Full Laptop Refresh By Holidays?

[acidblood]

If you want to head home with a machine, get one now. From the sound of it I take it that once you depart, if you don't have one you won't for quite a while?

You got it, that's exactly the situation I'm in.

If that's the case, forget all this rumor stuff, and get one.

I'm not interested in the rumors per se; Apple can now update the MBP in 2010 for all I care. The only thing that worries me was the part in the AppleInsider report that says:

While Apple's online store continues to list immediate availability of Core Duo MacBook Pro models, the company this week is quoting some of its distribution and reseller partners wait times of 2 to 3 weeks for new custom-configured orders.

I see `ships in 24 hours' or `ships in 1-3 business days' in the online Apple Store so I figured there's no way the MBP wouldn't be delivered by the 26th. Now after reading this report I'm worried about this possibility, since the 26th is less than 3 weeks from now. Hence my questions.

If there isn't an Apple store near by, what about a CompUSA? Somebody around there, or within even a 90 minute drive has to sell them.

I'll have a look during the weekend, but my transportation options are quite limited. I assume ordering online from Apple right now or on Monday will make no difference, so I'll use the weekend to look around. Failing that, I have to decide between now and Monday whether to place this order or not. Which is why I came asking for help.

IF not, order one of the refurished MBP's, and save a little.

At least it will make it to you on time, and you won't end up without a machine.

As it turns out, I'll `borrow' the educational discount from the friend I'm staying it, so the price difference between refurbished and new isn't that great. Particularly since I'm getting AppleCare which is an extra US$ 110 savings with the educational discount.

Be like Nike, and just do it. In your situation, it doesn't make sense to me to wait for something that might not be out in time.

As I mentioned, I'm no longer holding out for the updates anymore -- I'm only worried about the effect an update would have on shipping times. If there's a real chance that shipping will take longer than 3 weeks, and moreover I can't cancel the order after I've placed it, or can't return the hardware for a refund, then I won't gamble. So all I need to know is whether I can cancel the order say a week before the deadline if it hasn't shipped yet, or whether my friend can return the notebook later for a full refund if it arrives after October 26th.

P.S. might want to spring for the quicker delivery time.

Will do, thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Multimedia]

Refurb In The Ed Store Still Saves $200 More & Applecare Is Ed Price $239

As it turns out, I'll `borrow' the educational discount from the friend I'm staying it, so the price difference between refurbished and new isn't that great. Particularly since I'm getting AppleCare which is an extra US$ 110 savings with the educational discount.

Still $200 cheaper to buy the Refurb and still get the educational Applecare price of only $239. So buying the refrub pays for the Apple care all but $39. i.e. there is an Educational Online Store SAVE Page that includes Educaitonal Applecare pricing.

REPEAT: There is NO DIFFERENCE between a $2400 refurb Mac and a $2600 educational discounted new Mac other than throwing away $200 for no advantage. NONE. Paying more for a new about to be obsolete model is just throwing good money after bad.

Where are you? What zip code? Apple has an easy to find a dealer serach page on their site. Use it.

 

[poppe]

Not FCP but Motion 2 might get the 64-bit treatment. I'm with you on the no re-design no sale club though. I'll opt for a C2D MacBook in that case.

Dang I was hoping perhaps Avid or FCP would do something about that so that when I wait to render my whole project I wish that it would take one segment render it on one core and take the other core and render the other part. Or something like that.

If it I get a swappable HD I'll be so so so so sold... or even something new...

Question: To change the screen resolution is that screen dependant? And why? - I'm just curious because I see some with 1900 by 1200 and some with 1600 by 1050 and I just dont understand why it is that?

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I'm sure Apple will tout the new revision's 64-bit processor... I think it's worth it. Get FCP later. A 64-bit version of FCP, anyone?

I would love to get FCP later but that means I'd have to get a bigger student loan. See its either by Merom get a bigger loan, or take the 3500 I already have saved up and get a MBP for 2399 + Final Cut Studio (which i think studio EDU is for 899?)

