Keep MacBook Pro, or sell and get Netbook + iPad/iPod Touch?

[bass93]

Ok, so I have the base configuration 2009 13" MacBook Pro. It's the one with the 2.26 Core 2 Duo Processor, 160 GB hard drive, 2GB RAM, 7 hour battery life. And I'm looking at buying a car pretty soon. I will be going to college in 2011. I will need/want a MacBook Pro. But I have a decision to make. I need more cash to get a vehicle.

I could sell the MacBook Pro for around $900-1000. With that I could buy a Netbook. I can get one that has a 1.66Ghz Processor, 1GB RAM, 250 GB hard drive, 10.1 inch screen, 14 hour battery life, for $350. That leaves me with $550-650.

I could just stick with the netbook for awhile. Or to addition of that, get a 64GB iPod Touch, or a 16GB WiFi only iPad. Or does anybody have any idea of when they will start selling refurbished iPads???

What do you guys think? I know the netbook won't have much resale value when I would get another 13" Pro. Should I just keep the Pro? Or what do you guys think?

 

[mofunk]

Do you really need a car for college? Ask your family to put money towards a car. All the other gadgets can wait.

Keep your current MBP. I mean really do you need a netbook? All you need is an external drive to go with the MBP you have. Stop trying to spend money. You should look into making money.

If you have a car on campus, You need parking decal, gas, maintenance. Provided someone doesn't try to trash it.

 

[bass93]

Do you really need a car for college? Ask your family to put money towards a car. All the other gadgets can wait.

Keep your current MBP. I mean really do you need a netbook? All you need is an external drive to go with the MBP you have. Stop trying to spend money. You should look into making money.

If you have a car on campus, You need parking decal, gas, maintenance. Provided someone doesn't try to trash it.

Hahahaha, ok, first of all, my parents are just as poor if not poorer than I am. (I wouldn't even dare ask for an iPod for my birthday, type of deal.)

And I won't be taking the vehicle to college. I need it for work. Now. And all summers that I'm home. I don't need extra space, I just need $600 more dollars next week to buy a 95 4WD Bronco for $1500.

 

[dsprimal]

i would personally keep the macbook pro cause i would think it wouldn't get bored of it as fast as a ipad/ipod touch/netbook. but thats me. hope you choose wisely!

 

[bass93]

i would personally keep the macbook pro cause i would think it wouldn't get bored of it as fast as a ipad/ipod touch/netbook. but thats me. hope you choose wisely!

Ok, well I just need some money soon, and this is what I have that is valuable. Anybody have a PowerBook G4 that they'd sell?

 

[mofunk]

Your MBP isn't outdated. Netbooks from what I've read and seen aren't as reliable as your MBP. Now that I think about it, an iPod touch or iPad would be a nice combo. I use it a lot to tutor kids with. There are a lot of references you can use for school. But again, you can probably download those same Apps for your MBP.

Saving for the car will allow you to make more money. I would wait and get the new iPod touch. I have a 16GB 1st gen with over 100 Apps and 4GB of music (most of my songs are 1hr long mixes). If that's what you want, then get a refurbished iPod Touch. 32GB for $250. The iPad isn't very mobile.

The reason I suggested an external drive is for college when you use your MBP. You will need more space.

 

[bass93]

Your MBP isn't outdated. Netbooks from what I've read and seen aren't as reliable as your MBP. Now that I think about it, an iPod touch or iPad would be a nice combo. I use it a lot to tutor kids with. There are a lot of references you can use for school. But again, you can probably download those same Apps for your MBP.

Saving for the car will allow you to make more money. I would wait and get the new iPod touch. I have a 16GB 1st gen with over 100 Apps and 4GB of music (most of my songs are 1hr long mixes). If that's what you want, then get a refurbished iPod Touch. 32GB for $250. The iPad isn't very mobile.

The reason I suggested an external drive is for college when you use your MBP. You will need more space.

Yeah. The iPod Touch in my signature just broke in a car accident. I lived the thing. I'm definitely trying to wait til September when the iPod refresh. It's just that I'm trying to come up with $600 to buy that truck.

Yeah, I already have a 360GB external drive.

 

[bass93]

Yeah. The iPod Touch in my signature just broke in a car accident. I lived the thing. I'm definitely trying to wait til September when the iPod refresh. It's just that I'm trying to come up with $600 to buy that truck.

Yeah, I already have a 360GB external drive.

"loved", not "lived"

 

[scaredpoet]

You're going to be seriously hobbled getting a netbook. You have no idea. Netbooks were all the rage where I worked for a very brief period when people were insisting on getting them. They were cheap and light, but they don't do a whole lot very well. They will run two or three basic tasks (web browser, word, and maybe playing music) okay, and then that's about it. Playing games or doing any serious photoshop work? Forget it. And the form factor? Well, small isn't everything. The keyboards are cramped, and the screens are unworkable for more than one window at a time. You end up making huge sacrifices for the fact that the netbook is cheap, small and light, and it's a huge step down from a MacBook Pro.

You're pointing out specs, and there's a huge difference you need to be aware of: A 1.66GHz Atom Processor (which is most likely what your $350 netbook will have) is vastly inferior to even the base 2.16Ghz intel Core2Duo in the 2009 13" MacBook Pro. Even if you managed to underclock your C2D down the same speed as the Intel Atom, that netbook would still be massively outgunned by the C2D. The Atom is slimmed down and dumbed-down in every possible way to make it cheap and run the bare minimum and still boot Windows. It doesn't hold a candle to a full-featured system. The same goes for the GPU in your netbook compared to your MacBook Pro.

