Buy now and sell or keep

[mojay12]

To summarize, I created a thread back in June asking if I should Buy a notebook now or wait. I have been waiting for Haswell rMBP since about April/May.

I have used both a 13 in rMBP
and the new 13 in Haswell MBA

my experience with both products was great, however, I really feel dumb for waiting so long and not getting the product I want, Haswell rMBP

WHAT I DO:
I am a student, I won't be doing anything heavy tasks, multitasking, occasional gaming and maybe very basic video editing. However, I do want my notebook to be somewhat future-proof just as my Vaio Z (i7, 2011 model) was.

So I currently do not know what to do should I:
A) Buy a notebook just to sell when the Haswell rMBP releases (if so, which will drop the least in value and how much?)
B) Just buy a notebook now although it won't be as future-proof it will fulfill all my needs.

Also, is it common problem on the MBA that I had for about a week the screen would randomly go black and sometimes the speakers were making a buzzing noise.

Basically,
Buy a mac that will retain its value the best and flip later
or
buy a mac that fits my needs now

Please help, I have been going about 4 months without a notebook and I cannot go any longer

 

[sonicrobby]

Hmm... tough one. I dont know which of the choices you should make, but IF you decide to buy and sell, go for the MBA, since it was just refreshed it will retain its value the best since it wont be refreshed again until next year.

 

[mojay12]

Thanks, I have tried to hold out for so long without a notebook, but with school starting up again. I doubt I can go much longer. I don't mind buying and selling if the loss will be minor, but I am not sure. Will a 13 in MBA 8gb ram i7, be enough for me, or should I buy a refurb rMBP and just use it, i feel like those 2 are likely the best options if I plan to just keep

however with the back to school promo and student discount could I sell a macbook for less than $200-300 loss in october??

Hmm... tough one. I dont know which of the choices you should make, but IF you decide to buy and sell, go for the MBA, since it was just refreshed it will retain its value the best since it wont be refreshed again until next year.

 

[magbarn]

Thanks, I have tried to hold out for so long without a notebook, but with school starting up again. I doubt I can go much longer. I don't mind buying and selling if the loss will be minor, but I am not sure. Will a 13 in MBA 8gb ram i7, be enough for me, or should I buy a refurb rMBP and just use it, i feel like those 2 are likely the best options if I plan to just keep

however with the back to school promo and student discount could I sell a macbook for less than $200-300 loss in october??

If your full intention is to buy/flip the laptop, make sure you buy a base model. Used laptop buyers put less than $0.50 for every $1 spent on upgrades. If the Retina screen isn't that important to you and you'd rather have 12 hours of battery life, then the MBA 13 would be a good laptop to get as even next year will just be a Haswell refresh as Intel has bumped Broadwell into 2015. Your 2013 MBA will keep it's value much better than the 2010/2011/2012 models did as they had new cpu generations in each of those years.

I also don't expect the a huge increase in battery life for the Haswell rMBP, unless they go IGZO for the screen.

 

[mojay12]

If your full intention is to buy/flip the laptop, make sure you buy a base model. Used laptop buyers put less than $0.50 for every $1 spent on upgrades. If the Retina screen isn't that important to you and you'd rather have 12 hours of battery life, then the MBA 13 would be a good laptop to get as even next year will just be a Haswell refresh as Intel has bumped Broadwell into 2015. Your 2013 MBA will keep it's value much better than the 2010/2011/2012 models did as they had new cpu generations in each of those years.

I also don't expect the a huge increase in battery life for the Haswell rMBP, unless they go IGZO for the screen.

KEEP:
So, do you think a 13in Haswell MBA with 8g ram can handle my needs better than the current rMBP, and will a Haswell rMBP be much of an improvement for me?

SELL:
If i choose to buy then sell later, its pretty clear that MBA Haswell will retain its value better, but will the 11in MBA basemodel, or 13in MBA base model be better to minimize my losses

 

[magbarn]

KEEP:
So, do you think a 13in Haswell MBA with 8g ram can handle my needs better than the current rMBP, and will a Haswell rMBP be much of an improvement for me?

SELL:
If i choose to buy then sell later, its pretty clear that MBA Haswell will retain its value better, but will the 11in MBA basemodel, or 13in MBA base model be better to minimize my losses

Since the Haswell MBA's base i5 is only about 20% slower than the rMBP while the HD5000 is about 15% faster than the HD4000 so it's a wash. The 8gb is more than enough unless you're running VM's or editing a ton of 36megapixel raw files.