But then again that brings up the next thought... Wondering if I should not get the EDU so I can update...

Ok sorry about the rambling!

 

[daneoni]

Still $200 cheaper to buy the Refurb and still get the educational Applecare price of only $239. So buying the refrub pays for the Apple care all but $39. i.e. there is an Educational Online Store SAVE Page that includes Educaitonal Applecare pricing.

REPEAT: There is NO DIFFERENCE between a $2400 refurb Mac and a $2600 educational discounted new Mac other than throwing away $200 for no advantage. NONE. Paying more for a new about to be obsolete model is just throwing good money after bad.

Looks like im addicted to this thread afterall as i still check up on it with the corner of my eye even though i no longer have a reason to be here.

Anyways, i agree with Multimedia, buying a brand new Core Duo MBP is a complete waste of money. The refurbs are practically new (and in some cases BETTER than new machines), they also reflect the true pricing the current MBPs should be valued at now. At this stage of the cycle its a no brainer to go with those.

The only advantage i can see of choosing a new model is that it MIGHT get updated to the Core 2 Duo update models which the refurbs won't BUT thats a VERY BIG MIGHT!. Had i not seen the deal on the refurb page this morning, i'd still be waiting, as i sure as heck wouldnt order a new MBP....no way

 

[AppliedVisual]

ok, I admit Apllied Visual needs a new MBP more than I do.

everytime I think I have a need for speed, someone comes along and shows me my computing needs are puny...

HAHAHA... Nothing wrong with that. It does depend on what you do and what you need your computer for. Someone who spends most of their time in Photoshop, or InDesign will have little use for the power of these newest CPUs because in most cases a single CPU core will probably still run their couple applications faster than they can use them. But the understanding and need for the newer CPUs will continue to grow.

Just as the clock speeds of CPUs took off in the MHz race, so will the race to continue stacking more cores onto a CPU while increasing external bandwidth and interface channels. MHz increased 10-fold in the last 7 years, but has since hit a wall. Now with ever shrinking fab processes and better materials for chip production, we can create CPUs that have more instruction pipelines and do more per clock cycle and additionally we can place many of them on one processor die. Eventually, this too will hit a wall of some sort.

But there are lots of new developments coming our way that will bring multiple cores to the masses. Applications will gain more finite threading abilities and will be able to use more CPUs simultaneously. Display resolutions will continue to increase to 4K then 8K and beyond. We will see resolution independence because pixels will become too small to be used as deifinitive picture elements as they are now. In general, we're all going to be working with a lot more data in the near future and the CPUs will be there to handle it. For guys like me and Multimedia, and all the other HD video editors, film editors, 3D graphics, visualization, effects, product design, etc... guys out there. We'll be the driving force at the cutting edge of all this wishing we always had something more powerful. I currently work with animations that take a G5 quad with all 4 cores working at full capacity about 10 minutes to generate a single frame. I don't have a Mac Pro, but tests I've done on one show that time drops by about 40%. I'm expecting the 8-core system to provide another 80% on that! And it won't take long before both my competition and my clients figure this out and they will drive me to increase the level of quality and realism/detail while still meeting the same type of deadlines or even faster.

...Sadly enough, I mention the G5 taking 10 minutes per frame, most of my actual dedicated render systems take over twice that long because they're old. ...Like 3 years old. Time to upgrade.

 

[Multimedia]

C2D MacBook $1199 + FCS Academic $699 + 24" Dell $699 = $2599 + Ram Or Less

Dang I was hoping perhaps Avid or FCP would do something about that so that when I wait to render my whole project I wish that it would take one segment render it on one core and take the other core and render the other part. Or something like that.

Yeah it'll do that. 64-bit has nothing to do with multi-core awareness.

If it I get a swappable HD I'll be so so so so sold... or even something new...

Why not get the 2GHz C2D MacBook for only $1199? Academic FCS is only $699 NOT $899.Total academic price for both is $1899 + Ram. MB is fine for FCS. All the parts run just great.

