Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iMac on Credit (help)

Creibold

Creibold

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 27, 2006
186
7
Well, I'm finally going to take the plunge into the beautiful world of Macintosh :apple: and need some advice: what is everyones opinion of buying the new iMac 20'' with 500g hard drive and 256mb video card option on credit? I'm in college, my laptop is dieing and I have lived with vista for a couple months and want swim to shore off this sinking ship as soon as possible.

Do you think the interest is to high?

Has anyone had any bad experiences with the Juniper card?

P.S. -> I am 21 and have NO line of credit what-so-ever, and thought it would be a smart idea to work on getting good credit. (I should have enough money to pay about 1/3 to half of it off from the start.)

Thanks, Chris. :)
 
Have you considered saving for it and buying it when you have the money? The only reason I ask is because in my opinion credit is for things like cars not computers, although a Mac does cost the same as a cheap car! Or are you wanting to take advantage of the back to school offer or something?
 
I'd advise against buying a computer on credit, unless it's a 0% interest deal and you have a GUARANTEED source of income that you KNOW you will be putting aside to pay for the computer by the date that the 0% interest deal ends.

A few questions to think about (don't necessarily need answers on this forum):
- how long will it take you to save for the Mac you want?
- how long will it take to pay for it on credit? You NEED a goal here: if you just make the minimum repayments you will be paying for it FOREVER (well, like 40 years or something).
- how many more pounds/dollars/whatever will it cost by getting it on credit compared to paying upfront?
- how important is that amount to you?
- is there any possibility at all that any circumstances might change and you might not be able to repay the credit in the time you've set yourself? If that could vaguely possibly be the case, what 'backup' plan will you have?

Options to consider (and maybe reject outright, but only you know!):
- continuing with vista/linux until able to afford the computer you want
- getting a really cheap old second-hand Mac to sell on eBay once you can afford the new one you want - you probably won't lose much money at all (certainly less than you would lose by paying for a new Mac with interest on a standard credit card)
- getting a bank loan instead of paying by credit card; they (in the UK at least) have MUCH better interest rates.

Hope some of that helps a little. At the end of the day it's your money and your life and your choice to make, but it sounds like you're willing to at least consider other people's views, which is great, even if at the end of the day you have reason to reject them and take a different approach.
 
You might have trouble getting approved if you have no credit yet. Apple (or whoever their credit issuer is) is pretty picky, from what I've heard. Might be easier to start with a Capital One credit card or something like that if you want to start establishing credit.
And in my experience buying a computer on credit is a bad idea unless you have enough money to pay it off within two years. I did that once when I was in college and the computer became old and outdated long before I had it paid off.
 
in reply...

I was hoping to get this mac on the day after thanksgiving (Black day??) and take advantage of both discounts (educational and sale, if they do that this year). As it stands the mac is about $1500 some before those discounts. I will bill receiving $500 (+ savings) around Christmas to put into it and will be able to put about $200 into it a month, of which I make somewhere around $750 some a month ($400 a month + round $80-$120 a week). Plus I am saving $200 a month right now, with about $200 in there.

If I am going to spend the money, I would want to get a new computer that I could glide on for a few generations, that's just how I do things. Also, at the moment I really don't have any bills, besides paying for gas, food, and standard stuff.

Thank you for the quick responses!
 
If I were you, assume that you can't get approved for the juniper visa... my friend who has no credit right now but is graduated and has no student loans etc, couldn't get approved for it... so chances are you can't.

If you are going to do it on credit, go for a student credit card... like citibank or something along those lines,easy to get approved... and later on you can negotiate pretty easily for a lower apr (i know i tried to cancel one I had in favor of a different one and then cut the apr in half for me instead lol) most have 0% apr for 6 months (and it seems, by your PLAN anyway, that you will have it payed off before that) and they give you student rewards and percentages back and all that good stuff, and that's a good way to build credit.

OR...Since you are in school... perhaps take out a student loan for the amount of the computer. MUCH better interest, and you could pay it back whenever you want/can, so as soon as you have the money you could pay it back.. but if something happens, atleast you wouldn't be stuck with HUGE apr, and just a normal student loan situation.

