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MacBook Pro Buyers: The MacRumors BUYING GUIDE says to WAIT!
- Thread starter IvanPod
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You guys all speak about just selling their "old" MBP and buying a new one when they are out.
Sounds like thousends of people are just craving for used MBP's... is this really fact or isn't it? I've never bought or sold a Mac Notebook 2nd hand yet, so what do you guys expect to be able to charge for your 6 to 12 months old MBP's?
Sounds like thousends of people are just craving for used MBP's... is this really fact or isn't it? I've never bought or sold a Mac Notebook 2nd hand yet, so what do you guys expect to be able to charge for your 6 to 12 months old MBP's?
I think they meant HD space
Yeah, the used Mac market is great. You can "rent" a refurb Mac for instance, and sell it when the new stuff comes out for not a lot less than you bought it.
Hm, there's a sucker born every minute? That would make 525600 suckers born in a year. Alas, still not enough to buy all those used MBPs
Perhaps an example will help.
A £1599 2.4GHz MBP refurb is £1299, a £300 saving for you in the first instance
You then sell it on after 11 months use for £899 (the price the last gen 2.33s are going for now on eBay), still within warranty and eligible for Applecare... totalling £400 for the use of a laptop for near a year. The buyer doesn't mind either, because they've bought a product that is still perfectly capable for hundreds less than the current stuff.
This makes sense only if the other alternative would be to keep the machine for less than 3 years. People who do not use their laptops for generating income, and/or who are not foolishly jonesing after the latest greatest all the time, will probably want to keep their laptop for at least 4 years.
Here is the math.
Mr. Jones buys a refurb every year for £1299, then sells it for £899 after 1 year. At the end of the forth year he has spent £2899 on his MBPs: £1299 + 4*(£1299-£899).
Joe Regular buys a refurb for £1299, then sells it for £299 after 4 years and buys another refurb for £1299. Therefore he has spent 2*£1299-£299 = £2299, i.e., £600 less than Mr. Jones! In fact, he could afford to buy new rather than refurb, and still come out even with Mr. Jones.
Class dismissed
EDIT:
Another way of looking at it is to use the NPV (net present value) concept. If, rather than buying a computer, each guy were to put his money in a bank at 6% interest, Mr. Jones would have to put in £442.65 more than Joe Regular to have the same amount at the end of 4 years. What this also means is that Joe Regular can afford to spend £442.65 more on a laptop, i.e., get a better one
Here is the math.
Mr. Jones buys a refurb every year for £1299, then sells it for £899 after 1 year. At the end of the forth year he has spent £2899 on his MBPs: £1299 + 4*(£1299-£899).
Joe Regular buys a refurb for £1299, then sells it for £299 after 4 years and buys another refurb for £1299. Therefore he has spent 2*£1299-£299 = £2299, i.e., £600 less than Mr. Jones! In fact, he could afford to buy new rather than refurb, and still come out even with Mr. Jones.
Class dismissed
____________
Buy Refurb
Sorry to correct you:
To use his Mac for 4 years Mr. Jones pays 1299 + 3*(1299-899) - 899= 1600
Sorry to correct you:
To use his Mac for 4 years Mr. Jones pays 1299 + 3*(1299-899) - 899= 1600
In that case you need to subtract 1299 from Joe Regular's expenses, which come out to an even 1000. So the difference is still 600
EDIT:
I was assuming each buys another laptop at the end of the forth year. So 5 laptops for Mr. Jones, 2 for Joe Regular.
I agree.In that case you need to subtract 1299 from Joe Regular's expenses, which come out to an even 1000. So the difference is still 600
I also went ahead and bought a 15" 2.2 Ghz MacBook Pro on the day of the MacWorld conference. Really not worried about Penryn, newer graphics cards, or a case redesign. Didn't feel like waiting around until the next revision simply because I wanted to make the switch and I knew that the current generation MacBook Pro would fulfill my needs without a problem.
Ahhh. A guy who knows what he wants. Nice! I'm on a 3 year old Powerbook that's expiring from Apple Care in a month. I for one am waiting for the update. I figure, I've waited this long, might as well make the largest jump possible.
Sheesh! I meant as a one-off kinda "meanwhile Mac": if you're happy to lose a few hundred while you wait it out, you can use today's best while you wait for the new revision that will make you breakfast.
I assume Mr Jones keeps the new Mac he trades up for.... forever
I use the "every other generation" technique. It works great.
I bought a MBP about a year ago (2.3GHz Core 2 Duo). This has served me quite nicely (apart from battery life, which is a whole different thread) and will continue to until the next model comes out, probably with the upgraded LCD screen and a bump in processor speed and HDD capacity (and hopefully multi-touch). So if it's February or May until the next model arrives, I am happy.
I have found this technique works well. I have never even had to advertise to sell my old laptop - the last two I sold to friends for a good, but fair, price. Everyone is happy. And no gnashing of teeth or pulling of hair.
I bought a MBP about a year ago (2.3GHz Core 2 Duo). This has served me quite nicely (apart from battery life, which is a whole different thread) and will continue to until the next model comes out, probably with the upgraded LCD screen and a bump in processor speed and HDD capacity (and hopefully multi-touch). So if it's February or May until the next model arrives, I am happy.
I have found this technique works well. I have never even had to advertise to sell my old laptop - the last two I sold to friends for a good, but fair, price. Everyone is happy. And no gnashing of teeth or pulling of hair.