Question: To change the screen resolution is that screen dependant? And why? - I'm just curious because I see some with 1920 by 1200 and some with 1600 by 1050 and I just dont understand why it is that?

Screen Dependant. If you follow my advice you can afford a 1920 x 1200 - that's NATIVE HD Resolution BTW - 24" Dell for only about $700 more for a total of just over $2600 which is less than you thought you needed. You drive the 1920x1200 with the MacBook and you get an external keyboard, mouse and Contour ShuttlePRO™ so your MacBook is like a portable desktop. Swap out the stock HD for a Seagate 160 thanks to the easy access HD Bay.

I would love to get FCP later but that means I'd have to get a bigger student loan.

Not!

See its either by Merom get a bigger loan, or take the 3500 I already have saved up and get a MBP for 2399 + Final Cut Studio (which i think studio EDU is for 899?)

$699. Bonus Tip: If you can find a FCS PPC alacarte component or an old copy of Final Cut Pro 4 or 4.5 in the school store, you can swap it with $199 for the full Final Cut Studio Suite until December 20 through their Crossgrade to Universal Binary offer. Well worth hunting for an original DVD from someone somewhere - even buying an upgrade of a component for only $199 or less. No serial numbers required. All you have to do is find or buy an original install DVD including those found in upgrade boxes.

Follow my plan and you pocket $900 to $1200 from what you've saved already. The 2GHz C2D MacBook with a 1920 x 1200 Dell 24" screen is a killer Final Cut Studio System. You do NOT need a MacBook Pro.

But then again that brings up the next thought... Wondering if I should not get the EDU so I can update...

What? You lost me.

 

[AppliedVisual]

Anyways, i agree with Multimedia, buying a brand new Core Duo MBP is a complete waste of money. The refurbs are practically new (and in some cases BETTER than new machines), they also reflect the true pricing the current MBPs should be valued at now. At this stage of the cycle its a no brainer to go with those.

Yep, the MBP I bought 2 weeks ago was a refurbished unit. Great deal, the thing arrived in absolute perfect condition. Very happy with it and it saved me a good chunk of money. Now when the C2D systems come out I can pass the one I just bought on to the wife or sell it. Or if I don't feel it's worth buying, I'll just keep this one and get the wife a Macbook. She's driving me insane though wanting a new notebook (can't keep her away from my MBP) because her old HP is still a 800MHz P3 running Win2K.

And I wouldn't count on a new order being upgraded to C2D. Apple doesn't typically work that way. When they're ready to convert new orders to the new product, they will start taking orders for them.

 

[Demon Hunter]

I would get a bigger loan, but that's just me.

 

[AppliedVisual]

But then again that brings up the next thought... Wondering if I should not get the EDU so I can update...

What? You lost me.

I think he's wondering if he should get the EDU version of FCS or the commercial version. I would think his best bet is hunting down a commercial version of FCS, DVDSP or the like and doing the $199 crossgrade deal. At $200 it's a steal.

I agree with the Macbook recommendation and Dell monitor. And poppe, check out the refurbished prices on the Macbook - often lower than the Edu prices. Right now the best Macbook deal going is the refurb white 2GHz from Apple $1099. The 1.83GHz is $150 cheaper than that, but it only has the CD-RW/DVD combo drive and with FCS you will definitely need the DVD writer SuperDrive. Swap the RAM and the HD (newegg.com is your friend) and you're set. Don't buy the black macbook unless you just want to throw away $150 to $200 just to have a black one. Depending on where you're located and what Apple will charge you for tax, also consider buying a Macbook from Amazon.com White 2GHz is $1199 after $100 mail-in rebate w/free shipping and no tax.

 

[Multimedia]

Academic Old FCP & PPC Parts of Studio Crossgrade To Commercial Version

I think he's wondering if he should get the EDU version of FCS or the commercial version. I would think his best bet is hunting down a commercial version of FCS, DVDSP or the like and doing the $199 crossgrade deal. At $200 it's a steal.

