbook has a "don't buy" note. Is it likely there will be a new release this summer? Right now he seems to be pretty happily using the 44 month old upgraded Macbook I handed down to his father. He's going into the sciences and has used video, audio, gaming software, so a Macbook Pro would not be out of the question either.

So the question: Wait to see if there is a new macbook this summer, buy a Macbook now or convince his very excited grandparents that we should kick in the extra money for a Macbook Pro? The educational discount will apply in any case. Any advice?

I apologize if there is already a "When will a new Macbook come out" thread. I couldn't find it.
 
No one knows release dates. You can only buy based on historical evidence. Buy the Mac when he needs it and my thought would be sometime just before college. There are also back to school deals that can sweeten his graduation present even more.
 
Usually, people wait till the back-to-school special that usually gives a free iPod Touch. If not needed, it can be resold.
 
Right now with the current processor in the Macbook, I would definitely stay away. Maybe that will change if an update comes.

But currently, I would get a Macbook Pro. For $200 extra you get a current dual core i5 processor with the expandability to 8gb of ram. Whereas the macbooks max at 4gb.
 
cloroxbleach4 said:
Right now with the current processor in the Macbook, I would definitely stay away. Maybe that will change if an update comes.

But currently, I would get a Macbook Pro. For $200 extra you get a current dual core i5 processor with the expandability to 8gb of ram. Whereas the macbooks max at 4gb.
Click to expand...

Thanks, this makes a lot of sense. I know that no one knows release dates, but the Macbook is now almost twice as it's normal update cycle and there do seem to be specific events/times of the year when there are updates. But in any case, I think waiting until the education specials won't hold things up too much.
 
Also small rumor it would be an iPad and not an iPod this year!
Click to expand...

:eek:

I don't see that happening, but it totally makes sense to wait for the back to school deal!
 
I'm certainly not going to say anyone here is wrong all valid points, but i would also say if he is happy with such an old machine a current MB would be amazing to him in any case. But i do agree with everyone that a MBP is a lot better for some relatively advanced things, but really if he can do it on an old machine, a normal MB would definitely serve his needs more than well enough! :D

If it helps at all, i'm a university student and i have a 09' MB for video editing, a lot of video conversion and a few games like World Of Warcraft (nothing too intense, you really need to go crazy with a 15" MBP if you want serious gaming tbh...) and it is more than enough for me! just something to consider.

Also the features like backlit keyboard, aluminium body etc. make the pro much 'cooler' as a present :) i would probably get a pro for these reasons if i didnt have them in my special edition version of the MB which has them, so if you want the aesthetic 'wow' factor because it's a present it's awesome, but worth $200 when he doesnt really need it? for you to decide, it doesn't sound like he will be 'needing' the processing power of a pro? again i would say consider all of these things and every other poster's valid opinions :D

p.s. definately wait for back to school ;) you can make some money back for yourself lol or make his MacBook even more awesome with an iPod touch!
 
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