Im buying my 15 "Mac book pro. Is it a good machine? For $3,600 I hope its good. Im debating.. Macbook pro or I pad?
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MBP configuration comes out to $3400, good deal?
- Thread starter Alexjones
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You do not need to pay nearly 4 grand for any laptop, Apple or (definitely) otherwise. (I know a kid who spent 3 grand on a Dell laptop that my $1700 i5 MBP blows out of the water. Frickin' idiot.) Unless you need a 17" MBP with a 256 GB SDD, an i7 processor and 8 GB, which I highly doubt because you mentioned the iPad as an alternative. Buy what you need from a reseller, sans the RAM and HDD, buy your own RAM and HDD and either replace those yourself or have a computer savvy friend do it for you if you need extra RAM and/or extra hard disk space.
The fact that you upgrade from Apple instead of DIY makes the computer a lot more expensive that it should. Most of the cost of high end computer today fits in the SSD category. You only get 40GB of good NAND per $100.
Thats the price. Im not getting Aperture either
Configuration
2.66GHz Intel Core i7
8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
MacBook Pro 15-inch Hi-Res Glossy Widescreen Display
Backlit Keyboard (English) & User's Guide
Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter
Accessory kit
$2,778
Remote $19
AppleCare Protection Plan for MacBook Pro $349
TAX $271
TOTAL $3417
Configuration
2.66GHz Intel Core i7
8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
MacBook Pro 15-inch Hi-Res Glossy Widescreen Display
Backlit Keyboard (English) & User's Guide
Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter
Accessory kit
$2,778
Remote $19
AppleCare Protection Plan for MacBook Pro $349
TAX $271
TOTAL $3417
If you're in the U.S. you need to learn to deal hunt. You are waisting a ton of money paying that much.
#1 Buy from an online resaler and avoid sales tax - $271 saved
#2 Buy Applecare off Ebay for $130 - $210 saved
#3 Buy your RAM upgrade somewhere else - not sure how much, but you will save.
That alone will save you about $600 and you're just as protected as if you bought it right from Apple 🙂
Problems:
Solutions:
Mini DisplayPort Male to DVI Male - 9.43
G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Laptop Memory - 309.99
AppleCare Protection Plan MC259LL/A - For Portable Apple Computers 15 Inches and Above - 304.72 ; less if student.
Solutions:
Mini DisplayPort Male to DVI Male - 9.43
G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Laptop Memory - 309.99
AppleCare Protection Plan MC259LL/A - For Portable Apple Computers 15 Inches and Above - 304.72 ; less if student.
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Bill Gates
macrumors 68030
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Rithem
macrumors 6502
MBP or iPad? Is this even a question? Do you have any idea what you're even buying? I'm assuming no since you're asking for a wireless plan for the MBP. Learn more about what you're buying before throwing down $3,600 for a computer (that doesn't have wireless upgrades. What were you even thinking?) and upgrades you can most definitely find somewhere else for much cheaper just by doing a simple Google search.
This is from the Apple store on line. The price is the price. Im new to the Laptop world, So please be easy on me. I Have a monster Dell at home that runs Windows 7 which is awesome. I know the Macbook pro is better than an IPAD. That was a stupid question. Im just conflicted right now if it is worth the money for a MBP or should i buy an ipad. Ill be using this for basically for work. Working security 12-8 am gets lonely.
Bill Gates
macrumors 68030
No need to pile everything on right away. You may find the 4GB plenty as far as memory goes. You also have one year to purchase Applecare, which can be had on eBay for a lot less as has been mentioned. You may want to consider the i5 also. The baseline system has plenty of horsepower. Try it out and if you think you want to spend more, get an SSD and not more memory. If this is your first laptop, decide whether you want portability or a desktop replacement. I'd get the base model i5 and work some upgrades later (SSD, Applecare, etc).
...for your applecare, try amazon.com or LAcomputer... both much safer cheaper alternatives to the apple store and ebay vendors...
alust2013
macrumors 601
It sounds like you could easily just get the base model, and for half the price, it would do exactly what you need it to. I don't know what you could possibly need those specs for, unless you are doing heavy photoshop and final cut editing, while working. There is no game that you could play that would actually benefit seriously from getting all of that. Now, I'm not saying don't get it, but seriously consider exactly how much computer that is. I play some light/medium games on my 13" C2D MacBook (not even pro), and it still performs pretty well even with only the 9400m graphics.
It would be very helpful to know exactly what you want to do with it before you go spending 3 grand plus on a laptop as well.
It would be very helpful to know exactly what you want to do with it before you go spending 3 grand plus on a laptop as well.