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sense buy macbook now?

mackinoe said:
I'm in exactly the same situation where i'm a student and i'm deciding whether to wait or not. Some people dont seem to have a clue about students though. Students dont really have the money to update your laptop every time new technology comes out! Inless you have rich parents that buy you everything. I've decided to wait a bit and maybe get a refurb macbook in a few months time to save me money if it doesnt look like leopard will be released any time soon.
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you guys are great! really. thanks for your help so far.

Actually, I can wait until June,July. So it's not that important to get a book right now. I'm just wondering if it's better to wait a bit then buy a book (better hardware!) and new leopard.
The only thing is that I could buy a brand new macbook (GHz 2.0, 80GB HD) with a 15% discount. (that's another story.. just see it as a fact.) That would be the first possibilty. Either buy a macbook now (this specialoffer has a duration until march!) with a 15% discount or wait until june and buy (normalprice) a macbook with leopard.
I just don't know whether there's gonna be a big hardware update or not. Plus, the operatingsystem.

And, indeed, I have not a lot of money left.
thanks.
 
Think of it this way:

If you bought a new machine now and wanted to upgrade to Leopard later, you'd need to factor the cost of that in. Also, what if the low-end MacBook started coming with 1 GB of RAM, standard? Factor that cost in as well. The newest version of iLife will be available in June as well, if that matters to you.

If you're attending a university or community college of some sort, you can get a student discount of around 10%, so that's always an option.

Is this 15% discount worth it if you factor in all these other costs? I thought you said "major discount", but if you're only talking about 15%, I'd rather wait it out until June and get Leopard for free, since you can.
 
Abstract said:
Think of it this way:

If you bought a new machine now and wanted to upgrade to Leopard later, you'd need to factor the cost of that in.

> yes.

Also, what if the low-end MacBook started coming with 1 GB of RAM, standard? Factor that cost in as well.

> Who knows?! Is it possible?

If you're attending a university or community college of some sort, you can get a student discount of around 10%.
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> true.
 
I dont understand? I have a g4 iBook from '03 now and i run an external monitor and it works fine, the resolution on my bigger monitor doesnt go past 1024 X 768 but it works fine and not crap. Are you suggesting it's crappier with the macbook pros? This would be a huge deal for me.

I am also debating when I should buy the MCP as I'm a student only for a short while still.

magda

Abstract said:
- If you want to run an external monitor, wait until June, since the new integrated graphics processor is hopefully well improved, although its ability to run an external screen AND your laptop screen will depend on whether Apple raises the vRAM beyond 64 MB.

I know many people already run an external LCD. You can do so up until 1920 x 1200 resolution (or thereabouts), but you'd need to do this in clamshell mode (ie: with the laptop lid closed). Running 2 monitors with only 64 MB of VRAM is crap, and actually, running an higher resolution external LCD with the MacBook does produce choppier results than what you get when using the plain old MacBook's screen.
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raise cain said:
I dont understand? I have a g4 iBook from '03 now and i run an external monitor and it works fine, the resolution on my bigger monitor doesnt go past 1024 X 768 but it works fine and not crap. Are you suggesting it's crappier with the macbook pros? This would be a huge deal for me.

I am also debating when I should buy the MCP as I'm a student only for a short while still.

magda
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It's not about the monitors.
So I'm probably gonna wait, right?!
 
If you're a student and can wait, July/August might be better for you because Apple always has that "Back-to-School" special where you basically get an iPod for free. That's a pretty sweet deal imo.

The latest/greatest schtick gets old really fast.
 
raise cain said:
I dont understand? I have a g4 iBook from '03 now and i run an external monitor and it works fine, the resolution on my bigger monitor doesnt go past 1024 X 768 but it works fine and not crap. Are you suggesting it's crappier with the macbook pros? This would be a huge deal for me.

I am also debating when I should buy the MCP as I'm a student only for a short while still.

magda
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You're iBook is (probably) mirroring onto the external display. The MacBooks and MBPs will span onto the external screen, so both the laptops LCD and the external monitor are displaying different information. (Your iBook can do this as well, with the right hacks).

When you span screens like this, it devotes half the VRAM to each display. In the current MacBooks, that means each display is only getting 32mb of (shared system) memory, which is pretty inadequate for a larger resolution and any amount of graphic compositing (OSX uses VRAM to store several parts of the GUIs effects).

