Retina MBP for $2100? or MBA/Hackintosh for $2100?

[NiroshanMan]

So I sold my 17" 2009 MBP and bought a 13" MBA 2011 for $1000, then i saw on CL someone selling a new retina MBP 2.3 quad i7 16GB ram 256SSD with 3 year Apple Care for $2000. I am tempted to buy one because I wanted one with those specs originally but didn't want to pay so much. I've also been thinking of just spending the extra grand or so on building a hackintosh... I'm conflicted

 

[Jamesesesesess]

Slightly irrelevant, but that person on Craigslist sounds like a total scammer. No one in their right mind would sell a new laptop worth over $2,600 for $2,000.

I don't see the point of building a Hackintosh and also having a MacBook Air. It sounds rather inconvenient imo, considering you'd have some files on one but not on the other and vice versa.

I would just get a RMBP. You're going to get better performance than a MBA or a $1,100 Hackintosh.

 

[NiroshanMan]

I really just wanted something portable, but not heavy like 17".
I also need a workhorse of a computer for video/design stuff, so i was thinking of building a hackintosh for the hardcore editing i do.

 

[minnus]

Slightly irrelevant, but that person on Craigslist sounds like a total scammer. No one in their right mind would sell a new laptop worth over $2,600 for $2,000.

I don't see the point of building a Hackintosh and also having a MacBook Air. It sounds rather inconvenient imo, considering you'd have some files on one but not on the other and vice versa.

I would just get a RMBP. You're going to get better performance than a MBA or a $1,100 Hackintosh.

Just because YOU don't see the point...

A MBA offers greater portability, and supplemented with a hackintosh - greater power than any Apple desktop/laptop can offer.

You must not be aware with how far 1k will take you. One can build a VERY powerful machine for 1k.

 

[kylera]

I may not be a video editor, but wouldn't the Retina MBP be more than enough for that? Granted, storage could be an issue, but that aside, 2kg shouldn't be too much of a burden for the power the RMBP provides.

 

[NiroshanMan]

Yea. I can't tell if this is a scam, but i've been trying to negotiate with the guy. He would trade for my MBA + $1050.
SSD space is kind of the main issue though... I do a lot of video/design stuff and it kind of sucks that 512GB SSD is $500 more...

 

[rockyroad55]

Yea. I can't tell if this is a scam, but i've been trying to negotiate with the guy. He would trade for my MBA + $1050.
SSD space is kind of the main issue though... I do a lot of video/design stuff and it kind of sucks that 512GB SSD is $500 more...

Meet him at an Apple store w/ genius bar appointment. They can verify everything.

 

[Jamesesesesess]

Just because YOU don't see the point...

A MBA offers greater portability, and supplemented with a hackintosh - greater power than any Apple desktop/laptop can offer.

You must not be aware with how far 1k will take you. One can build a VERY powerful machine for 1k.

And an RMBP offers great portability too it's thin as hell and if a 2" bigger screen suddenly ruins any portability then you're being overdramatic...

 

[minnus]

And an RMBP offers great portability too it's thin as hell and if a 2" bigger screen suddenly ruins any portability then you're being overdramatic...

Yes, the MBA line is completely pointless now that the rMBP is out ...

it is about 1.6 lb heavier - not to mention a heavier power brick.

 

[Jamesesesesess]

Yes, the MBA line is completely pointless now that the rMBP is out ...

it is about 1.6 lb heavier - not to mention a heavier power brick.

Oh god, 1.6 lbs!

No... I'm not even that muscular and I could carry this thing around all day. In a backpack, it would feel no heavier than a medium-size book. Plus who carries around their power brick? Lol. It's not even that heavy anyway.

For the serious spec bump from an MBA, I don't think it would be too bad to carry around a 4.5 lb laptop with more power than most desktops.

 

[beamer8912]

You must not be aware with how far 1k will take you. One can build a VERY powerful machine for 1k.

A little off topic. I've built a couple of PCs before, and I can definitely get a great machine out of $1000. However, I recently looked into building a hackintosh, and software difficulty aside, getting the correct hardware parts seemed to be an issue. Their seemed to be very particular hardware requirements.

Have you had any experience with this? Is it difficult at all to put together the right hardware combination? And do you think you lose any value (power/price) when putting a hackintosh together vs a regular pc?

 

[alphaod]

Slightly irrelevant, but that person on Craigslist sounds like a total scammer. No one in their right mind would sell a new laptop worth over $2,600 for $2,000.

What are you talking about? The computer is only $2399, so $2000 is very reasonable.

 

[austinguy23]

I dunno about this CL guy as there are tons of scammers on there but I'd much prefer owning a Retina over an MBA.

 

[Jamesesesesess]

What are you talking about? The computer is only $2399, so $2000 is very reasonable.

No, a base RMBP with 16GB RAM is $2399. It also has 3 years of AppleCare, which is $350, bringing the total to actually $2750. This person would be selling a brand new, in demand laptop for less than 3/4 of what they paid.

The person could just be an idiot, but odds are it's a scam. Like someone else suggested, if you do go through with the deal, go to the Apple store so they're sure it's legit and not stolen or something.

