Financing Retina MacBook Pro Advice

[KPOM]

except i didn't fail, everyone here is being holier than thou
most things in life we have we dont NEED
of course for college you dont need the new rmbp
and you most certainly dont need tons of other crap its about wanting and yeah why not buy 2k is a drop in the pail compared a 60k loan you wont be able to pay off, who in here is not in debt? as a matter of fact my first credit card came bc i was a college student? he'll probably be in debt until the day he dies running and living the rat race, may as well buy it a get some joy

Well, there is that old saying about if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. College costs are ridiculous now, to be sure. Unfortunately, cheap student loans for the past 3 decades and easy credit in general just encouraged colleges to stop worrying about being efficient. I don't see this ending well.

That said, it's important to learn responsibility early. If you are going to borrow $150,000 to go to a state school for 5 years (hopefully you can get some scholarships or your parents saved up a bit), you should think about your future career and get a degree in something useful. At the same time, consider a job to cover living expenses. More than the money, the job experience (even if it's just at the local store or restaurant) will help you get the internship later on, or the first job after college.

 

[Slowball41]

agreed, personal responsibility

 

[thevinrod]

If you can't afford it until September, then buy it in September. Using credit cards in college was the dumbest decision I ever made. It is incredibly hard to get out of the hole, no matter how disciplined you consider yourself, or how much money you make after college. Hell, I make >100K and I just paid off my credit cards last year (4 years out of college).

BE PATIENT. YOU WILL APPRECIATE YOUR PURCHASE MORE.

Not that you will listen to me anyway...

 

[Prof.]

Buy a laptop (MacBook Air/Pro) that you can afford. Maybe even look at Apple's refurbished store...? I'm a college kid as well and I know how tight money can be. I paid $1k in cash and the other $1k on my CC with 3.8% interest. If you can do something similar, that's what I would recommend.

 

[thevinrod]

My advice is to take the $2300+ that you were going to spend on the rMBP, spend half of it on a MacBook Air, and put the other half of it in a savings account at an online bank and forget about it until you graduate. Trust me. You'll be glad you did (even though interest rates are low right now).

My advice is to only take student loans for what you NEED. You certainly don't need to max your allowable student loans to have the best computer, the best clothes, eat out all the time, etc. Those loans don't pay themselves off. I took out max student loans for 6 years (I'm a pharmacist). Then I had $110k to pay back after college (at interest rates averaging ~6%), when it would have only been about 80k with only the loans I needed for tuition.

My laptop was stolen during a party in college. I bought an iMac for $1200 on credit and didn't pay it all off for probably 3 years. In that time I probably spent an extra $300 in interest. Could've just worked and saved the money to buy a new computer. Hindsight is 20/20.

I understand where you are KrispyKreme. Do yourself a favor and google a guy named Dave Ramsey. He will help you avoid a lifetime of chasing your tail.

Regards,
-Vinny-

 

[pragmatous]

I use bill me later. It's basically a chase credit card. You have to be approved for the credit. THe interest rate is about 20% depending on your credit. I have amazing credit so yours might be higher. It's 6 months of no interest but if you miss the 6th month all the interest that got racked up gets put on your bill. I would only use bill me later if you have they money. It's a great way to rack up your credit score.

Buying stuff on credit when you don't have the money is bad economics. Remember this it will save your future. It's not about what you want it's about the future of your entire life that is based on your credit score.

Anyone familiar with the the Bill Me Later option or RBS Citizens Payment Plan (Education loan)?

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Thanks. However, all I want to do is purchase the RMBP. After that, I will never use the credit card again... Is it safer to use the Barclays (Apple's) option?

 

[dallas112678]

I went to University over 14 years ago, but I certainly did not have $2,200 lying around back then. As a student I spent my money on custom surfboards, beer, petrol and women. The rest I squandered.

I also don't think a university student requires a $2000 laptop.

University students don't *Need* the most advanced macbook pro, no matter what your major is.

I'm in aerospace engineering at a top engineering school and the vast majority of my classmates have the 13" MBP that they primarily use for programming. All the more intensive programs we use our departments computer labs.

OP, any program that won't run flawlessly on a 13" MBP will undoubtably run better on your school computer stations that it will on the highest specced rMBP since the desktop hardware will more than likely be much more powerful than the CPU and mid-range mobile GPU in the new MBP.

I think you should go one of two ways.

1. Buy a 13" MBP + External monitor for extra screen real estate (you don't need to buy an ACD.) This will save you a lot of money not to mention the native high resolution will look better than a scaled up picture on the retina. You will then have a lot of extra money to go spend on a fake id and alcohol.

