Need to decide in one week

[Tomerco]

Hi all,
so i'm living outside of the us, and where i live macs prices are doubled.
i have got a friend who's coming for a visit from the u.s. in one week and he can grab me a macbook pro/air.
the original plan was that he will come in late October and ill get the new haswell rmbp.

so my dilemma is this:
1. I'm going to college for a computer science degree in October and i need a
laptop, i also use adobe cs 6 for app design, and web design.

2. I don't like the air's screen i think its pixelated and the colors aren't right,
in the other hand i don't want to suffer from IR or UI lags on the current
13" retina rmbp

3. My budget is around 1600$, i'm really into the retina but i payed a visit
to the local apple reseller and the UI lag was horrible.

i really need a solid advice here, its going to be my main computer for the next 3-4 years therefor i need the best bang for my buck.

 

[maflynn]

What do you mean the MBA's screen looks pixelated? Its a normal laptop display.

IT seems you're unhappy with both models and neither one will really satisfy your needs. I have a 15" rMBP so I cannot comment on the performance of the 13" because I have a discrete GPU.

I personally really like the 13" MBA and think its a fantastic machine, but I'm not the one that will be looking at it all day, you will and if you're unhappy with it now, you probably won't change your mind in the future

 

[wmage]

Get refurb 15" Retina for $1.600 plus tax. That's the best deal right now. Don't worry about the screen lag, it's not that bad and it will only get better with software updates.

 

[Autrement]

If you're using CS6 intensively and working on computer science, the rMBP is really what you need... the air is snappy and is a great browsing/word processing machine, but it might not stand up to the kind of things you throw at it, especially a couple years down the road. Plus you seem to care about the retina display.

The only problem is your budget is too small to get anything but the baseline 13" rMBP.... (which is, quite frankly underpowered for the price in this generation- sorry you can't wait for Haswell), and don't forget that in the USA you have to add sales tax on top of the sticker price, depending on where your friend buys it. For a deal, your friend might have better luck through a 3rd party retailer (http://appleinsider.com/mac_price_guide) than through the Apple Store, unless he can somehow wrangle the education discount in America with a foreign student card, which I doubt.

Since I'm assuming Mac resale prices are higher in your country corresponding to the fact that sticker prices are doubled, why not get the rMBP, use it for a while to see how it does, and save your money like crazy until you have a higher budget in a 1-2 years, then sell it and get whatever sweet machine is out then.

 

[bhayes444]

I also strongly recommend the refurbished baseline 15" rMBP. It is a solid machine, and for the price of $1599 + tax it's a steal. I recently purchased one, and is has been amazing thus far.

Plus, if you could stretch your budget for the added tax the refurbished 15" you can easily scale the screen up and down so that you could view more content on it at once. I feel like this would be ideal for someone who is going to school to pursue a degree in computer science (e.g. being able to code with 2+ windows fully open on the screen at once or just writing assignments).

Here's the link: http://store.apple.com/us/product/F...-23ghz-quad-core-intel-i7-with-retina-display

They also have the 15" cMBP for $1449 + tax, so that is also an option I feel as the screen is still better than the air, and it would be user upgradeable for you in case you wanted to add in an SSD or more RAM later during school: http://store.apple.com/us/product/FD103LL/A/refurbished-macbook-pro-23ghz-quad-core-intel-i7

 

[zipur]

EBAY get a 15 retina, don't worry about haswell.

 

[Tomerco]

I also strongly recommend the refurbished baseline 15" rMBP. It is a solid machine, and for the price of $1599 + tax it's a steal. I recently purchased one, and is has been amazing thus far.

Plus, if you could stretch your budget for the added tax the refurbished 15" you can easily scale the screen up and down so that you could view more content on it at once. I feel like this would be ideal for someone who is going to school to pursue a degree in computer science (e.g. being able to code with 2+ windows fully open on the screen at once or just writing assignments).

Here's the link: http://store.apple.com/us/product/F...-23ghz-quad-core-intel-i7-with-retina-display

They also have the 15" cMBP for $1449 + tax, so that is also an option I feel as the screen is still better than the air, and it would be user upgradeable for you in case you wanted to add in an SSD or more RAM later during school: http://store.apple.com/us/product/FD103LL/A/refurbished-macbook-pro-23ghz-quad-core-intel-i7

I assume i can get the extra cash for the tax.
Im concerned about geting a screen with IR,
The warranty here is given by a premium reseller and i dont know how they are with this kind of things...

 

[tgi]

It's hard to give advice when you don't even like either model. I suggest going for the 15" refurb rMBP as well.

Most bang for your budget.

 

[sholzer]

another +1 for refurb 15" perfect for your price level