Crazy idea for MBP?

[freelancer27]

Hi there,

great forum for MBP, thats why I chose to post here my question:

So, first a bit to myself:

I am a recend graduate and just started my first job at a cool start-up in San Francisco, CA.

I am currently working with a Lenovo T60, which sees his limits pretty often the last days ( I am working with lots of open Windows, like Excel, PPT, Debugger Programs, IE, Chrome, FF, PS, InDesign, etc. at the same time).

My company told me that they would buy me a good MBP.

So, of course I followed the rumors about the new MBP too. And I would buy one right away if they were out!
But they are not and to be honest, I dont think that they will before July.

So that is really a bumer! Thats why I kinda came up with a crazy idea:

I am thinking of getting a super MBP for around 3k USD. I would probably have to pay a 1000USD out of this myself.

And then when the new MBP come out I sell it and use the money to buy a new one.
What do you think how much I would get for the 3k MBP in summer when the new ones come out? What do you think in general about this idea?

Why am I doing this?

Well, I really would like to have a MBP right now (my T60 could still make the job- no doubt, so I could wait, if necessary).

I am hoping for the new 15" MBP to have:

- higher resolution than the old ones
- hope for better GPUs (I love to game from time to time)
- and that they might get rid of the heat issue.


And finally three questions regarding the config:

-What would you choose in general?
- Does it make sense to get the SSD from Apple? (I was thinking of getting the standard 500GB 7200rpm and then get a faster SSD and then swap the HDD to the hard drive area and the SSD to its normal place. Does the 15" MBP allow that and does it use SATA III?)


Would it be better if I sold the MBP then over craigslist or something similar or back to Apple directly? Should I get Applecare?

Ok, I know a lot of (stupid) questions. But it would be great if you helped me answer them.

This would be my first Mac (was never able to afford me one on my own), so I would like to make a good decision.

Thank you very much guys!

Best,

Ben

 

[heisenberg123]

Hi there,

great forum for MBP, thats why I chose to post here my question:

So, first a bit to myself:

I am a recend graduate and just started my first job at a cool start-up in San Francisco, CA.

I am currently working with a Lenovo T60, which sees his limits pretty often the last days ( I am working with lots of open Windows, like Excel, PPT, Debugger Programs, IE, Chrome, FF, PS, InDesign, etc. at the same time).

My company told me that they would buy me a good MBP.

So, of course I followed the rumors about the new MBP too. And I would buy one right away if they were out!
But they are not and to be honest, I dont think that they will before July.

So that is really a bumer! Thats why I kinda came up with a crazy idea:

I am thinking of getting a super MBP for around 3k USD. I would probably have to pay a 1000USD out of this myself.

And then when the new MBP come out I sell it and use the money to buy a new one.
What do you think how much I would get for the 3k MBP in summer when the new ones come out? What do you think in general about this idea?

Why am I doing this?

Well, I really would like to have a MBP right now (my T60 could still make the job- no doubt, so I could wait, if necessary).

I am hoping for the new 15" MBP to have:

- higher resolution than the old ones
- hope for better GPUs (I love to game from time to time)
- and that they might get rid of the heat issue.


And finally three questions regarding the config:

-What would you choose in general?
- Does it make sense to get the SSD from Apple? (I was thinking of getting the standard 500GB 7200rpm and then get a faster SSD and then swap the HDD to the hard drive area and the SSD to its normal place. Does the 15" MBP allow that and does it use SATA III?)


Would it be better if I sold the MBP then over craigslist or something similar or back to Apple directly? Should I get Applecare?

Ok, I know a lot of (stupid) questions. But it would be great if you helped me answer them.

This would be my first Mac (was never able to afford me one on my own), so I would like to make a good decision.

Thank you very much guys!

Best,

Ben

The old one will drop in value as soon as there is a new one but mbp overall hold good value, you can always look on the refurb section of the apple store to see what mbp sell for and it will show what the orignal price was to guage how much they drop. There is also other sites that gauge value of macs, i remember the websites but a simple search would help you find them.

I would not recommend geting SSD or Ram from apple as there are much cheaper places to get them, and hard drive swaps and RAM swaps are very easy to do your self.

apple care is good but it will only help your resell vaule marginally


yes it will have SATA III in the hard drive bay as well as the optical drive bay

 

[edk99]

Well you have a few options.

1) Do nothing and limp along till the new ones come out. Then use your companies 2k + your money to get what you want.

2) Get a MBP now. Have the company pay for a MBP. So get a base model and don't use any of your money. Then when the new ones come out get the model and specs you want and sell your current MBP and use the money from sale plus your money to get new one.

If your ultimate goal is to get the new model the I would NOT use any of your money (you said about $1000) to get a loaded one now. Reason being is a loaded one will depreciate a lot more then the base model.