2. Use your schools computers until you get the money to pay for your computer. I mean seriously, you are going the first month of your freshman year without a computer...What is the big deal? It's not as if you are going to have a 40 page essay on quantum physics during that time.

I just wanted to offer those options even though I know you won't do either. With the way you think you can't go the first month of college without the newest and greatest MBP despite the fact that you don't even have all of the money to buy it yet, I suspect you primarily want it for the status symbol.

Just noticed you said you were EE, then you should definitely save your money and go with a 13" MBP.

Someone else mentioned the programs that you will probably only need as "Multisim, Matlab and Labview." You will definitely use those more than anything else and I can't think of any EE program that stresses the GPU. My classmates run those programs perfect with there 13" MPBs (Yes, we Aerospace people also dabble with the electrical side of things.) Not to mention, I highly doubt that National Instruments and other engineering focused companies will be racing to make their programs retina aware.

 

[Yuke]

You won't need a high-end GPU for EE work. You really don't need a high-end CPU either, as anything truly intensive you'll be running on higher-spec machines in your college's computer lab. More memory *always* helps.

You're going to be carrying this machine around with you. You don't want a full-size, heavy laptop. You want something light, that you don't mind carrying all the time.

Likewise, you don't want to need to drag a power adapter around with you, and you certainly don't want to have to search for available outlets. So you want something with decent battery life.

You want a SSD. Best speed boost you can give any computer right now.

As an added bonus, getting rid of the spinning HDD gets rid of the last of the moving parts, other than fans. Moving parts die. The less of them you have, the longer you'll generally go before needing a repair.

The Macbook Air really looks like the machine you're looking for.

I'd go with the 13" model myself, and max out the ram. The 11" is a great choice if you like the smaller screen, but I find that I really need more space. That's really a personal preference, though. What you want to do is go to an Apple Store and look at them in person. You'll be able to tell pretty quickly whether the 11" is right for you.

I carried a 2011 13" Air for the past 8 months. I barely noticed it in my pack. I didn't have to worry about whether it would last a few hours of real use before needing to charge. And with the SSD, it was blazingly fast.

The only difference between the two 13" models is 128GB SSD vs. 256GB SSD, for $300 extra. 128GB isn't a lot, but you can get around a lot of the problems with a USB3 bus-powered external disk. Don't bother with the CPU upgrade - you won't really notice the difference. Spend your upgrade money on 8GB of ram ($100) - that'll help a lot, particularly if you want to run Windows in a VM.

Also - Applecare. You have a year to purchase it, so you don't have to add it to the initial cost - but don't forget it. You're going to be at college, and college is extremely hard on electronics. If something fails in the first three years, Applecare will repair or replace it.

You can save a little bit more if you're willing to go with the 11" model, but for me that just wouldn't be enough screen space to be comfortable.

Don't go into debt any more than you absolutely have to. As I said earlier, Bad Things (tm) will happen to you financially at some point, and having extra debt *will* bite you in the ass when it does.

 

[minnus]

What is with the ridiculous recommendations that one should be spending money on beer, women, and toys when in college - and not on a tool? While the whole school workstation mentality is definitely okay, having your own power house has its advantages for when school resources are completely tapped. I would imagine that this is more based on where you're studying - where I studied, I would have to go in during very odd hours to get some work done.

I can forgo beer for an academic year if it means that I can buy a computer that will give me an edge.

 

[christophermdia]

What is the CHEAPEST option (I'm alright with refurb.) for me according to the following criteria.

1. Will have the power to run Bootcamp and applications specific to Electrical Engineering or Engineering in general.
2. Will last me at least 5 years of college.

Any apple laptop will surely last you 5 years.....however, strongly consider this....for $2k you can get an apple laptop, or 2 Windows PC's, possibly 3.

Electrical engineering will use apps such as Matlab and PSpice which are windows only apps. So you will need to use Bootcamp, which might be ok for Pspice but not sure I would run Matlab on it, its very labor intensive. My nephew just started college and while I am a huge Apple fanboy and my whole house is an apple store, I got him an HP Ultrabook which cost me $800. If it lasts him 2 years, I'll get him another $800 ultrabook and combined it will still be less than a similarly configured macbook and runs his engineering apps natively.

Keep in mind, bootcamp will require you to spend probably another $3-500 in Windows OS and associated apps.

 

[Jiten]

What is with the ridiculous recommendations that one should be spending money on beer, women, and toys when in college - and not on a tool? While the whole school workstation mentality is definitely okay, having your own power house has its advantages for when school resources are completely tapped. I would imagine that this is more based on where you're studying - where I studied, I would have to go in during very odd hours to get some work done.

