Longevity of a MBP or MB?

[Kohina]

I'm 16, and currently a junior in high school. I'm planning on buying a mac because I got this new responsibility that requires me to travel between cities quite a bit and organize files and stuff like that, and I heard macs last a long, long time.

I don't know whether I should get it now (because of the whole free shipping thing and the price for the amount of RAM that comes default in it is to me, sorta ridiculous) or wait for the rumored new mac next year. It'd kinda suck to get one now and then have the new one come out in a few days, even if, I heard, it won't be too much of an upgrade for the 13" models.

So I was wondering - if you take good care of your mac, how about how long can it last? If I bought one now, would I be able to use it in college? I'm graduating in 2011.

And to that, what are some tips for taking care of it?

Thanks guys.

 

[thegoldenmackid]

My suggestion: buy a cheap used Mac now.

If this is your first venture into the Mac world, but something cheap and learn that you probably don't need a whole lot of power for basic tasks. When you are eligible to take advantage of some of the great discounts offered to college students (especially over the summer) take advantage. The Mac will last long, but it's not to say that a PC couldn't last you a long time if properly maintained.

 

[miles01110]

So I was wondering - if you take good care of your mac, how about how long can it last?

It can last as long as you want it to, really. Some professions benefit from constant upgrades in terms of processor, memory, etc. and some don't. In 2006 I bought a Macbook Pro and didn't have plans to replace it in the foreseeable future until it got stolen. It did everything I needed it to do more than adequately.

 

[sjinsjca]

My son's 12" G4 PowerBook is still going strong. It went in for one repair at five years of age when its display went a little screwy. Apple has very generous overhaul policies, and they went over the machine with a fine-toothed-comb for something like $329. It came back like new.

So a used machine makes a lot of sense for your first machine. Just check to be sure it is still supported (and repairable) by Apple; older machines do fall off the support horizon at some point. Max out the RAM whatever you do and be sure you're running at least Leopard. Get a USB hard disk to use for backup and then run Time Machine at least twice a week.

I got my MacBook Pro off Craigslist last year for $900. It is an original-issue Intel unit with the 32-bit dual-core processor. It's been great for my development work. Wonderful screen. Its 2GB RAM limit pinches me a bit in my work with virtual machines, so I'll upgrade to a quad-core MBP when they become available. But it's been a great travel companion, and it sure is pretty.

In general I recommend the MBPs over the MBs due to superior graphics and RAM capacity, but for your first Mac you will do fine with any reasonably recent model. Macs are quality machines and last a long time when treated well.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

I need a new larger hard drive after 2 years. I maxed out the ram after 1 year. It's 2.5 years old now, and still going strong.