Please pat my back ....

[IllIllIll]

what is it then? A waste of money? Does a car qualify as investment? (just checking, english is not my first language, maybe I have a different definition for that word in my mind)

From dictionary.com:

the investing of money or capital in order to gain profitable returns, as interest, income, or appreciation in value.

Unless you are selling your old MBPs for more than what you bought them for, they're not investments. And very few cars are investments - less than 0.01% of all cars are. These things are all depreciable assets - they do not increase in value over time.

 

[iThinkergoiMac]

Profitable returns need not be money. If you buy a MacBook Pro and use it to run your business and you make profit from that business, your MBP is most certainly an investment. If you buy a car, and that car allows you to travel to work and back thus earning you a paycheck (instead of losing your job) that car is definitely an investment, even though you can't sell it for more than you bought it for.

If you buy a teddy bear and it just generally makes your life happier, that's an investment too, even though there's no monetary value in it.

 

[IllIllIll]

Profitable returns need not be money. If you buy a MacBook Pro and use it to run your business and you make profit from that business, your MBP is most certainly an investment. If you buy a car, and that car allows you to travel to work and back thus earning you a paycheck (instead of losing your job) that car is definitely an investment, even though you can't sell it for more than you bought it for.

If you buy a teddy bear and it just generally makes your life happier, that's an investment too, even though there's no monetary value in it.

Sorry, you're wrong. What you DO on a MBP or with a car may yield you profit, but the act of purchasing the device in and of itself is in no way an investment. You can rationalize all you want but you will not get more money out of selling it after a few years than what you paid for it. Period.

 

[arcite]

I'm a life long mac user, but I would never pay $2500 for a Macbook PRIMARILY to play PC games on it - your excuse for increase rendering speeds doesn't sound convincing! What a waste of a good Macbook! All that power and all you do is play games? As others have said, you could have bought a cheaper Macbook pro, a pc (for the gaming), a nice large LCD and still saved money. You did pony up $300 for Apple Care right?

It was also unwise buying at this point in time. If you had waited until February, new Macbook pros would have come out and you could have saved yourself a few hundred more dollars and gotten better tech.

So, besides pissing off your sensible sounding wife, you have also paid too much for what you bought. This is what instant gratification gets you!

-----

I'll just add one more thing. I'm completely OK with paying $2500 for a computer. If someone has a tool they use EVERY DAMN DAY then it makes it totally worthwhile, especially if you plant to keep it for two years or more. However, new Macbook pros are just around the corner, it just seems to make more sense to wait until February for the big upgrade.

 

[stevemiller]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Somewhere between the dripping desperation to justify ones actions and the use of googled dictionary definitions in debates, this thread has left me highly entertained and severely depressed.

 

[thundersteele]

It was also unwise buying at this point in time. If you had waited until February, new Macbook pros would have come out and you could have saved yourself a few hundred more dollars and gotten better tech.

[...]

I'll just add one more thing. I'm completely OK with paying $2500 for a computer. If someone has a tool they use EVERY DAMN DAY then it makes it totally worthwhile, especially if you plant to keep it for two years or more. However, new Macbook pros are just around the corner, it just seems to make more sense to wait until February for the big upgrade.

Funny, you seem to be the only one who believes in a february update... do you have any inside information, also concerning the nature of the update?

 

[arcite]

Funny, you seem to be the only one who believes in a february update... do you have any inside information, also concerning the nature of the update?

Well there is going to be a major update eventually, might as well be Feb, or March...

 

[johnhurley]

Please, I know i sound PATHETIC, but I really need this. I know that of all people, only you guys would truly understand why I needed it to buy it.

Dude ... man you got me laughing.

Thank god I was not drinking something while reading your post.

I understand! I want a new 17 inch macbook pro also!

The only alternative approach I can recommend thinking about is stashing the money away until the cash pile approaches buying time.

Seriously though the long rumored macbook air 15 inch might have been a better choice! ( Just yanking your chain! ).

----------

I'm just telling my wife now about this thread and she's laughing her ass off.
First of all, my wife is not ANGRY ( trust me, I know when she's ANGRY).

She's not the only one mate!

Yeah we all know when they are ANGRY!

I think a lot of the people voting you down secretly wish they had done something similar ( just my opinion ). Besides you are helping to stimulate the global economy right!

 

[iThinkergoiMac]

Sorry, you're wrong. What you DO on a MBP or with a car may yield you profit, but the act of purchasing the device in and of itself is in no way an investment. You can rationalize all you want but you will not get more money out of selling it after a few years than what you paid for it. Period.

Quite amusing. Your definition: "the investing of money or capital in order to gain profitable returns, as interest, income, or appreciation in value."

A MBP certainly can count as capital. So it fits squarely in your definition. Lest you contest, the definition of capital from dictionary.com: "the wealth, whether in money or property, owned or employed in business by an individual, firm, corporation, etc."

The act of acquiring property in order to gain profitable returns is most definitely an investment, and by your own definition. Your view on what an investment is is extremely narrow. Buying gold now to sell it later at a higher price is one kind of investment, buying a MBP to do profitable work on is another.

 

[AppleWarMachine]

Pat on the back...you need a smack on the A$$ (from your wife). Return it.

 

[VMMan]

@OP,

I thought your post was hilarious and didn't get the impression you were reckless. You did get your wife's permission before buying the MBP. I just thought you are being the good husband because despite your wife's okay, you still are feeling guilty. A lot of men after having the wife agree would just buy the MBP and not think twice.

