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In a Pickle...

W

weatherman316

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 18, 2008
46
0
West Bloomfield, MI // East Lansing, MI
Note: Sorry for the long post, if you'd like to skip ahead to my question just read the third paragraph.

Hi everyone, as the title implies I find myself in a bit of a pickle. I've decided to purchase a new computer as I'll be starting college in the fall. I've wanted a Mac for quite some time now and after spending a lot of time working on a Mac Pro (editing video) for school and working on an iMac during an internship, I've decided that a Mac is my only option. Taking it a step further, I've also narrowed it down to Macbook Pro. Some may argue that a Macbook (or Blackbook) would get the job done, but as I do play games and might possibly need the ability to edit video I figure I might as well get the MBP now. Here's where the tricky part comes in.

Now is relative. School obviously doesn't start until September, meaning I'd need to get my computer a little bit before then (move files, etc.). But, the back to school promotion with the printer deal ends on July 21st. The other promotion (iPod touch) I'm not as concerned with as although it would be nice to have one, I'd probably just sell it as I'm also considering a 3G iPhone.

Would it be more worthwhile to wait for a possible August update (I know it won't be a redesign) or get my Macbook Pro, Printer and iPod touch on July 20th/21st ensuring a 14 day window for any possible update? In other words, would it be better to wait it out or do the savings from the back to school promotion outweigh the benefit of a possible update? (I've already read all the other threads, and I know it boils down to if you can wait wait, if not buy now, be happy, etc. but no one's asked this specific question yet).
 
(someone else) correct me if I'm wrong. But apple has had the 99 rebate on a qualifying printer for-EV-er. The printer i have now is one my mom 'bought' (free with rebate) 3+ years ago, and gave to me since she already had a printer...

when i bought my ibook 2.5 years ago, they had the 99 printer rebate then, but since i had a printer, i didn't mess with it.

the point?
i think the 99 rebate will stick around, they just might call it something different.
 
A Macbook Pro is a much better option than the Macbook, especially if you want it to last through school. They have much better graphics, are more durable, and most importantly, more powerful.

WWDC and Macworld have already happened this year, so any Macbook Pro updates would be unannounced. I was in a similar position last year when my laptop stopped working with one year left in highschool, but I decided to go the desktop route and buy a mac pro. Although it is one of the older ones, I still expect it to serve me for many years, and you should expect the same from a Macbook Pro.

Now is a good time to get it since they are offering the promotion, but I would do the following:

1) Get the 2.4 ghz 15" model - unless you are doing video compression you won't notice the difference, and even if you are, it's not worth the extra $500 to upgrade.

2) Take that $500 you save and put it towards a big external HDD and more RAM, but don't get it from Apple, get it from Crucial or a similar place.

3) If you get a printer, don't get the base one - my sister did that and it died within a few months and I had to ship it off to HP for a new one - quite annoying.

if you have any more questions feel free to IM me (I'm a student too), username=my sn
 
downhillski1 said:
A Macbook Pro is a much better option than the Macbook, especially if you want it to last through school. They have much better graphics, are more durable, and most importantly, more powerful.

WWDC and Macworld have already happened this year, so any Macbook Pro updates would be unannounced. I was in a similar position last year when my laptop stopped working with one year left in highschool, but I decided to go the desktop route and buy a mac pro. Although it is one of the older ones, I still expect it to serve me for many years, and you should expect the same from a Macbook Pro.

Now is a good time to get it since they are offering the promotion, but I would do the following:

1) Get the 2.4 ghz 15" model - unless you are doing video compression you won't notice the difference, and even if you are, it's not worth the extra $500 to upgrade.

2) Take that $500 you save and put it towards a big external HDD and more RAM, but don't get it from Apple, get it from Crucial or a similar place.

3) If you get a printer, don't get the base one - my sister did that and it died within a few months and I had to ship it off to HP for a new one - quite annoying.

if you have any more questions feel free to IM me (I'm a student too), username=my sn
Click to expand...


Thanks for the advice, but...
1) I was either going to go with the 15" 2.5 or 17" 2.5 Ghz model (the upgraded GPU instantly caught my eye and the HR screen on the 17" is definitely something worth looking into as this will probably be my only computer while I'm at school (desktop replacement) and my last laptop was also a 17" so going down to a 15" will be tricky.

2) I've already got an external HDD and was planning on upgrading the RAM to 4GB (newegg or OWC).

3) Yeah, the one I was looking at costs an extra $30 and has wi-fi (also a must for me, my current printer at home has it and it's really convenient)

This is also probably going to be a big purchase for me because in addition to the computer I'm also considering:
Applecare (which I know I can always purchase within the first year)
Safeware (insurance for accidental damage/theft...I'll be in a dorm, it's definitely possible)
Security Cable
mStand
Logitech keyboard and mouse
Backpack capable of protecting my new MBP
VMware Fusion (academic pricing is $39.95)
 
ben.mcmahan said:
(someone else) correct me if I'm wrong. But apple has had the 99 rebate on a qualifying printer for-EV-er. The printer i have now is one my mom 'bought' (free with rebate) 3+ years ago, and gave to me since she already had a printer...

when i bought my ibook 2.5 years ago, they had the 99 printer rebate then, but since i had a printer, i didn't mess with it.

the point?
i think the 99 rebate will stick around, they just might call it something different.
Click to expand...

This particular promotion ends on July 21st

via the Apple website
 
also, it should be noted, that the printer I'm currently using, while mediocre in many ways, is still going strong 3+ years later. and it was the stock 99 cheapie.
 
The MacBook Pro was recently updated. And once a new one comes out, your old one will still be amazingly fast. I doubt a huge overhaul is coming in the next few months. There's nothing wrong with the current design other than it's been around for a while.

Whatever you do either buy it now or before the promo ends. The iPT is a great deal with the free printer (edu discount is ALWAYS available so not to worry...). You can sell the iPt if you don't want it.

No harm in getting it soon, it'll give you time to get used to it and to load on all your stuff.
 
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