I can forgo beer for an academic year if it means that I can buy a computer that will give me an edge.

I'm sure the majority of the folks here will not recommend spending loned money on beer, women, and toys neither.

 

[beamer8912]

What is with the ridiculous recommendations that one should be spending money on beer, women, and toys when in college - and not on a tool? While the whole school workstation mentality is definitely okay, having your own power house has its advantages for when school resources are completely tapped. I would imagine that this is more based on where you're studying - where I studied, I would have to go in during very odd hours to get some work done.

I can forgo beer for an academic year if it means that I can buy a computer that will give me an edge.

College + No beer = No Fun

Honestly, they will probably be the best four years of your life. Appreciate that. I went to an engineering school as well, I knew plenty of kids who didn't drink and sat in their rooms all night on their laptops. There's a line everyone has to draw between fun and work.

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Any apple laptop will surely last you 5 years.....however, strongly consider this....for $2k you can get an apple laptop, or 2 Windows PC's, possibly 3.

Electrical engineering will use apps such as Matlab and PSpice which are windows only apps. So you will need to use Bootcamp, which might be ok for Pspice but not sure I would run Matlab on it, its very labor intensive. My nephew just started college and while I am a huge Apple fanboy and my whole house is an apple store, I got him an HP Ultrabook which cost me $800. If it lasts him 2 years, I'll get him another $800 ultrabook and combined it will still be less than a similarly configured macbook and runs his engineering apps natively.

Keep in mind, bootcamp will require you to spend probably another $3-500 in Windows OS and associated apps.

They have matlab for mac.

And you can obtain windows through your schools software bank for free. Most engineering schools have a plethora of software for students for free, its part of their tuition.

Our school had unlimited downloads of Windows, Office, Matlab, Mathematica, Origin, Adobe Suites, ChemCad, AutoCad etc etc etc.

 

[CrAkD]

Don't do it. I spent most of my 20s in debt. It sucks having to work just to pay bills when you should be able to spend time doing other things just turned 30 and my debt is almost gone. I current have a gift card I'm building for a new Mac. I suggest you do something similar.

 

[heloise]

Alright, you guys are right...

Suggestions on what Apple laptop I should buy for an Electrical Engineering Major that will last me 5 years or even more?

I'm going into my sophomore year at a top engineering school. I didn't get a new computer for college. I just used my 2010 MBA. One of my close friends who is an ECE did the same thing. This summer we both got great internships (one of the perks of being in engineering school). We both bought new computers. I got a RMBP (which I know I don't need but it is oh so pretty) and I could pay for it myself without taking out extra loans. My advice would be to get a relatively low end computer or to keep your computer from high school and wait till you get a badass internship (as an ECE if you concentrate on your grades this is completely do-able) and then to buy your dream machine. You won't be taking very many engineering classes your freshman year and the ones you are taking won't require much specialized software outside of the lab. This way you get the best of both worlds.

 

[beamer8912]

I'm going into my sophomore year at a top engineering school. I didn't get a new computer for college. I just used my 2010 MBA. One of my close friends who is an ECE did the same thing. This summer we both got great internships (one of the perks of being in engineering school). We both bought new computers. I got a RMBP (which I know I don't need but it is oh so pretty) and I could pay for it myself without taking out extra loans. My advice would be to get a relatively low end computer or to keep your computer from high school and wait till you get a badass internship (as an ECE if you concentrate on your grades this is completely do-able) and then to buy your dream machine. You won't be taking very many engineering classes your freshman year and the ones you are taking won't require much specialized software outside of the lab. This way you get the best of both worlds.

For all students out there, paid internships aren't exclusive to engineers. Anyone can land one of these internships, and I highly suggest they do. I had one every summer during college, they pay, they look great on your resume, and they can get you excellent letters of rec for graduate school.

 

[tomtom2234]

I recommend trying pretty much all other options before Barlcay. They have terrible customer service and are all around bad. Also, seeing as you have no credit, the Loan that apple provides probably won't work for you. I applied with my parent and by myself and got declined by them both times (even though I had a CC with good payment history / etc for a while now). There is a chance the only place that will give you the credit is Barclay (They seem to hand credit out like its nothing, gave me a 1.2k credit line on my first CC!).

Also, don't listen to all the crap about "not getting in debt". Debt is a necessary evil of College. Just make sure you will actually have the money to pay it off.

 

[plexusnexus]

Just a thought, but not all college students are only studying on their computer... Some edit video, use photoshop, use music production programs, play video games, etc. I'm not using this as a reason why all college students should get a rMBP, but I do find it silly when people recommend (all) college students a $400 laptop because they think (all) college students use it solely for Word and internet browsing.

