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Poll: How are you able to afford the MBP?
- Thread starter BluAffiliate
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It is all relative - in my lifetime all this wonderful technology has never been cheaper.
I remember when 512KB (not MB or GB) of RAM was $1000.
There was a time when a high end PC/Mac could touch $10,000 ala the Mac IIfx (in late 80s/early 90s dollars), not to mention $5500 SE/30s or $5000 PowerBook 5300s.
Then the 'workstation class' machines when I was in college, $4995 NeXTstations, $6500 NeXTcubes, etc.
My first 300 baud modem was $3xx in 1985, do you have any idea how glacially slow that was?
Took all night to download 360KB and I was thrilled.
Technology used to be VERY expensive compared to other goods and services.
You young'ns
Exactly what I was thinking! Technology is so cheap nowadays compared to back in the day. The idea that you can get a professional class portable machine for $2000 would have been ludicrous twenty years ago.
My second grade teacher laughed at me when I said that "Someday we'll all have spell checkers!" Who's laughing now? I had crazy, former hippy teachers who told me "Don't worry about the spelling. Spell the way it sounds!" Good lord did that screw me for a couple years. Quite frankly, my spelling has dramatically improved as spellchecking has become ubiquitous.
As I've started doing more programming in Ruby on Rails, macs seem to be the production environment of choice, and when (if) the new macbook pros ever get refreshed, it will be my first apple computer since the apple IIe. I'll claim I'm buying it for work, but it's really part need for work, part just want one. Paying for it out of good ol' American hard work related income.
Student loans, Student discounts, student promotions (free ipod), student everything!
Just kidding on the student loans, but yes on the student discounts and back to school ipod thing (which I sold to help pay )
I've held multiple jobs (at the same time) since I was 12 which became less menial as I "paid my dues" up until the point where I could afford Apple computers with relative ease . I didn't wince at paying upwards of 3.4k for my early 2008 top of the line 15" MBP + ram + intel ssd + applecare + 20 inch cinema display and all the things i've purchased for it (numerous printers, firewire hard drives , colorimeters etc) because I utilize my machine for darn near everything and it's an essential tool in my workflow. I'm 100% paperless, do all my banking online and do IT work in addition to being a student and a wannabe photo/videographer. If I could quantify my activities hourly (minus IT and photo work), my machines generally pay for themselves within the first three months.
Just kidding on the student loans, but yes on the student discounts and back to school ipod thing (which I sold to help pay
)I've held multiple jobs (at the same time) since I was 12 which became less menial as I "paid my dues" up until the point where I could afford Apple computers with relative ease . I didn't wince at paying upwards of 3.4k for my early 2008 top of the line 15" MBP + ram + intel ssd + applecare + 20 inch cinema display and all the things i've purchased for it (numerous printers, firewire hard drives , colorimeters etc) because I utilize my machine for darn near everything and it's an essential tool in my workflow. I'm 100% paperless, do all my banking online and do IT work in addition to being a student and a wannabe photo/videographer. If I could quantify my activities hourly (minus IT and photo work), my machines generally pay for themselves within the first three months.
I don't buy new computers that often, therefore its pretty much irrelevant how much they cost. Its the second most important piece of technology for me (after my car), so it does not really matter whether it averages £30 or £70 a month over two years.
This was a good idea for a poll.
I tend not to buy many Macs. I save up for quite a while between purchases for myself. The trouble is that there's more than one person in the household so we need multiple Macs. Luckily, I don't waste money on other hobbies since Macs are my hobby.
I tend not to buy many Macs. I save up for quite a while between purchases for myself. The trouble is that there's more than one person in the household so we need multiple Macs. Luckily, I don't waste money on other hobbies since Macs are my hobby.
I use it for work (and use it for entertainment too) so it works out to be great value over the years.
- I'm not rich, but it was worth a large amount of my budget to buy.
- Bought it for work/business.
With work i mean studies!
Never had a Mac. I bought a pretty nice Dell 7 months ago, but after a while i really realized that i should have bought a Mac. Especially when i bought my first Apple product ever - a iPhone 3Gs - i found out how great Apple's products really are.
Basically just told myself that it was time to move to Mac and have some fun learning to use the great OS too.
I'm not rich but it's just time for me to get this computer and i'm willing to use some of my hard earned money to get this high quality equipment!