 

[-tWv-]

A little off topic. I've built a couple of PCs before, and I can definitely get a great machine out of $1000. However, I recently looked into building a hackintosh, and software difficulty aside, getting the correct hardware parts seemed to be an issue. Their seemed to be very particular hardware requirements.

Have you had any experience with this? Is it difficult at all to put together the right hardware combination? And do you think you lose any value (power/price) when putting a hackintosh together vs a regular pc?

There are specific hardware requirements to be fully compatible, but you can still build a very powerful machine. Look at tonymacx86.com for their brand new buyers guide. This is a great resource for a new hackintosh project. I used their previous guide with sandy bridge based machines to build my hackintosh and had no major issues.

 

[maxwelltech]

So I sold my 17" 2009 MBP and bought a 13" MBA 2011 for $1000, then i saw on CL someone selling a new retina MBP 2.3 quad i7 16GB ram 256SSD with 3 year Apple Care for $2000. I am tempted to buy one because I wanted one with those specs originally but didn't want to pay so much. I've also been thinking of just spending the extra grand or so on building a hackintosh... I'm conflicted

I will go ahead and go for the hackintosh. First off, the rMBP has been only out for 2 months, so that seller might be a scam to lower the price by $400. Secondly, a $1100 hackintosh will be more powerful than a rMBP, particularly the graphics card. The rMBP has a decent mobile graphics card that is driving that hi-res display, reducing the graphics performance. In a hackintosh, you can have a choice of graphics cards, from the integrated graphics all the way to the most powerful graphics (Nvidia GTX 680). And, your MacBook Air will make a great companion of that hackintosh. The one downside is the ease of use part. Although the hackintosh is easier than ever to setup nowadays, it is still harder to setup than a real Mac, and you need to spend hours on researching. Also, another issue is file syncing, but with iCloud, Dropbox and SugarSync, you don't have to worry about that anymore.
So, go for a hackintosh.
Edit: Tonymacx86.com is a great website for hackintosh content.

 

[thekev]

No, a base RMBP with 16GB RAM is $2399. It also has 3 years of AppleCare, which is $350, bringing the total to actually $2750. This person would be selling a brand new, in demand laptop for less than 3/4 of what they paid.

The person could just be an idiot, but odds are it's a scam. Like someone else suggested, if you do go through with the deal, go to the Apple store so they're sure it's legit and not stolen or something.

Some deals have been available with sites like Amazon. If it becomes an issue of someone asking to ship the unit, it's a scam. Someone else mentioned meeting them at an Apple Store genius bar appointment. I doubt they'd go for that if the computer is legitimate and not stolen. It would be rather obvious if it's registered to someone else.

 

[minnus]

A little off topic. I've built a couple of PCs before, and I can definitely get a great machine out of $1000. However, I recently looked into building a hackintosh, and software difficulty aside, getting the correct hardware parts seemed to be an issue. Their seemed to be very particular hardware requirements.

Have you had any experience with this? Is it difficult at all to put together the right hardware combination? And do you think you lose any value (power/price) when putting a hackintosh together vs a regular pc?

It is not difficult putting together the right combination as long as you have an understanding as to what constitutes a right combination. Generically, if a specific chipset is supported by existing Apple hardware, one could use the same chipset to build a Hackintosh. This should be much easier by just referring to popular hackintosh resources, especially those mentioned by previous posters.

Do you lose any value vs building a PC? Definitely not. I would say that hardware support is flexible enough such that given specific requirements (such as cost, or performance) to build a PC instead of a Hackintosh, you would very likely still end up almost identical components.

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Oh god, 1.6 lbs!

No... I'm not even that muscular and I could carry this thing around all day. In a backpack, it would feel no heavier than a medium-size book. Plus who carries around their power brick? Lol. It's not even that heavy anyway.

For the serious spec bump from an MBA, I don't think it would be too bad to carry around a 4.5 lb laptop with more power than most desktops.

/sigh

it is seriously not about YOU. you've clearly chosen a macbook pro, but that is not true for everyone. how often do you travel? do you carry 30-50lb of hardware on your back and shoulders with you on a regular basis, for extended periods of time? i'm guessing no, which is why you can make ridiculous statements like the one you made.

 

[beamer8912]

There are specific hardware requirements to be fully compatible, but you can still build a very powerful machine. Look at tonymacx86.com for their brand new buyers guide. This is a great resource for a new hackintosh project. I used their previous guide with sandy bridge based machines to build my hackintosh and had no major issues.

It is not difficult putting together the right combination as long as you have an understanding as to what constitutes a right combination. Generically, if a specific chipset is supported by existing Apple hardware, one could use the same chipset to build a Hackintosh. This should be much easier by just referring to popular hackintosh resources, especially those mentioned by previous posters.

Do you lose any value vs building a PC? Definitely not. I would say that hardware support is flexible enough such that given specific requirements (such as cost, or performance) to build a PC instead of a Hackintosh, you would very likely still end up almost identical components.

Thanks guys. I looked into building one before classes started again but didn't think I would have enough time.

I have an old PC (Q6600 CPU and 8800GT GPU) that I wanted to convert into my first hackintosh but I think I would have needed a new motherboard and RAM. I figured since the components were old, and I've built a new computer to replace that old one, I wouldn't miss any of the old components if I somehow bricked the setup during the process.