This might be the easiest Mac purchase that you will have in a while, because once you have kid(s), it will be a lot harder to make these kinds of purchases again. No matter how hard couples try, about half get divorced anyways, and usually by the 7th year. The fact that you care about your wife's feelings even after getting the MBP is a good thing. So I'll pat you on the back for that.

 

[IllIllIll]

Quite amusing. Your definition: "the investing of money or capital in order to gain profitable returns, as interest, income, or appreciation in value."

A MBP certainly can count as capital. So it fits squarely in your definition. Lest you contest, the definition of capital from dictionary.com: "the wealth, whether in money or property, owned or employed in business by an individual, firm, corporation, etc."

The act of acquiring property in order to gain profitable returns is most definitely an investment, and by your own definition. Your view on what an investment is is extremely narrow. Buying gold now to sell it later at a higher price is one kind of investment, buying a MBP to do profitable work on is another.

Semantics, whatever. Doesn't change the fact that computers and other durable equipment are nothing but depreciable assets and not investments in and of themselves. You go on believing whatever you want if it'll make you feel better.

 

[iThinkergoiMac]

Semantics, whatever. Doesn't change the fact that computers and other durable equipment are nothing but depreciable assets and not investments in and of themselves. You go on believing whatever you want if it'll make you feel better.

I'm not saying that a computer is an investment in the sense that you can sell it later for more than you bought it for (unless you can sell some iconic computer 50 years later as a collectible item). In that sense, a computer itself is not an investment. However, purchasing a computer can be an investment in whatever you are doing with it, and this is what most people mean when they say "invest in a computer".

Besides, semantics was all your argument was about in the first place. So pulling the semantics card on me is an interesting move...

 

[LostSoul80]

If you just wanted to play games, why didn't you get yourself a PS3 or an xBox? You said you already have a "usable" laptop, so what's the point in buying a new one for gaming? With less than half the price of your MBP you could have bought a full HD TV + a consolle + some games to play with.

If you used it for school/work purposes, then that would be a completely different scenario, and probably it would have made sense.

Bah... Good luck.

 

[elpmas]

crazyyyyy . she wont let this go unless she has one herself

 

[miniConvert]

Just wanted to congratulate the OP on his new MBP!

 

[thundersteele]

googling for "macbook pro investment" gives 136m hits.



If I build a small factory to produce laptop coolers, is the factory an investment? Imho, yes. Then, if I buy a laptop that I use to develop software, this should also qualify as investment.

Honestly, if you go back to the dictionary.com definition:

the investing of money or capital in order to gain profitable returns, as interest, income, or appreciation in value.

Wouldn't this be enough to qualify my macbook as investment. I do appreciate it's value!

 

[cedwhatev]

Dude, if you really wanted the computer that bad, do what I did, and sell some stuff on eBay. I sold my year old Samsung NB30 netbook for the price I paid for it, which was 250.00 (it was a demo at Staples), and all I did was upgrade to 2GB of RAM and throw in a 20.00 case. Then, I sold my Blackberry Bold 9700 (which I didn't use) for 275.00, and a water damaged non-working Blackberry Pearl 9100 for 50.00, and sold some old Abercrombie & Fitch tees for 50.00. I also had 150.00 left over from a job I did for a friend under the table, so I had 775.00 to put towards my 2010 MacBook Air Ultimate, which I got on eBay for 780.00 plus 20.00 shipping. I received it in flawless condition, with over 6 months of warranty still left on it, and I gotta say.. it's a rewarding feeling.

What have I learned from this though? People will over spend on eBay, and Blackberry phones will sell.

Sorry to contradict your story man.. lol.. but I won't knock you for getting the computer.

BTW.. yes, I am married, and no, my wife didn't want me to buy it with our money... so this is what I did to obtain my Mac.

 

[praetorx]

The only time you'd get a pat on your back in this world/society is if you're doing worse than others. Envy is king in this b@@@h world. No way someone would be simpathetic with someone who's burning $2500 on a luxury item when they struggle paying bills or being unemployed.
That said, if I were you I'd just keep things like this for myself and let my own consciousness be the judge, it's your life and decisions after all. You don't want others to dictate how you should live your life don't you?

 

[IllIllIll]

That said, if I were you I'd just keep things like this for myself and let my own consciousness be the judge, it's your life and decisions after all. You don't want others to dictate how you should live your life don't you?

That's right...be your own man. Don't let ANYONE dictate how you should live your life, not even your wife. It doesn't matter what she thinks. </sarcasm>

 

[yannerd]

This thread seriously made my day. It screams of someone who is desperate for validation. I guess someone's compensating for a small problem huh?

 

[Danno21]

Isn't it cheaper getting an Xbox 360, BF3, and Skyrim for $2000 less? As an added bonus, they will run better on the Xbox 360

Skyrim will not play better on 360 than it would on a decked out late 2011 17-inch MBP on Bootcamp...man you're funny lol.

It is much cheaper though!

 

[700-Grizz]

Dump the Wife! Then get what you want

 

[Steve's Barber]

Somewhere between the dripping desperation to justify ones actions and the use of googled dictionary definitions in debates, this thread has left me highly entertained and severely depressed.

Not to mention the OP is AWOL. No doubt throwing himself at the mercy of some divorce court.

 

[Vook]

I think if it was a really big deal she would let you know and you would prob not have that brand new computer. One thing I know for sure is, you owe her.....dont forget that.