How come Im seeing new old-stock 17's still for sale ?

[farmermac]

I just pulled the trigger on a new (old model) 17" MBP for $1644. This is the 2009 model. I don't see how come so many companies still have these in stock.

I will be replacing a 2009 13". I love the 13" and don't need any more power or better graphics (this is a work machine), rather the only reason I upgraded is to get more screen real estate and 1920x1200.

I am a little worried the battery may be wonky after sitting for so long, probably with a dead charge for most of its life on the shelf. Is this a real concern?

 

[kalex]

nope u should be fine. plus u will have 1 year warranty so if anything happens to the battery, you can have it serviced under applecare

 

[GGJstudios]

I am a little worried the battery may be wonky after sitting for so long, probably with a dead charge for most of its life on the shelf. Is this a real concern?

If you're buying a new, rather than used model, it's under warranty, so you don't have to worry about anything.

 

[iBookG4user]

It's old stock, so they'll sell them until they're gone. As for the battery, I wouldn't be too worried, just do a calibration when you get it.

 

[Frosties]

The battery should be fine but the blinking screen and efi firmware problem on it is another matter.

 

[farmermac]

The battery should be fine but the blinking screen and efi firmware problem on it is another matter.

Just what I needed to scare me! These are problems on 2009 models?

 

[Frosties]

Just what I needed to scare me! These are problems on 2009 models?

MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.7 Problems search word efi 1.7

Unibody Macbook Pro Screen flicker/flash search word flicker or blinking screen

17" Unibody Screen flashing / blinking

But if you run into these problems just get an exchange or free repair through apple care and you are fine. These are known problems to ALL except apple's genius at first contact, press the issue and you will get help. Never settle for the "first I've heard of it" standard speak of the apple genius.

The solution for the efi 1.7 was to downgrade to efi 1.6 to stop the laptop from halting all the time. The solution for the flickering screen with the 9400m part of the 9400/9600 graphics set was a board exchange until it went away. Could be 1-3 exchanges and after a time it could come back after an software update.

Anyway if it comes up it is easy to fix. No worries.

 

[farmermac]

MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.7 Problems search word efi 1.7

Unibody Macbook Pro Screen flicker/flash search word flicker or blinking screen

17" Unibody Screen flashing / blinking

But if you run into these problems just get an exchange or free repair through apple care and you are fine. These are known problems to ALL except apple's genius at first contact, press the issue and you will get help. Never settle for the "first I've heard of it" standard speak of the apple genius.

The solution for the efi 1.7 was to downgrade to efi 1.6 to stop the laptop from halting all the time. The solution for the flickering screen with the 9400m part of the 9400/9600 graphics set was a board exchange until it went away. Could be 1-3 exchanges and after a time it could come back after an software update.

Anyway if it comes up it is easy to fix. No worries.

Ahhh this brings me back to my old pc days. Ive had extremely good luck with everything Apple so far so im not going to really worry about it unless it becomes an issue.

Did everyone have issues with 1.7 or only certain users? If everyone I'd expect apple to fix it with a new firmware.

 

[davidlv]

Ahhh ... Did everyone have issues with 1.7 or only certain users? If everyone I'd expect apple to fix it with a new firmware.

Of course not everyone, but quite a few, that efi post is long!
I got hit with it, solved the problem simply by swapping the HD (a WD Scorpio Blue 5,400 rpm HD was beachballing constantly). The Seagate 7,200 Momentus I then installed did not have any problems at all, and the Hitachi I am using now is also alright. Other users found certain HDs (various brands, in various MBP models) caused this issue, other brands did not. So if you have any problems the first thing to do is try another HD, the rollback to efi firmware 1.6 can be done if all else fails. The link to the firmware is in the efi thread.
If you do not get long unresponsive pauses, beachballing, you are OK.

 

[ryguy4690]

I just pulled the trigger on a new (old model) 17" MBP for $1644. This is the 2009 model. I don't see how come so many companies still have these in stock.

I will be replacing a 2009 13". I love the 13" and don't need any more power or better graphics (this is a work machine), rather the only reason I upgraded is to get more screen real estate and 1920x1200.

I am a little worried the battery may be wonky after sitting for so long, probably with a dead charge for most of its life on the shelf. Is this a real concern?

Where did you buy this machine?

 

[farmermac]

Where did you buy this machine?

J&R Music & computer world in NYC

Not sure if it's against the rules to post links... but their website is first hit on google

Salesman said he had 9 in stock before i bought mine. Listed for 1699 on website and he said he could beat his own price (!!) after chatting for a few minutes on the phone. I Imagine they want to move these units as outdated as they are.

I'm having buyer's remorse tonight, should have ponied up the extra $500 and got a new i5, I hope that will change when it gets here and I play with it. Guy said I had 30 days to return it with no restocking fee so worse come to worse might return it and buy a new one.

 

[LedCop]

I don't think the 17" was affected by the EFI 1.7 like its 13" and 15" brethren.

And for what it's worth, during the time I owned a 2009 17" I never experienced blinking/flashing screen issues.

 

[revelated]

J&R Music & computer world in NYC

Not sure if it's against the rules to post links... but their website is first hit on google

Salesman said he had 9 in stock before i bought mine. Listed for 1699 on website and he said he could beat his own price (!!) after chatting for a few minutes on the phone. I Imagine they want to move these units as outdated as they are.

I'm having buyer's remorse tonight, should have ponied up the extra $500 and got a new i5, I hope that will change when it gets here and I play with it. Guy said I had 30 days to return it with no restocking fee so worse come to worse might return it and buy a new one.

Honestly, my opinion is thus: Don't spend the extra on the i5 unless you're really going to hammer the laptop. I get the impression from your original post that this is not the case - that you're effectively a casual user who just needs more screen real estate, in which case I'd keep what you've got. Just an opinion.

Having owned various configurations I can say that with the exception of video encoding which I do once in a blue moon, the speed of my old 13" 2009 is not that much lower than the speed of my new 17" i5, as shocking as that is.

 

[farmermac]

Honestly, my opinion is thus: Don't spend the extra on the i5 unless you're really going to hammer the laptop. I get the impression from your original post that this is not the case - that you're effectively a casual user who just needs more screen real estate, in which case I'd keep what you've got. Just an opinion.

Having owned various configurations I can say that with the exception of video encoding which I do once in a blue moon, the speed of my old 13" 2009 is not that much lower than the speed of my new 17" i5, as shocking as that is.

Cool. I like hearing that. I keep thinking myself that really for a 17" MBP under 1700 OTD for brand new is a great deal, especially considering the specs are so close to the refresh. No new features except for graphics switching & slight speed bump in processor. Ram, HD, and most of the guts are all the same.