Need a new notebook for school

If you need, buy.

If you want, wait.

Even if the MBP were refreshed next week. It won't make the current ones obsolete. Don't get caught up in having the latest and greatest because it only lasts 3-6 months.

What are you planning on using it for?

 

i dont really think that you could call a MBP crappy.

I think that if there is going to be a drastic change to the MacBook/MacBook Pro lineup, it would be done at a major event. i.e. macworld

personally i do not believe that anything major will be released by this holiday season, but i could be wrong. depending on what you need the laptop to do, you could limp along on a mid-level netbook until the new machines are released.

 

Completely obsolete? Hardly. When the new one comes out (who knows when) then 6 months later when the new, new ones come out will that be completely obsolete also? Of course not.

If you are a student and need one now then buy it. The back to school deal is awesome and only lasts a few more days.

 

Don't worry. As long as you're not planing on extensive video editing or extensive use of Photoshop or Aperture, even a MacBook is more than enough. And if you're a gamer, better buy a Windows Notebook May not be as hip as a MacBook Pro, but you'll have more gaming fun with it.

 

With any computer purchase, it's often counterproductive to let market rumors determine your purchasing decision. People who do this never buy anything because of the potential buyers remorse that's playing a trick on their heads. If you need a computer, buy it now.

For example, Intel can announce a major new processor, but realistically it won't make it into an Apple design for several more months after the dies ship because then a totally new logic board design (new chipsets, drivers, etc.) will need to be engineered and tested.

We won't see anything revolutionary in Apple notebooks for at least another year (Nehalem CPUs). Interim products from now until then will only offer very marginal benefits that aren't compelling enough to make a current Penryn owner hock his/her MBP on eBay.

 

Just buy a refurbished last generation MBP.

You'll save a lot of money, it'll do what you want, and you'll never have to worry about it becoming no longer the lastest model considering it already isn't.

Of course since you're a student, you can get the current generation base model.