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Owners of MacBook pros: what is your age range, job/career, and financial status like

Steffz07 said:
I am 15 (16th this July) and still in high school.
My dad is getting me a MacBook Pro because it is the first laptop i will be owning. He wants me to have a laptop for my final two years of high school and I want a Mac (used vista for 4 years, i hate it).

Before you start to call me a fan boy or something like that, i will probably be going to boarding school when my parents leave the country in a years time so i wont have a desktop. Also I think that i can safely say that I have a well above average understanding of computers than other kids my age.

I'm waiting on an Arrandale 15" of course, present C2D's are not very good value for money.

:D
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Hmm. I'm in the same situation as you. (Although I did get my MacBook Pro a year ago so the processor is only 2.4 instead of 2.6, and 2GB RAM instead of 4.)
 
I'm 25, and an AV technician at a major UK university.

I bought my first Power Mac from my student loan in my first year of uni. I bought my first PowerBook from some more of my student loan two years later (when having a desktop was impractical for getting work done).

My current MacBook Pro was bought out of funds coming from a lump of backpay I received. 18 months or so ago.

All three machines still see constant use today.
 
I'm an LED tech for an AV company based out of Cali but now living an working at our main European office in Amsterdam.

In my early 30's with a few MBP's and one Macbook, iPhones and other mac paraphenalia at my disposal.:)
 
I'm in my 40s, I work as a peoplesoft administrator. I've been a mac user since the early days (mac se). I currently own a late 08 MBP. As for my financial status, I'm not sure what to say. I consider myself middle class, but with my wife out of work and I have two kids, I'd say I'm not well off by a long stretch.
 
I am a 28 year old business/IT Consultant. (Self Employed)

I basically tell people how to run their business's and use IT to save money, and implement it for them.

E.g. Wrote stock systems and touch based EPOS systems for companies to improve throughput of customers.

I have next to no qualifications, I started by being an utter geek and writing a DOS based menu system to launch programs and utilities for my family, instead of them having to use command lines on our PC when I was about 12.

I got my first job at 15 supporting Netware and dbase based systems for a big retailer in the UK.

I started getting interested in Mac's after the marketing dept at my first job had OS8 and I had to setup maclan to talk to the Netware servers.

I then got my first mac to learn more about them and support them, now I just have 1 mac which is a 09 MBP, which was a replacement for a 07 Macbook.
 
I'm 33 years old and work as a vascular surgeon in the Army. Thanks to the Army part I'm not as wealthy as I'd like to be. ;) But I love my work and really can't complain about the paycheck, what with the free education from Uncle Sam and all.

My most processor-intensive work is using a software package called OsiriX to to 3d volume renderings of CT scans, making videos of angiograms, etc. On the more recreational side, I've taken up photography as a hobby and use Aperture 3 with a bunch of plugins and CS4. Of course, on the much more boring front, I use Office 2008 for all my research work, conference presentations, etc. etc.
 
Math PhD student. I get a small stipend, which I supplement with freelance tutoring and internships. Since a lot of my work is done on my computer, I pay the Apple tax.
 
(Buying a MBP this spring, don't own one yet). I'm 30-ish and self- employed in web development; my business is just reaching the point where I'm making enough to live on.
 
I'm a 25yo, male communications student from a working class background.
I live on part-time jobs and student loans and bought my MacBook about three years ago. Since I'm always on the run, I paid the 'apple tax' to have one less stress factor in my life and haven't regreted it a second!
In my private life I enjoy visiting different kinds of subcultural events and participating in student culture.
In my professional life I enjoy outsmarting little rich kids at university! :D
 
JonP said:
I am a 28 year old business/IT Consultant. (Self Employed)

I basically tell people how to run their business's and use IT to save money, and implement it for them.

E.g. Wrote stock systems and touch based EPOS systems for companies to improve throughput of customers.

I have next to no qualifications, I started by being an utter geek and writing a DOS based menu system to launch programs and utilities for my family, instead of them having to use command lines on our PC when I was about 12.

I got my first job at 15 supporting Netware and dbase based systems for a big retailer in the UK.

I started getting interested in Mac's after the marketing dept at my first job had OS8 and I had to setup maclan to talk to the Netware servers.

I then got my first mac to learn more about them and support them, now I just have 1 mac which is a 09 MBP, which was a replacement for a 07 Macbook.
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This is me :eek:

I'm 28, a Business Analyst. Next to no qualifications and tell people how to improve their business systems and processes to maximise efficiency and cut costs. Essentially making them more profitable.

