Looking at switching

[iPoodOnYou]

I'm looking at switching, and pretty positive I'm going to, once I get my confirmation from one credit card.

But I have a few questions, I am a gamer, and I plan on buying a MBP, since the middle-of-the-road one has 256 megs of virtual graphics, I was wondering if this would be enough for a couple years down the road. I play games like Call of Duty 2, Need for Speed Carbon, and my desktop struggles somewhat with them. I have a 3.0 GHz Prescott, with 1 gig of ram, and a 64 meg graphics card. Yea, the graphics card is crap, but it's terrible with even newer games. So I do want to be able to play games, obviously in Windows, but I want to have this laptop as a gaming machine as well as a work pc for me.

I also want to just get away from Windows and PCs in general, I do a lot of graphic design, and video editing - Photoshop CS 2, and Premiere, and I've found iMovie does a better job most of the time, and I love using Photoshop CS 2 on a Mac more than on a PC. And hopefully someone knows, is there a discount if I want CS3 from Adobe, for a Mac? I have the windows version, but still, it cost a lot of money, I don't want to pay so much for a program I already have on the Windows side.

So, should I wait? I'm not patient at all. And I want to buy one this upcoming week. I wish I wasn't hesitating. Aghhhh. And should I buy from Apple, and get it shipped, or just go to Best Buy, my Best Buy has all the versions that the Apple store does, so why not just go to Best Buy right?

 

[Shaduu]

I'm going to tell you what everyone else here would; if you need it now, get it. If you can wait, then hold out until WWDC at least and come on, WWDC is a little over a month away.

 

[plinden]

And hopefully someone knows, is there a discount if I want CS3 from Adobe, for a Mac? I have the windows version, but still, it cost a lot of money, I don't want to pay so much for a program I already have on the Windows side.

I believe Adobe has offered a crossgrade in the past (ie. $5 for them to send you the OS X version, reuse your license key, no longer use it on your PC) - but you would have to contact Adobe directly to find out if they still do that.

 

[snakesqzns]

If you're planning on financing this purchase with a credit card over time, do yourself a favor and wait until you can buy it outright with cash.

Credit cards are BAD, BAD, BAD.

 

[jng]

If you're planning on financing this purchase with a credit card over time, do yourself a favor and wait until you can buy it outright with cash.

Credit cards are BAD, BAD, BAD.

Credit cards aren't bad. People are bad and don't have any ideas how to manage their money.

Buying something with $2500 in cash is also a silly idea.

iPoodOnYou What is your rate on your card? Apple financing might be cheaper. Also if you have good credit and you'd rather go the credit card road, try to find a card that has like a 6 month grace period with 0% APR (which would be better than Apple financing).

If you plan to buy the MBP, I hope you have at least half the cost in the bank so that you don't get stuck financing something you can't (in the long run) afford.

Are you a student? Make sure you get the EDU discount. If you're going to college soon, talk to you school about having pay part of the new computer - always worth a try. Nothing to lose.

 

[jng]

So, should I wait? I'm not patient at all. And I want to buy one this upcoming week. I wish I wasn't hesitating. Aghhhh. And should I buy from Apple, and get it shipped, or just go to Best Buy, my Best Buy has all the versions that the Apple store does, so why not just go to Best Buy right?

I'm not patient either. Just bough a new 2.33 15" MBP (on a credit card). I bought from CompUSA at a closeout. But generally you should buy from Apple directly, unless you're getting an unbelievable deal elsewhere. The reason is you're in Apple's system and if there are problems, when you go to them for support, there's less red tape. If you buy a MBP from Best Buy, for example, and there are several dead pixels or what have you, Apple will send you back to Best Buy - who might or might not swap out a new machine for you or send it to be serviced.

Do a search in the forums and you'll find that many veteran members recommend buying from Apple directly whenever possible.

 

[Maxiseller]

I say just go for it and enjoy!

I've put my purchases on credit cards in the past, and had no problem, but a word of caution; make sure you set yourself a target to pay it off. If you want it gone in 12 months, then pay one twelfth of the balance (adding the 20% (ish) percent interest you'll acrue over the term) and it will work fine. This way, if you do happen to come into any money in the interim period, you can pay off more balance thus adjusting your monthly repayments.

This works much better than an unsecured loan as lenders will often not allow you to make overpayments. If they do, it usually won't affect the interest due as they want to extract as much as they can.

With that all in mind, go for it!

 

[snakesqzns]

iPoodOnYou What is your rate on your card? Apple financing might be cheaper. Also if you have good credit and you'd rather go the credit card road, try to find a card that has like a 6 month grace period with 0% APR (which would be better than Apple financing).

IpoodOnYou: Be really careful with credit cards advertising 0% APR. The advertised interest free periods are dependent on your credit score. You might see a card with 12 months 0% and end up with a card with only 3 months. Also, many of these cards will convert to a 30% rate if you miss even just one payment.

Be careful or you could end paying for this new Mac for many years at many times the actual cost.

 

[jnash]

If you buy a MBP from Best Buy, for example, and there are several dead pixels or what have you, Apple will send you back to Best Buy - who might or might not swap out a new machine for you or send it to be serviced.

Do a search in the forums and you'll find that many veteran members recommend buying from Apple directly whenever possible.

False, an apple product is an apple product and if you purchase an apple product from a suggested retailer they have no problem covering anything that they normally would under the 1 year warranty, if you purchase the best buy service plain anything after the 1 year warranty they would send it out to an apple repair center (usually one in the same state) and get it repaired. They also carry a new warranty to pretty much if you drop your mac on the ground they will replace the entire machine for you.

I have a credit card with best buy and also noticed my store carrys mac's now so I am in the same boat with you I just called my buddy who works at my local mac store to insure me that they would warranty the laptop at the store regardless of it being purchased at a best buy. Also watch the papers because sometimes best buy does 1 year no intrest on notebooks/desktops. I am thinking of purchasing at best buy to get my reward zone points and look into getting the accidental replacement warranty for like $350.00 (ill have a new mac once every 2 - 3 years cough

 

[iPoodOnYou]

well, thanks for all the responses, and I think I'm gonna purchase it right from Apple anyways, since my local Best Buy doesn't have them in stock. And I can wait a total of 24 hours for it to get here.

And yea, I know, credit cards are pretty hard some time, and I will have to set a target for myself. My credit is good, so I have no doubt that the 12 month 0% APR will work out for me. I've dealt with the company before, and they know I have good credit.

But yea, I'm probably not gonna wait. I'm not the patient type either. Once this credit card gets approved I'm just gonna go to the online Apple store and buy it.