 

[Slivortal]

You won't need a high-end GPU for EE work. You really don't need a high-end CPU either, as anything truly intensive you'll be running on higher-spec machines in your college's computer lab. More memory *always* helps.

You're going to be carrying this machine around with you. You don't want a full-size, heavy laptop. You want something light, that you don't mind carrying all the time.

Likewise, you don't want to need to drag a power adapter around with you, and you certainly don't want to have to search for available outlets. So you want something with decent battery life.

Also - Applecare. You have a year to purchase it, so you don't have to add it to the initial cost - but don't forget it. You're going to be at college, and college is extremely hard on electronics. If something fails in the first three years, Applecare will repair or replace it.

This is simply not true. AppleCare will not cover accidents, loss, or theft - it only covers manufacturer defects. As a student, your chances of getting a DudBook are just as high as anyone else's.

The chances of your roommate stepping on/spilling water on your brand new RMBP, or you leaving it in the library/cafeteria though are much higher. I'd reccomend taking that AppleCare money and get real insurance from a third party for the same price or less.

Also, the new RMBP is by no means too heavy to carry around campus. I use a 13" unibody MBP comfortably, and the RMBP is actually lighter than that.

 

[kamran9558]

I have never taken a loan of a single penny, yes my parents supported my tution fee but I never took a single penny from them besides the fee, I donot believe in credit cards I do have one just for the sake of creating some credit history and my credit card's bill is immediately paid by my account. point is taking loan is not the only way to live in this world.

 

[beamer8912]

Just a thought, but not all college students are only studying on their computer... Some edit video, use photoshop, use music production programs, play video games, etc. I'm not using this as a reason why all college students should get a rMBP, but I do find it silly when people recommend (all) college students a $400 laptop because they think (all) college students use it solely for Word and internet browsing.

You can edit photos on a regular MBP or MBA. It's not like their incapable of editing photos/video. A rMBP is overkill for taking red-eye out of a facebook profile picture.

And if you're doing significant photo/video editing, the school will provide computers to do that on.

 

[jtcedinburgh]

I have never taken a loan of a single penny, yes my parents supported my tution fee but I never took a single penny from them besides the fee, I donot believe in credit cards I do have one just for the sake of creating some credit history and my credit card's bill is immediately paid by my account. point is taking loan is not the only way to live in this world.

If only more people took this attitude, we wouldn't be in the financial mess that we find ourselves in. Good on you.

Though, granted, a credit card is handy (but a mug's game unless you can afford to pay it off each month or have extended interest free credit).

OTish, but I guess this is a financing a mac topic

 

[Centsy]

I have never taken a loan of a single penny, yes my parents supported my tution fee but I never took a single penny from them besides the fee, I donot believe in credit cards I do have one just for the sake of creating some credit history and my credit card's bill is immediately paid by my account. point is taking loan is not the only way to live in this world.

You must plan on never owning a home then.

 

[kamran9558]

You must plan on never owning a home then.

It might take some time, but im sure it will work out

 

[Yuke]

This is simply not true. AppleCare will not cover accidents, loss, or theft - it only covers manufacturer defects. As a student, your chances of getting a DudBook are just as high as anyone else's.

Of course it doesn't cover accidents/theft - that's what insurance is for.

Regardless, if any component of the laptop *fails* (IE: is defective) they'll repair/replace. It's not a substitute for being careful with your laptop, it's peace of mind that if the inverter for your display burns itself out, or the battery stops holding a charge after a couple years of heavy use, that you're not in the market for a new laptop.

The chances of your roommate stepping on/spilling water on your brand new RMBP, or you leaving it in the library/cafeteria though are much higher. I'd reccomend taking that AppleCare money and get real insurance from a third party for the same price or less.

Good call that he should be looking for insurance for it - I forgot to mention that in my own reply. But I view insurance as an addition to Applecare, rather than an alternative to it. They cover different things. Insurance is also relatively cheap - something like $50 a year (depends on your insurer).

Also, the new RMBP is by no means too heavy to carry around campus. I use a 13" unibody MBP comfortably, and the RMBP is actually lighter than that.

Sure, but it's still heaver than the 13" Air. Speaking from experience, I feel the extra weight. Sure, it's not much more, but it is noticeable. The more he carries it around, the bigger a difference even a pound of extra weight will make.

 

[Centsy]

It might take some time, but im sure it will work out

Good luck with that.

I don't think either extreme is the right path. Some people are of the opinion that all debt is evil, which is not true. Loans can be great for if you need them large expenses that are investments for your lifetime - college, house, car. On the other hand, loans aren't just free money to use on anything you want. It's best to take the middle road and look at your finances and plan for what you can afford.