Good time to buy?

[Southern]

Hello fellow Macrumors people. Today was just the final straw - I've had enough

Ever since my three year old PC, hand built to my own design and better than my old Win95 box, has become old and senile and refuses to install USB devices (access denied error, solution: reinstall or put up with it) and generally has slowed down so much because of flawed updates, I have wanted to go to Mac. However, I have been waiting since Christmas for Leopard, which, at the time, would mean only three months until the supposed MARCH RELEASE. Which has now turned into a September- sorry, perhaps OCTOBER release.

Anyway, patience being a virtue and all, I have waited, albeit restlessly, for Leopard to show its fangs in an Apple store near me soon, but to no avail. And today, having experienced another series of stupid errors and annoyingness with USB devices not installing on XP. So I've rightfully had enough. It's now or never - it's time to get a new machine.

I really like the look of the new Macbook Pros, but the price irks me a bit. Also is there likely to be an update to the Macbook range? This would suit me for everything apart from the games I like to play with, hence the idea to go Pro but I can't really justify the price.

All in all, I'm totally fed up with my Winblows box but I'm equally fed up of waiting for Leopard to come out before I buy into the Cult Of Mac. Is it a good time to buy into Apple laptops at the moment or would you say to hold? I don't know how much more of these incompatibility errors on WinXP I can take...

 

[aethelbert]

First of all welcome to the forums. Secondly, use the search feature. I've seen like five of these posts in the past two days all asking the same thing.

There is a major mac event tomorrow, but it is not very likely that new laptops will come out. The pros were updated two months ago, and the macbooks were updated on 15 May. Since they're usually updated about every six months, I wouldn't expect an update to either line until November at the earliest.

 

[siurpeeman]

first, apple originally claimed a spring 2007 release of leopard. that doesn't translate to a march release. remember, june is still spring (most of it, anyway). second, i had no qualms with the delay of leopard, and i didn't hesitate in buying a new mac. both notebook lines were upgraded 2-3 months ago. is it worth holding off for a better model in the macbook line? i don't know, but you'll likely be waiting until after october if you do. if you can sacrifice game performance, i say buy a macbook now.

 

[paulyras]

I would certainly wait until we see what's released tomorrow. It's likely to be iMacs only, but you never know.

Other than that, my advice would be to click on the buyers guide at the top right of this page. It has the times since the latest updates, and metrics on the average times. It's not a bad way of hedging against buying the day before the update.

Good luck

 

[thegreatest21]

If you don't need it now then wait.
But it sounds that you do need it now so get it.

Waiting might be a result of you having to wait longer if Leopard is delayed.

 

[Southern]

Wow, fast replies.

Akonradi: cheers for the welcome, although I have been posting in the news forum from time to time and lurking a lot. I had heard that tomorrow's little Apple thing will be something to do with new iMacs, which would be nice to see and update to that range.

first, apple originally claimed a spring 2007 release of leopard. that doesn't translate to a march release. remember, june is still spring (most of it, anyway). second, i had no qualms with the delay of leopard, and i didn't hesitate in buying a new mac.

Meh, it's still a long long time to wait - I ended up being very disappointed with WWDC because it was a rehash of some of the material from Macworld. Damn this iPhone nonsense, some of us want Macs! Needless to say, I (along with all concerned) am still waiting for Leopard. It could be worse though.

Both notebook lines were upgraded 2-3 months ago. is it worth holding off for a better model in the macbook line? i don't know, but you'll likely be waiting until after october if you do. if you can sacrifice game performance, i say buy a macbook now.

Hmm, a Macbook would be nice, especially after the price reduction in the UK and the speed increase. I think paying £1000+ for a Macbook Pro puts it way out of my price range, so you're probably right. After all, I am hardly a gamer anymore.

 

[Southern]

I would certainly wait until we see what's released tomorrow. It's likely to be iMacs only, but you never know.

Other than that, my advice would be to click on the buyers guide at the top right of this page. It has the times since the latest updates, and metrics on the average times. It's not a bad way of hedging against buying the day before the update.

Good luck

Aha, good stuff. Although the "good luck" makes it seem like a bet and something you can win or lose on []