The MBP, though, has 128mb+ of VRAM and so it's devoting at least 64mb of (real) VRAM to each display, which is pretty much fine for 90% of the things people do (gaming would be the exception). You'll have no trouble with the MBP driving external monitors in almost any resolution (I think they will even drive a 30" ACD... you should check on that though, I'm not positive) in either a spanning or mirroring mode.
 
mrgreen4242 said:
You're iBook is (probably) mirroring onto the external display. The MacBooks and MBPs will span onto the external screen, so both the laptops LCD and the external monitor are displaying different information. (Your iBook can do this as well, with the right hacks).

When you span screens like this, it devotes half the VRAM to each display. In the current MacBooks, that means each display is only getting 32mb of (shared system) memory, which is pretty inadequate for a larger resolution and any amount of graphic compositing (OSX uses VRAM to store several parts of the GUIs effects).

The MBP, though, has 128mb+ of VRAM and so it's devoting at least 64mb of (real) VRAM to each display, which is pretty much fine for 90% of the things people do (gaming would be the exception). You'll have no trouble with the MBP driving external monitors in almost any resolution (I think they will even drive a 30" ACD... you should check on that though, I'm not positive) in either a spanning or mirroring mode.
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You can also span screens (in addition to mirroring) with iBooks, after installing a simple hack. It works really well (screen spanning doctor). My iBook has 32MB of ram total and I connect my 1280x1024 LCD to it everyday. I use dual screens (not mirrored) and the display looks really good. Just so you know.
 
i m waiting

i'm waiting, i belive is your own choice, i am waiting, i am a student too and dont have much money, i start university in may, and will be working out from my home's desktop until snta rosa comes out (hopefully not past june 15th), the way i see it, i ll save money because, most likely if santa rosa comes out after leopard or they come out togheter you wont have to pay the extra money to upgrade from tiger to leopard. Also you could do what i am doing, try to save up as much as you can( if you can) so that you can get extra RAM or bigger HDD..
 
I'm not sure why you can get it for really cheap right now. However, is it because it is used or an older model? Because if so it may not come with the core2duo processor which is another factor to consider. But if it does have the core2duo and it is considerably cheaper and you can't wait until the summer to get an ipod deal, then it might be the way to go. Just a lot to consider a I guess.
 
MrMacbookMan said:
I'm not sure why you can get it for really cheap right now. However, is it because it is used or an older model? Because if so it may not come with the core2duo processor which is another factor to consider. But if it does have the core2duo and it is considerably cheaper and you can't wait until the summer to get an ipod deal, then it might be the way to go. Just a lot to consider a I guess.
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that's another story. just consider it as a fact. I could buy a brand new macbook 2.0GHz, 80GB. with a 15% discount. (appleprice)

* 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 1GB memory
* 80GB hard drive1
* Double-layer SuperDrive

Ships: Within 24 hours
Free Shipping
$1,299.00

In fact, there is a lot to consider.. It's just kinda difficult for an apple-greenhorn like me..
 
That sounds like a pretty good deal if your unable to wait until the summer. The money saved should be able to cover the cost of Leopard and you will be able to start playing with it now instead of having to wait!
 
juanster said:
i'm waiting, i belive is your own choice, i am waiting, i am a student too and dont have much money, i start university in may, and will be working out from my home's desktop until snta rosa comes out (hopefully not past june 15th), the way i see it, i ll save money because, most likely if santa rosa comes out after leopard or they come out togheter you wont have to pay the extra money to upgrade from tiger to leopard. Also you could do what i am doing, try to save up as much as you can( if you can) so that you can get extra RAM or bigger HDD..
Click to expand...


well well look at this.... i said i was going to wait many many many times and advised so many many many people to wait,,, just so that i would wake up one morning and got my macbook without even thinking about,,i did not wait...im still happy though
 
i'm in the same situation. and as of now, i'm waiting for leopard/santarosa. But i do want to know, what type of bugs are expected when leopard comes out? i've heard of vista having bugs already, but we're talking about an apple OS.
 
jesses said:
i'm in the same situation. and as of now, i'm waiting for leopard/santarosa. But i do want to know, what type of bugs are expected when leopard comes out? i've heard of vista having bugs already, but we're talking about an apple OS.
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well i thin there will be some bugs,, but nothing too bad or nothign that will get fixed really quick anyways...
 
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