I agree with the Macbook recommendation and Dell monitor. And poppe, check out the refurbished prices on the Macbook - often lower than the Edu prices. Right now the best Macbook deal going is the refurb white 2GHz from Apple $1099. The 1.83GHz is $150 cheaper than that, but it only has the CD-RW/DVD combo drive and with FCS you will definitely need the DVD writer SuperDrive. Swap the RAM and the HD (newegg.com is your friend) and you're set. Don't buy the black macbook unless you just want to throw away $150 to $200 just to have a black one. Depending on where you're located and what Apple will charge you for tax, also consider buying a Macbook from Amazon.com White 2GHz is $1199 after $100 mail-in rebate w/free shipping and no tax.

Yeah he can Crossgrade old Academic 4 or 4.5 or any other Academic part of PPC FCS to the Commercial Version of UB FCS 5.1 as well. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity.

But I would advise him to wait for the Academic 2GHz C2D MacBook because of the 4MB Shared L2 Cache which I believe will make a big difference in performance. Plus he's future proffing his MacBook investment as it will be Maximum 64-bit Leopard Ready.

FCS is likely to get more 64-bit improvements in future sooner than most other applications.

 

[ThunderLounge]

You got it, that's exactly the situation I'm in.


I'm not interested in the rumors per se; Apple can now update the MBP in 2010 for all I care. The only thing that worries me was the part in the AppleInsider report that says:


I see `ships in 24 hours' or `ships in 1-3 business days' in the online Apple Store so I figured there's no way the MBP wouldn't be delivered by the 26th. Now after reading this report I'm worried about this possibility, since the 26th is less than 3 weeks from now. Hence my questions.


I'll have a look during the weekend, but my transportation options are quite limited. I assume ordering online from Apple right now or on Monday will make no difference, so I'll use the weekend to look around. Failing that, I have to decide between now and Monday whether to place this order or not. Which is why I came asking for help.


As it turns out, I'll `borrow' the educational discount from the friend I'm staying it, so the price difference between refurbished and new isn't that great. Particularly since I'm getting AppleCare which is an extra US$ 110 savings with the educational discount.


As I mentioned, I'm no longer holding out for the updates anymore -- I'm only worried about the effect an update would have on shipping times. If there's a real chance that shipping will take longer than 3 weeks, and moreover I can't cancel the order after I've placed it, or can't return the hardware for a refund, then I won't gamble. So all I need to know is whether I can cancel the order say a week before the deadline if it hasn't shipped yet, or whether my friend can return the notebook later for a full refund if it arrives after October 26th.


Will do, thanks for the suggestion.

You could also check CompUSA.com, and see how long the ship time would be from their online store.

Other places to check would be CDW as well.

Of course, you can call Apple direct as well.

With your time situation being the concern, don't rule out a refurbished unit. Those would ship pretty quick. Plus, like multimedia said, you can still get Apple Care at the EDU price.

I don't know if there is an EDU discount on refurbs, but it never hurts to ask.

 

[sblasl]

...If you follow my advice you can afford a 1920 x 1200 - that's NATIVE HD Resolution BTW - 24" Dell...

Ole wise one, what Dell Model does one speaketh about?

 

[Multimedia]

Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP Wide-Screen Black Flat Panel Monitor, LCD $719.10

Ole wise one, what Dell Model does one speaketh about?

Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP Wide-Screen Black Flat Panel Monitor, LCD with Height Adjustable Stand.

$719.10 on 10% off Sale right now. Regularly $799.

or go all the way to 30" for only $1444.15 right now 15% off $1699 list.

 

[generik]

I would get a bigger loan, but that's just me.

You are probably not old enough to know the consequences

Still $200 cheaper to buy the Refurb and still get the educational Applecare price of only $239. So buying the refrub pays for the Apple care all but $39. i.e. there is an Educational Online Store SAVE Page that includes Educaitonal Applecare pricing.