Of the dozen or so people I know who got netbooks, maybe two of them still don't regret their purchase, and they ALL look really enviously at my MBP, even if it is bigger and heavier.

Before getting my current MBP, I kept pining for a netbook. Then I'd use one and in minutes I was cured of my desire.

DEFINITELY keep your MBP, especially if it's your main or only computer. You may need the cash and selling it for a netbook might be tempting, but you will regret it, and I predict you will end up having to get another, bigger laptop again within a year, spending more money in the end than you "saved" by selling your MacBook Pro and buying that netbook. And don't expect to sell your netbook back: it'll probably be worthless.

EDIT: I should also point out that the build quality on a lot of these netbooks is pretty bad, and customer service for warranty work (unless you go with a big name like Lenovo, Dell or HP) is even worse. You really do get what you pay for.

 

[bass93]

You're going to be seriously hobbled getting a netbook. You have no idea. Netbooks were all the rage where I worked for a very brief period when people were insisting on getting them. They were cheap and light, but they don't do a whole lot very well. They will run two or three basic tasks (web browser, word, and maybe playing music) okay, and then that's about it. Playing games or doing any serious photoshop work? Forget it. And the form factor? Well, small isn't everything. The keyboards are cramped, and the screens are unworkable for more than one window at a time. You end up making huge sacrifices for the fact that the netbook is cheap, small and light, and it's a huge step down from a MacBook Pro.

You're pointing out specs, and there's a huge difference you need to be aware of: A 1.66GHz Atom Processor (which is most likely what your $350 netbook will have) is vastly inferior to even the base 2.16Ghz intel Core2Duo in the 2009 13" MacBook Pro. Even if you managed to underclock your C2D down the same speed as the Intel Atom, that netbook would still be massively outgunned by the C2D. The Atom is slimmed down and dumbed-down in every possible way to make it cheap and run the bare minimum and still boot Windows. It doesn't hold a candle to a full-featured system. The same goes for the GPU in your netbook compared to your MacBook Pro.

Of the dozen or so people I know who got netbooks, maybe two of them still don't regret their purchase, and they ALL look really enviously at my MBP, even if it is bigger and heavier.

Before getting my current MBP, I kept pining for a netbook. Then I'd use one and in minutes I was cured of my desire.

DEFINITELY keep your MBP, especially if it's your main or only computer. You may need the cash and selling it for a netbook might be tempting, but you will regret it, and I predict you will end up having to get another, bigger laptop again within a year, spending more money in the end than you "saved" by selling your MacBook Pro and buying that netbook. And don't expect to sell your netbook back: it'll probably be worthless.

EDIT: I should also point out that the build quality on a lot of these netbooks is pretty bad, and customer service for warranty work (unless you go with a big name like Lenovo, Dell or HP) is even worse. You really do get what you pay for.

Ok, that's what I'm thinking about after today. And the deal for the truck appears to be falling through. I definitely love my MBP. I'll just wait another month for a vehicle. Thanks for the input.

Oh, and I like your signature.

 

[babyt]

you need cash quick for a car for a job?
pawn the laptop.
get cash for car
work. make $
get mbp out of pawn.

you can easily get 900$ at a pawnshop for a mac.. make sure you dont sell it, that your just putting it in pawn.


this may not be the best thing to do though as you have to pay interest and etc.


or by a bike and bike to work

 

[bass93]

you need cash quick for a car for a job?
pawn the laptop.
get cash for car
work. make $
get mbp out of pawn.

you can easily get 900$ at a pawnshop for a mac.. make sure you dont sell it, that your just putting it in pawn.


this may not be the best thing to do though as you have to pay interest and etc.


or by a bike and bike to work

Yeah. I could do that. But I have to have a computer for school. A guy still owes me $1000 from hours that I worked for him in 2007. Hoping he'll get me a check soon.

 

[cloroxbleach4]

Just keep your mbp. Hopefully that guy will pay you soon so you can use it for your car.

 

[Penn Jennings]

Ok, so I have the base configuration 2009 13" MacBook Pro. It's the one with the 2.26 Core 2 Duo Processor, 160 GB hard drive, 2GB RAM, 7 hour battery life. And I'm looking at buying a car pretty soon. I will be going to college in 2011. I will need/want a MacBook Pro. But I have a decision to make. I need more cash to get a vehicle.

I could sell the MacBook Pro for around $900-1000. With that I could buy a Netbook. I can get one that has a 1.66Ghz Processor, 1GB RAM, 250 GB hard drive, 10.1 inch screen, 14 hour battery life, for $350. That leaves me with $550-650.

I could just stick with the netbook for awhile. Or to addition of that, get a 64GB iPod Touch, or a 16GB WiFi only iPad. Or does anybody have any idea of when they will start selling refurbished iPads???

What do you guys think? I know the netbook won't have much resale value when I would get another 13" Pro. Should I just keep the Pro? Or what do you guys think?

Not to be a kill-joy buy unless you MBP comes with some nice software, CS4, Final Cut, or something.. I'd be a tad shocked if you could get $900 for it. For another $200 (w/stduent discount) a person could get a new model with twice the RAM, 50% more HD space, a faster CPU, better GPU AND a warranty.

 

[bass93]

Not to be a kill-joy buy unless you MBP comes with some nice software, CS4, Final Cut, or something.. I'd be a tad shocked if you could get $900 for it. For another $200 (w/stduent discount) a person could get a new model with twice the RAM, 50% more HD space, a faster CPU, better GPU AND a warranty.

Well I've found them online for $1000. So I figured if I found the buyer, I could get $900. If you list it as $975 OBO, and they offer $900, then that'd work. I've seen them selling for $900-1000