Need a Macbook Pro 13" - Buy NOW Refurb or Wait for new rumored chip?

[iAddiction]

I am Mac-less. I make music, DJ, do all kinds of writing projects.

Do I want to follow the buyer's guide and wait for the end of the product cycle?

OR

Do I jump on a refurb from the Apple Store?

What say you?

 

[kolax]

Get one now.

If a new model comes out with the new Intel chipset, then you could always sell it on eBay and upgrade.. not the cheap but if you need a Mac now it is an option.

 

[Eidorian]

Waiting for Arrandale is the way to go. If you can live without FireWire then the plastic Unibody MacBook is a very nice machine.

 

[Jayomat]

Waiting for Arrandale is the way to go. If you can live without FireWire then the plastic Unibody MacBook is a very nice machine.

as a DJ, I suppose you're working in clubs where it's normally "dark".. it could come in handy to have a backlit-keyboard => macbook pro... as to buy now or wait: if you can wait, wait else buy now

 

[hellojamie]

If your main component is price, I'd say buy now. A pro for under $1000 is a great deal. If you wait and the new models are out of your price range, it's not going to do you much good. But if you can afford the new model when it comes out, wait a couple of months.

 

[iAddiction]

Will there be a NEW Pro 13"? If so what will the price be? Any rumors? Will it be the same as a new Pro 13 now?

It's always nice to save money, but being Mac-less for the here and now kinda sucks.

 

[iOrlando]

Will there be a NEW Pro 13"? If so what will the price be? Any rumors? Will it be the same as a new Pro 13 now?

It's always nice to save money, but being Mac-less for the here and now kinda sucks.

no one has the answers you are looking for. With that said...sure..there will be a new one come March for $900.

Since you are new, a general rule is buy the product whenever you want too unless it is clear that there are huge changes occuring (and you would see obvious photos, posts, threads about the new product). Waiting to buy a product due to a new chip or something relatively minor that has little to no current rumors will not make any difference when looking to buy something now vs. 6 months from now. It seems like you really dont mind not having a mac, because if you did, you would have already bought one.

and i dont believe in that buyers guide. I look at that more so for people who already have everything, and just need to know when new things might come out. If you really followed that, you would be waiting months for stuff for no reason. For example, it says dont buy iPhone, updates soon, but thats not even true. It says average cycle is 178 days, which is pretty misleading. I've always had a problem with it, and so have others, but no one seems to care much. I rarely, if ever, look at that.

 

[tardman91]

You can probably get a new one from Amazon for little more than a refurb would cost. You get free shipping and don't have to pay sales tax in most states. I got a new one for $1049 a few weeks ago. Not sure what they're going for now though.

 

[iAddiction]

YOU GUYS ROCK! I love all the great advice!

The problem, like with my iPhone, if I had jumped on the 3G before the 3GS, I would have missed out on a significant upgrade. I am wondering if the Macbook Pro 13 is about to undergo a significant upgrade.

I DO mind not having a Mac at the moment, because I need a Mac AND a PC laptop. I do dual laptop work live, but PCs are good for the business stuff, and Mac rocks for the sound editing and design work. I love Garage Band and Logic, and I like to port between my friend's studio projects and bringing the files with me.

Money is tough right now. I have sold some guitar equipment (I play, as well as spinning), and I am in the musician's conundrum - buy soon, because cash money ends up getting spent on brake jobs, bills, or other BS that comes up. strange but true.

The only reason I use a PC Laptop is Dell has amazing deals, and I run XP on a Dual Core - making it a rocket ship. Trust me, I avoided Vista like the plague and I am not sold on Windows 7 though I have used it.

If waiting for the new Mac is like waiting for the iPhone 3GS v 3G, then I will wait. If it's no biggie, or a buggy new chip, I'd rather get a new comp now.

Also are refurbs safe?

 

[Badger^2]

even if they put an arrandale (or WTF ever) chip in a new MBP, you can be 100% sure they wont put it in a bottom of the line 13" -- or if they did -- it would be out of your budget.

$5 says these are the specs for the upcoming 13" MBPs:

1) 2.53 or 2.66 Core 2 Duo, 4 gigs ram, 250 gig drive for $1199

2) 2.66 or 2.8 Core 2 Duo, 4 gigs ram, 320 gig drive for $1499

No hardware changes.

 

[mathcolo]

I highly doubt the MacBook Pro 13" is going to get a significant upgrade. The unibody design is still relatively new (Oct '08). Also, even if it does have Arrandale, there won't be significant day-to-day difference unless you're calculating the answer to life constantly

I'd say just go ahead and buy if you're interested in the machine. It's already a super-fast and super-awesome laptop.