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Help needed in choosing a Macbook Pro Retina 15"

J

jamesbond426

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 20, 2012
29
1
Hi,

After days of research....i have decide to go with a Macbook pro retina 15" rather than a high end windows laptop(ASUS Zenbook UX51VZ). This will be my first time entering the OS-X territory. Hopefully the learning curve won't be huge.

My only requirement is a 512 GB SSD (Don't much care about the RAM or Processor speed). Now my dilemma is between the following options

1) Buy From Apple Store with student discount - 2299 + Taxes
2) Buy a refurbished Mid 2012 from apple store (No discount) - 2019 + Taxes
3) Buy a new Mid 2012 model from amazon - 2274
4) Wait for Haswell (Slim chance unless before jul 15th)

Right now i am leaning towards buying a new Mid 2012 model from amazon as the difference between 2012 and 2013 retina is not big enough to pay the extra 200$. And, the now newest 2013 model won't be newest in 3 or 4 months anyway. However, i am holding off because of the LG screen ghosting issues reported here.

What do you think is the best option? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks.
 
Go with apple, the new one as you spending lots of cash anyway so you may as well get the newer one. Some internals were also changed in the 2013 refresh. Also student AppleCare is great! At least in the UK, free!
 
I was going to wait for a bit before deciding on the Applecare. I am undecided on whether to buy applecare or just rely on my Visa Signature card extended warranty seeing as apple products have very good reliability.
 
jamesbond426 said:
Hi,

1) Buy From Apple Store with student discount - 2299 + Taxes
2) Buy a refurbished Mid 2012 from apple store (No discount) - 2019 + Taxes
3) Buy a new Mid 2012 model from amazon - 2274
4) Wait for Haswell (Slim chance unless before jul 15th)
Click to expand...

You actually have two choices - buy a 2012 or wait for a 2013.

Since you're going to buy a 2012, your choices are based on price. A refurb is a lot less, unless the taxes are quite high where you are. A refurb is excellent value and I consider them to as good as or better than new
 
NewbieCanada said:
You actually have two choices - buy a 2012 or wait for a 2013.

Since you're going to buy a 2012, your choices are based on price. A refurb is a lot less, unless the taxes are quite high where you are. A refurb is excellent value and I consider them to as good as or better than new
Click to expand...

Wait for 2013? You mean Haswell? I don't know if i will be able to wait that long.
I need one before school starts and then i need some time to get used to it as it will be my first time in OS-X. Taxes are quite high here. They amount to about 160$ for a 2000$ laptop.
 
The 1st option(1) Buy From Apple Store with student discount - 2299 + Taxes) is an early 2013 new 15" retina.
 
Of those posted, I'd go with the Amazon option. To me, the very minor boost in CPU power between the 2013 and 2012 models isn't worth the ~200 extra bucks. The Amazon would cost about the same as the refurbished with tax, so you might as well get it new (you can still upgrade the Applecare on it with the student discount if you want).

I'd check out eBay though too. I'm looking at the 512GB 2012 Retina too and I see new models, listed by reputable sellers, go on there for 1900-2000 everyday. I know people tend to be wary of eBay, but with their new buyer protection policies it's almost impossible to really get scammed.
 
Last edited:
picked up the 2.7ghz 16gb ram retina 15" today i was a bit hesitant on buying now or waiting for the haswell but then i just could not wait any longer. At the end im very happy its pretty good.
 
nickandre21 said:
picked up the 2.7ghz 16gb ram retina 15" today i was a bit hesitant on buying now or waiting for the haswell but then i just could not wait any longer. At the end im very happy its pretty good.
Click to expand...

Guessing it's new? Where did you buy it from and how much did it cost?
 
Buy a refurb from Apple & have it sent to a sales tax free state near you then forwarded on to you. It'll cost a lot less than the $200 + sales tax difference ($150 - $200) to pay for shipping from the tax free state and a mailbox in the tax free state for one month.

Taxation is THEFT!
___
 
nickandre21 said:
picked up the 2.7ghz 16gb ram retina 15" today i was a bit hesitant on buying now or waiting for the haswell but then i just could not wait any longer. At the end im very happy its pretty good.
Click to expand...

From apple? Enjoy it......regardless of haswell, I don't think from what I hear haswell will be a big improvement on the 15" anyway
 
gamerish said:
Of those posted, I'd go with the Amazon option. To me, the very minor boost in CPU power between the 2013 and 2012 models isn't worth the ~200 extra bucks. The Amazon would cost about the same as the refurbished with tax, so you might as well get it new (you can still upgrade the Applecare on it with the student discount if you want).

I'd check out eBay though too. I'm looking at the 512GB 2012 Retina too and I see new models, listed by reputable sellers, go on there for 1900-2000 everyday. I know people tend to be wary of eBay, but with their new buyer protection policies it's almost impossible to really get scammed.
Click to expand...

I have purchased 3 rMBP on Ebay, 2 of them used, no issues whatsoever; just look for reputable sellers( high number of positive feedbacks selling computers), also check Best Buy and MacMall deals

If you buy used, suggest you ask brand of monitor; if the seller doesn't knows, tell him the script to test it. Look for the Samsung (best in my opinion, code is LSN) or the LG 2nd generation.
 
brought it from the premium reseller its an early 2013 model paid $3203 and $20 for the insurance. Ran all the tests to check for image retention dead pixels fan noise creaky cabinet.. passed all but then i came across a thread talking about an apple hardware test error so i was like sure lets try it and my good luck ran out got this error code '4hdd/11/40000000 SATA (0,0)':mad: of to the service centre on monday as they do not replace things easily in India. Its a sandisk drive 512gb. Would be a pain to reinstall all these professional apps all over again.
The first unit they opened had a dent so they had to speak with managers for 20 minutes to get it replaced.
 
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