Bought my first Mac (iMac) a couple of weeks ago to replace my PC, and looking to get an MBP/MBA for my travels to replace my old work laptop that I had to give back when I switched jobs.

Earn enough to pay 40% tax :(

:apple:
 
I started out as a mainframe programmer in 1966. For you young folks, they are really, really big computers:). I'm not a spring chicken, just a sly old fox, age 61:D. There was no such thing as Information Technology. It was called Data Processing. Still work with mainframes but now mostly with PCs (since 1984). In addition to being a Sr IT Specialist I am also a site LAN coordinator. Bought my first MBP a little over three years ago and have not looked back. Recently purchased the 27" i7 iMac to replace my 8 year old Dell. Life is good.
 
Alright here's my go at this.

Im 20 and in my last year of College Student taking a Computer Programming Diploma. I have the 13" uMBP (early 2009) and bought it recently (few months back) and so far loving it ( <--- understatement). The reason why I didnt bother waiting for Arrandale is because I have a powerhouse of a PC anyways (i7 975) so I wont be doing much gaming on my MBP (besides the occasional FPS which the current MBP can more than accomodate). Besides, if you need a macbook now, why not get a macbook now right?

Financially, I took student loans for the first few years but now I am able to pay the yearly tuition that is required (about $1.9k CAD per semester x 3 sem per year).

I also enjoy listening to Classical, Opera, Choral, Electronic, Trance, Rock and Metal :p I also dabble a bit with the Guitar and Piano.
 
I'm a few weeks from my 35th Birthday.

You can get me a new MBP as a gift ;)

I actually consider myself extremely blessed. After honing my skills as a music major in college and an administrator/event organizer through my 20's, I now work for an organization that pays me to create and perform music and administrate / organize events and personnel. And I love just about every minute of it.

I'm not rolling in dough, but it's a very decent wage and allows my wife to be a stay-at-home mom. Of course, we also purposefully live below our means!

And, on top of that, they provide me with a great laptop to perform those functions.

However, while I was eligible and due for a MBP upgrade months ago, I'm holding out for the inevitable MBP refresh... :rolleyes:


My wife has an older, hand-me-down iMac at home that works great for her light computing needs, and my first gen iPhone still continues to blow me away!
 
I'm in my mid 40's and own/run a small business consulting/training firm.

I've been a Mac user since January 2006 (the Halo effect from the iPod I received for Christmas the pervious month got a hold of me and I've never looked back)

My income is down more than 90% over the last three years thanks to the economy in general but hopefully that will change.

I have "Mad Money" earmarked for a new 17" MBP when they come out.
 
I'm a college student aged 21, majoring in Business Administration at SUNY Binghamton. I'm waiting for the upcoming release of new MBP. I've used OS X on PC before and and this one will be my first real Mac.

I use computer mostly for recording and editing audio, architecture jobs using CAD softwares, and for other daily needs.

Financially, I mostly depend on the money that I get by doing listed tasks above, yearly around 40-50k.

The reason that I choose Apple is because of the fact that it just fits me. I like their approach and their ability to make things easier.
 
I bought my first MacBook Pro in May 2006 in my final quarter of college, with the signing bonus I received for accepting my first full time job.

Since then, I've done the following:

started work (July 2006)
gotten married (August 2007)
bought a car (September 2007, 2007 CR-V)
had a daughter (january 2008)
bought a car (February 2008, 2008 Civic)
had the laptop replaced with a unibody by AppleCare (october 2008)
lost my job (january 2009)
had a daughter (august 2008)
sold a car (September 2009, 2008 Civic)
found a new job (October 2009)

I'm now 26, married with 2 kids and 1 car.
 
20yo college student, graduating with a Bachelor's in CS in May. I make around 13k annually working part time in retail and attend school full time.
I have owned 3 Macs over the past 4 years (Black Macbook, Aluminum Macbook 2.4, and now 15" MBP 2.8). All bought and paid for in full (well-- I pay on credit cards and pay the bill in full when I receive the statement, purely for the purpose of building credit). Oh yeah-- the first one my mom's boyfriend loaned me the money for half of it (1k), and I had to pay him back-- I was only in high school! haha.

As stated by another user... I don't make a lot of money, but all extra funds are saved until I find something that I really want... which is usually a new Apple. ;D I am looking at buying a car pretty soon-- 2003 Subaru Outback from my grandmother... going to cost me 8k. I could just pay for it in full with cash, but my family wants me to get a loan to further build credit.... which I will just pay of in 3 or 4 months using my savings.