Otherwise, save up as MUCH as you can before the next 2 months... seems that you could have about 600+ in savings by then, and if you are sure you will be receiving 500 around christmas time, and can save up the extra 4-500 during that time as well, (like others said, pretty sure that you won't be losing your source of income) then a basic citibank or other banks rewards 0% apr 6months to a year deal would be good in this situation... and could help you build up good credit for later in your life.

Goodluck... and the imac should last quite a few years for you :)
 
I echo a lot of the sentiments that have already been said-- the credit card is great IF you know exactly how you can pay for it before the interest-free period is up. Otherwise, save your money.

That said... I'm really amazed that Apple doesn't provide more than 90 days no -interest. 90 Days isn't really much more than my regular bank gives in the first place. That's fine for an iPod or Mac Mini, but when I finally get the chance to drop $8000+ on a Mac Pro, I'd sure like 6 or 12 months with no interest. Why doesn't Apple offer something like that?
 
Credit can be good

A lot of people don't realize that using a little credit can be a very good thing, and the earlier you start a *good* credit history, the better off you'll be when you buy a house or car. A person who buys a car with NO credit will be paying at least 3% more as an APR. With an $18,000 car, that amounts to approximately $500 more you'll be paying in interest the first year. With good, consistent credit, you'll get a lower rate and save money. The same is true with a house, but at even greater savings.

The trick, of course, is not: to get credit then charge up more than you can afford, get late on your bills, and get stuck with bad credit. If that happens, credit will be so expensive, you'll lose so much money, it will depress you for years and years.

Here's what I'd do: Get VISA/MC credit right away while you're a college student. For whatever reason, it's very easy to get credit while attending college. Then charge something (the computer if you want), pay off most of it as soon as you can, then leave a modest amount on credit (say $100 to $200) and keep paying the minimum payment for a year. After that, you're credit will be better, and you can apply for a lower-interest card. Repeat until you have the lowest interest rate possible.

By the way, good credit will also save you on car insurance in many states.
 
Yet another reply

Thank you everyone. I suppose we will just wait and see now, seeing as how the new Quad-Core chips come out soon, perhaps if I hold out just a tiny bit, I may be able to get a little bit more bang for my buck.

Anyways, I have taken the advice and found a card through my bank that gives me 6 months no interest, and will certainly have it paid off by then. I would like to keep everything with the same bank anyways.


Also, I hope that apple has the kinks worked out of it by then, seeing as how there have been some overheating and LCD screen problems in some of the early models.

One last thing....how do those 640x480 resolution videos that you download from iTunes look full screen on an iMac?

Thanks again! :)
 
dwsolberg said:
A lot of people don't realize that using a little credit can be a very good thing, and the earlier you start a *good* credit history, the better off you'll be when you buy a house or car. A person who buys a car with NO credit will be paying at least 3% more as an APR. With an $18,000 car, that amounts to approximately $500 more you'll be paying in interest the first year. With good, consistent credit, you'll get a lower rate and save money. The same is true with a house, but at even greater savings.

The trick, of course, is not: to get credit then charge up more than you can afford, get late on your bills, and get stuck with bad credit. If that happens, credit will be so expensive, you'll lose so much money, it will depress you for years and years.

Here's what I'd do: Get VISA/MC credit right away while you're a college student. For whatever reason, it's very easy to get credit while attending college. Then charge something (the computer if you want), pay off most of it as soon as you can, then leave a modest amount on credit (say $100 to $200) and keep paying the minimum payment for a year. After that, you're credit will be better, and you can apply for a lower-interest card. Repeat until you have the lowest interest rate possible.
Click to expand...

You don't need to have outstanding credit that you're being charged interest on to build up a good 'credit rating'. Opening a credit card and putting your usual monthly shopping on it, with a direct debit set up to pay off the bill in full every month (so you never pay any interest at all), will just-as-effectively - in fact probably more effectively - build up your credit rating for future car/house purchases.
 
I've got the Juniper card...it's a very cool black VISA.

They aren't too generous with credit limit; even if you have decent credit. Interest rate is way too high...you can do better elsewhere.

I use mine for everyday expenses and pay it off in full. So far I got a few $25 iTunes cards.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back