 

[talmy]

I think you are crazy for mixing work with pleasure. If you company puts forward $2k, what makes you think the computer will be yours to resell? And even if you pay the full $3k yourself you will take a big hit selling it in a few months when a new model comes out. I'd take the $2k work-supplied system and buy my own computer for personal use.

 

[Interstella5555]

Hi there,

great forum for MBP, thats why I chose to post here my question:

So, first a bit to myself:

I am a recend graduate and just started my first job at a cool start-up in San Francisco, CA.

I am currently working with a Lenovo T60, which sees his limits pretty often the last days ( I am working with lots of open Windows, like Excel, PPT, Debugger Programs, IE, Chrome, FF, PS, InDesign, etc. at the same time).

My company told me that they would buy me a good MBP.

So, of course I followed the rumors about the new MBP too. And I would buy one right away if they were out!
But they are not and to be honest, I dont think that they will before July.

So that is really a bumer! Thats why I kinda came up with a crazy idea:

I am thinking of getting a super MBP for around 3k USD. I would probably have to pay a 1000USD out of this myself.

And then when the new MBP come out I sell it and use the money to buy a new one.
What do you think how much I would get for the 3k MBP in summer when the new ones come out? What do you think in general about this idea?

Why am I doing this?

Well, I really would like to have a MBP right now (my T60 could still make the job- no doubt, so I could wait, if necessary).

I am hoping for the new 15" MBP to have:

- higher resolution than the old ones
- hope for better GPUs (I love to game from time to time)
- and that they might get rid of the heat issue.


And finally three questions regarding the config:

-What would you choose in general?
- Does it make sense to get the SSD from Apple? (I was thinking of getting the standard 500GB 7200rpm and then get a faster SSD and then swap the HDD to the hard drive area and the SSD to its normal place. Does the 15" MBP allow that and does it use SATA III?)


Would it be better if I sold the MBP then over craigslist or something similar or back to Apple directly? Should I get Applecare?

Ok, I know a lot of (stupid) questions. But it would be great if you helped me answer them.

This would be my first Mac (was never able to afford me one on my own), so I would like to make a good decision.

Thank you very much guys!

Best,

Ben

I would make sure this is ok with your company first, as you're basically reselling company assets. It could be totally fine, but again, I'd check first.

 

[freelancer27]

Its a start-up and they told me its gonna be my laptop.

So, no worries! ;-)

 

[Interstella5555]

Its a start-up and they told me its gonna be my laptop.

So, no worries! ;-)

Sweet, they still hiring?

 

[Spink10]

High End/Customized MBP's always take a harder resell hit.

 

[7even]

I'd hold out until the new MBP. Less money out of pocket

 

[Aragorn234]

Company subsidized hardware is a new trend. I work in Australia and am managing a Project titled 'Bring Your Own Computer'
It's all around moving hardware support away from the company.

I expect you will see this more and more in the next couple of years.

(sorry a little off topic)

 

[squeakr]

Its a start-up and they told me its gonna be my laptop.

So, no worries! ;-)

I would definitely get something in writing, as your idea of "your" laptop and their idea may be 2 different entities. Lots of companies "give" laptops t their employees and they are considered theirs for the duration of their employment, but they expect them back after a certain period. Mine makes you purchase it and they will reimburse the payment over the next 18 months. Since we pay for it, it is technically ours, but the reserve the right to inspect and handle as they choose at will (it is in our handbook and the contract we sign when we agree to the reimbursement program).

 

[ShoG]

This is a bad idea, you will loose about 1000USD. I paid just a tad over ~3000USD + 6% tax for a 17" late 2011 and just recently went on to mac2sell.net and is only worth about 2200USD. Mine was full spec'd out as well, but I did do the RAM and SSD aftermarket, but even putting in 8gigs ram and 512 ssd into mac2sell options, it still was only ~2200USD.

Also iisforiphone pointed out that this is before the new line has come out, so if I were to go and check my value when the new ones come out it would be less than 2200, you could be looking at a >1000usd lose. And seeing how you have to put in 1000usd this doesn't seem like a good way of spending it. But I have no right to say how you spend your hard earned money.

My mbp is only 3 1/2 months old, you may get a smaller price drop but since you don't think the new mbp line will be available before July, Id expect the same depreciation(I assume of course).

This 2200usd price may be pretty good for a notebook resell value but still losing 1000usd is pretty terrible in real world views. The second I saw how much it was going to be worth i immediately discard the idea of selling towards the Ivy bridge mbp when its out. Considering also how much I really like the mbp I bought and the fact Id lose a bunch of money imo your plan doesn't seem like a good one.

Buy to keep or wait.