REPEAT: There is NO DIFFERENCE between a $2400 refurb Mac and a $2600 educational discounted new Mac other than throwing away $200 for no advantage. NONE. Paying more for a new about to be obsolete model is just throwing good money after bad.

Where are you? What zip code? Apple has an easy to find a dealer serach page on their site. Use it.

If you get dead pixels with a refurb is it the same policy too?

 

[Demon Hunter]

You are probably not old enough to know the consequences



If you get dead pixels with a refurb is it the same policy too?

Are you old enough? I'm curious, what would the consequences be? I'm using a student loan to buy my MBP.

And yes it's the same policy.

 

[Multimedia]

Refurb Warranty and Service Is Identical To New

If you get dead pixels with a refurb is it the same policy too?

Yes. Refurbs are just like a new purchase with the identical warranty.

 

[virus1]

while we are on the refurb subject, will they replace the battery when they refurb it even if it is a little worn down? or will they just see if it holds up for a few hours and let it be that way?

 

[Eidorian]

while we are on the refurb subject, will they replace the battery when they refurb it even if it is a little worn down? or will they just see if it holds up for a few hours and let it be that way?

Same warranty as new.

 

[Multimedia]

Refurbs Come With New Batteries

while we are on the refurb subject, will they replace the battery when they refurb it even if it is a little worn down? or will they just see if it holds up for a few hours and let it be that way?

You get a NEW battery with a refurb. Nothing that can be USED is used. Desktops come with brand new, cables keyboards and mice. Nothing is USED in a refurb. Main difference is they come in a brown box.

 

[virus1]

I don't understand the question. You get a NEW battery with a refurb. Nothing that can be USED is used.

good. that answers my question. (no matter weather you understood it or not )

 

[azzurri000]

Better still get the same exact new computer from the SAVE refurb page with the same new warranty for a fraction of the cost of a new one - only $2399. You save $400 and get the same quality computer. Refurbs are indistinguishable from new and they include the new warranty.

It is cheaper for students, though, to go the ADC route. The upsides are that even with the cost of the membership and the MBP you would still be paying less than you would otherwise for a comparable refurb... and it would be new, of course.

PS I could just stare at virus1's avatar for hours at a time. It's good to have a nice distraction in such a depressing thread.

 

[OdduWon]

seems apple is not going to go with merom until they have a new case for the pro with easy access drive bay and more ram with better battery. is it too much to think that the macbook pro should be more powerful than the imac? maybe they are just waiting for santarosa? or maybe a single woodcrest? liquid cooling in a laptop sounds cooooool. it just seems that if a new macbook pro came out now they will have to do a redisign in 4 months with the flash boot and santarosa 802.11n and all. can apple sit on core duo till then? or will they throw out something to tide people like the new ipod mini... i mean nano.

 

[macman2790]

PS I could just stare at virus1's avatar for hours at a time. It's good to have a nice distraction in such a depressing thread.

I second that.

 

[macman2790]

seems apple is not going to go with merom until they have a new case for the pro with easy access drive bay and more ram. is it too much to think that the macbook pro should be more powerful than the imac? maybe they are just waiting for santarosa? or maybe a single woodcrest? liquid cooling in a laptop sounds cooooool. it just seems that if a new macbook pro came out now they will have to do a redisign in 4 months with the flash boot and santarosa 802.11n and all. can apple sit on core duo till then? or will they throw out something to tide people like the new ipod mini... i mean nano.

These same questions go through my head every day......with the exception of the woodcrest/liquid cooling idea. I don't think apple would go there.

 

[AppliedVisual]

You get a NEW battery with a refurb. Nothing that can be USED is used. Desktops come with brand new, cables keyboards and mice. Nothing is USED in a refurb. Main difference is they come in a brown box.

FWIW, my MBP came in a regular MBP box, but it had a red sticker on it saying Certified Apple Refurbished or something to that effect. Honestly, I think my system was a return from a customer that didn't even open the box and they cycled it to the refurb/discount stock.