Then I will be broke like any other college student. ><

But really-- even with a modest income, you can put away money! (Especially being a live at home college student with no bills!). haha.
 
31. Bachelor's and Master's in software and electrical engineering. Working as a software engineer in the defense industry. Pay is decent but with a mortgage and a car loan I am living a firmly middle-class lifestyle (on the other hand, hey, I own a house, that's an accomplishment in itself.) Spare money is tight, unlike the days just after graduating when I was living at home and 90% of my paycheck was "spending money"... oh, those were the days, if only I'd bought my Macs back then! :)

Thanks to the iPod halo effect, I "switched" to a PowerBook in 2003, using financing that I couldn't afford (I've told that story enough times in other threads). The nice thing is that once you own one, you can sell it and use the proceeds as a starting point toward your next Mac. I bought my 15" MacBook Pro in spring 2008 (I had a 20" iMac for a while, too, but sold it). The MBP was a refurb, a good deal at about $1300.

I'm not rich and I don't live richly, but I do believe in buying good quality stuff that will last. My Macs cost more than PCs would, but I know from experience that when I owned Dell laptops I would buy new ones about every 2-3 years. Meanwhile, my PowerBook lasted five (and would probably still be in service were it not for the switch to intel) and I expect my MacBook Pro to last a while longer yet too.
 
29, IT Consultant (Level 2 help desk, specializing in Audio/Visual, OSX, iPhone, Malware removal) on near-permanent assignment to a medium size company (~1500 users), Degree in Intl Relations, but loved fixing computer problems, so I went from 50+ in my early 20s to 30ish in my mid twenties to 40ish now, but absolutely loving it (work provided MBP FTW). Married, kid, and since I broke my WoW Addiction I spend way too much time naming, cropping, and editing my ~9k iPhoto collection. Rest of my Computers financed by auto-saving 60$/month and selling my previous model usually about 1 month before Applecare expires.
 
thomanjones said:
29, IT Consultant (Level 2 help desk, specializing in Audio/Visual, OSX, iPhone, Malware removal) on near-permanent assignment to a medium size company (~1500 users), Degree in Intl Relations, but loved fixing computer problems, so I went from 50+ in my early 20s to 30ish in my mid twenties to 40ish now, but absolutely loving it (work provided MBP FTW). Married, kid, and since I broke my WoW Addiction I spend way too much time naming, cropping, and editing my ~9k iPhoto collection. Rest of my Computers financed by auto-saving 60$/month and selling my previous model usually about 1 month before Applecare expires.
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heh, I always get irked when I backup before a fresh install or brining my system to apple because my iphoto library is in the 40GB range... I can't imagine having an 80GB iphoto library

(of course after saying that, i went and checked my library, only to realize I have 2-3000 hidden photos, which places my library at 8173 and growing)
 
50. Linux/Unix admin since 1985. I was out of work from Aug 2008-Aug 2009. Lost my latest job in end of Dec 2009 and just got a 6-12 month contract doing Linux admin work for Intuit (QuickBooks, TurboTax...etc) starting Mar 1 2010. My financial status is currently very insecure and our house was in foreclosure for a couple of months, but now out of foreclosure. The pay has been about 30% less than I was making in 2008. I did just sell some of my retirement to pay an long due bill off. I used some of the money to get a MBP 15" current model.
 
I'm in highschool. I got a 13inch macbook pro with money I had been saving up for a while.
 
Its kind of surprising we have threads about financial status simply because they own a macbook pro, its not like you have to pull up in a Maserati in order to buy one, most kids in high school could probably afford one working at a part time job.
 
Zombie Acorn said:
Its kind of surprising we have threads about financial status simply because they own a macbook pro, its not like you have to pull up in a Maserati in order to buy one, most kids in high school could probably afford one working at a part time job.
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Well it just depends on your priorities, donit?
The past 2 years I had a 'low budget fun' lifestyle, meaning no clubbing, no pub evenings, little concerts etc.
If I had done that since I started earning money (about 9,5 years ago), I probably could have had a new MBP every year and an occasional iMac now and then.
On the other hand, my youth probably would have been rather dull...
 
Stokes said:
I've never borrowed money (or used credit) for a computer. I highly advise against it. If you can't pay cash, you really don't need it.
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Lol, what a ridiculous statement. Translation: Only rich people should buy computers.

Using credit is fine if you have half a brain and pay it off in 3 months or less.
 
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