Waiting for the new updates now though - so i haven't really bought or owned a MBP yet!
- Bought it for work/business.
With work i mean studies!
Never had a Mac. I bought a pretty nice Dell 7 months ago, but after a while i really realized that i should have bought a Mac. Especially when i bought my first Apple product ever - a iPhone 3Gs - i found out how great Apple's products really are.
Basically just told myself that it was time to move to Mac and have some fun learning to use the great OS too.
I'm not rich but it's just time for me to get this computer and i'm willing to use some of my hard earned money to get this high quality equipment!
Waiting for the new updates now though - so i haven't really bought or owned a MBP yet!
Too bad this thread is blowing up and has more replies than your threads ever will. Not bad for a "bad thread" right?
Where is the option for I'm not rich but I carefully saved up to buy one?
I guess that fits in the this is a large portion of my budget category.
Anyway, I bought mine for grad school. It is my main computer (only other one is a netbook) and I use it maybe 12-14 hours a day, maybe more? My rationale was that I would be staring at and using this machine more than I slept (or did anything else for that matter) so I didn't feel bad spending extra to make sure I really liked it. And guess what it worked! Best computer I've ever had
I guess that fits in the this is a large portion of my budget category.
Anyway, I bought mine for grad school. It is my main computer (only other one is a netbook) and I use it maybe 12-14 hours a day, maybe more? My rationale was that I would be staring at and using this machine more than I slept (or did anything else for that matter) so I didn't feel bad spending extra to make sure I really liked it. And guess what it worked! Best computer I've ever had
I sold my 2008 Mac Pro and went over to BestBuy and bought the MBP.
How did I get the money to buy the Mac Pro? I got a bonus at work that more than covered the price of the 8 core. Used it for a little over a year and decided it was time to sell it.
How did I get the money to buy the Mac Pro? I got a bonus at work that more than covered the price of the 8 core. Used it for a little over a year and decided it was time to sell it.
Technically, I bought it for work, although it's only because I refuse to use CS4 apps on a 5 yr old Dell crapped up with antivirus/antispyware apps that *always* run in the background and sap away resources.
For the last model I saved money up and bought it mostly up front with cash. Put it on a card and made a big payment when the first statement came.
This model is using part of my tax return and some bonus money left over from Christmas.
For the last model I saved money up and bought it mostly up front with cash. Put it on a card and made a big payment when the first statement came.
This model is using part of my tax return and some bonus money left over from Christmas.
I bought this guy's liver and resold it on craigslist. I am a master profiteer. : D
Thanks to finding a well paid casual job on the side, I bought a refurbished MBP in June '09. Since selling that MBP in anticipation for the next revision of MBP Im recuperating the funds together towards that purchase, and it will not be refurbished. The waiting time actually helps as I accumulate more money the longer it takes until Apple releases the damn thing.
Bought for work/business, but was actually less than my last Lenovo Thinkpad, and so far has had many less problems. Lenovo basically died after 2 years. This one still has a long way to go to make two years, but have not had a single problem so far. Can't say that about the Lenovo at this point.
I value having good equipment.
I simply save for mine. I upgrade every 3-5 years -- or have rather.
I save $100 per month for computer purchases. In 3 years I have #3,600 to spend. In 5 years I've saved $6,000. Works for me.
It's definitely preferred amongst the Ruby crowd...
Which goes to say that I have a job and I am buying it that way. I'm a software person, so justifying the large purchase is easier. This may seem screwed up, but lately I've become pretty irritated with my work PC being too slow and having *only* 4GB of RAM. And keeping my home development environment in sync is too much of a pain. My current Macbook just doesn't have enough juice (Or RAM) to get me where I wanna go, so a professional expenditure seems right...
I am a senior in a computer science degree and had planned to buy myself a laptop for my last year or so when my mom bought me the MacBook during the last back to school
promotion. It was an early gift as well for the holidays. I honestly do not know if I would have spent $1100 + tax on the MacBook. I had more than enough to buy a loaded 15" from working and scholarships/grants, but I was considering spending closer to $1000 for a thinkpad t400.
promotion. It was an early gift as well for the holidays. I honestly do not know if I would have spent $1100 + tax on the MacBook. I had more than enough to buy a loaded 15" from working and scholarships/grants, but I was considering spending closer to $1000 for a thinkpad t400.
