my college bookstore is having a sale, HELP PLEASE!

H

heatguts58

macrumors member
ok so my college bookstore is having a sale, selling NEW but outdated black macbooks. so my question is should i get it? the price is pretty good. its $1049 plus you have to buy their $183 apple care warranty, but i was already planning to buy that anyways.

so again for $1232 i could get a black macbook. here are the specs,
2.16 GHz Super Drive
2GB Memory
160 GB Hard Drive

i know apple just released a new update and all that but is the speed that much of a difference or is my bookstore offering a steal that i can't refuse? please help me and opinions please.
 
I'd skip on that offer. You could probably get the newest 2.1 model for about the same price, and then buy 4gb of RAM elsewhere for around $100

You could probably buy Applecare off eBay for less than $180

Plus, that 2.16 model is two updates behind meaning it doesn't even have the X3100 or Santa Rosa in there
 
heatguts58 said:
ok so my college bookstore is having a sale, selling NEW but outdated black macbooks. so my question is should i get it? the price is pretty good. its $1049 plus you have to buy their $183 apple care warranty, but i was already planning to buy that anyways.

so again for $1232 i could get a black macbook. here are the specs,
2.16 GHz Super Drive
2GB Memory
160 GB Hard Drive

i know apple just released a new update and all that but is the speed that much of a difference or is my bookstore offering a steal that i can't refuse? please help me and opinions please.
Click to expand...

That's a good price, but I would check out the new White MacBooks and compare the specs as they are close to the same if not identical. It's still a great price though...less than what I bought my MacBook for and with better specs.
 
oh and to clarify my last post its $1049 + $183 = $1232.

but yeah, the price really does seem like a steal also for the main fact that i can actually get a BLACK macbook for an affordable price. if i got the most up to date one that was released on tuesday i would only be able to afford the high class white one, which im only set on that color because of the fact that its the same machine but cheaper. but been wanting the black, thats all. but if the speed and everything is really that much of a difference then yeah i would get the most up to date system. if anymore opinions that would be great, but yeah i think im set on getting it at my college bookstore for that price.

so again anymore inputs would be great. mainly what would you do in my situation? you guys are the mac experts, give me some spec feedback. THANKS!!
 
Posting from a machine just like the one you're looking at getting. Its an awesome machine and I love mine. However, might I recommend against the deal. The new gen of MBs are much more powerful and supposedly run cooler. If you don't want a white one, just save for a bit and get the current blackbook. There really is no contest between the new and the old blackbook. This one can only support 3.3gb of ram (without the benefit of dual channel) whereas the new ones support up to 4gb (or 8gb, I'm not sure, either way, its more ram than you should need). The graphics are better on the new ones too...
 
heatguts58 said:
ok so my college bookstore is having a sale, selling NEW but outdated black macbooks. so my question is should i get it? the price is pretty good. its $1049 plus you have to buy their $183 apple care warranty, but i was already planning to buy that anyways.

so again for $1232 i could get a black macbook. here are the specs,
2.16 GHz Super Drive
2GB Memory
160 GB Hard Drive

i know apple just released a new update and all that but is the speed that much of a difference or is my bookstore offering a steal that i can't refuse? please help me and opinions please.
Click to expand...

That's not a bad price! But you might want to get a refurb from Apple. I just picked up a 2.2 Ghz Santa Rose 160 Gig HD Blk for 1049. This one will recognize 4 Gig of RAM.

I know you said new, but you may want to consider a Blk refurb. From everything I read here on this forum, people are very happy with their refurb. See their posts, their are several currently. I figure I saved 31% from buying new.

No matter what, good luck with your decision. :)
 
It's the mid 2007 model, and in may, that hardware would be a year old. Spending that much money, I'd rather get a newer white macbook. If it was the Santa Rosa chipset, I might be tempted, but we're talking two updates back now...


(Although I must say I have a 2.16, and I love it)
 
can everyone please stop calling a previous model 'outdated'?

it is not outdated - it is..a previous model! there is no way you could call the computers on sale last week outdated. not the current model, sure, but outdated? no way.
 
I wouldn't say that the Santa Rosa chips are outdated....
The only difference is that you're going to get a bit faster clock speeds on the Penryn and run a lot (a bit maybe?) cooler. The hard drive update isn't a big deal, and the ram doesn't make a difference because it's cheaper to upgrade to four anyways third party.

It just depends on if you want the security / cutting edge of the new ones, or if you want to save a bit of money. Either of them are a good choice in my opinion, it's just what you need / can afford.

I looked at it this way when I bought the 2.2 refurb, It was like getting a 4g ram kit without paying the Apple price.
 
don't get it. its two updates behind. much hotter, doesn't even have x3100 int graphics on it.

DON't GET IT
 
DONT GET IT!!
u can get a much better one on the refurb. store for cheaper!
check back next week to see if its in stock.
 
hey guys to give you an update i actually went to my local apple store and purchased a brand new 2.4GHz black macbook. thanks for all your opinions and advice. i LOVE my new machine!!
 
virus infested, broken pc < sister's powerbook G4 < brand new macbook

gives you a quick idea of how i feel, im in love.
 
i don't think you can upgrade those to 4 GB of ram, and it's in the end only $300 cheaper than a new one...I would wait until the Apple Refurbs of the Current Gen. Start showing up as those ones should be really killer
 
When it comes to upgrades, my biggest criteria is not "what does it say on paper," but rather "am I, in the course of my computing, going to notice?"

Basically, for me, there is no difference between my 2.16GHz MB and the 2.2 - 2.4 MB's. There just isn't. With my 120GB HD, 2GB RAM, 500GB external HD, etc., I have a computer that will serve me well for years ... and it cost me considerably less than a computer full of what would have been, for me, strictly vanity upgrades. I do not notice the difference between x3100 and GMA950. There is no difference to me between 2.16GHz and 2.4GHz.

People here will consistently urge you to spend "a little bit more" but you have to ask yourself what you're really paying for - better performance in what you, personally, do? Or the appearance of a better computer ... on paper. In the end, it's up to you.
 
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