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Students going to college: When should we buy?

comictimes

comictimes

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
So I'm going off to college next fall, as i'm sure many others are, and I'm planning to get a laptop before then. However, I'm not sure when to buy one. I have $2000 saved up, so with the education discount I can go for either the basic macbook pro or a macbook with everything maxed out (and if I buy the hard drive/ram from outside companies, I'll even have money left over).

Regardless, however, my main problem is that, with the Core II Duo coming out this summer and everything, is it worth it to wait. I'm hoping that by the end of the summer apple will have released updates to both the Macbooks and Macbook Pros that will be both faster and have fixed the annoying problems (heat, whine, moo, etc).
Is this a reasonable hope, or am I just being too optimistic?
 
I would get it before the cram and jam ends (or whatever they call it now) so that you can get a free iPod*


*After rebate
 
i would get a maxed out macbook right now just so that you can get used to it and work out any problems that you may have (cuz ive gone through two other macbooks) so that you're ready to go on day one. the size is perfect and its cheaper than a MBP. use that extra money for some great speakers 😉 .....or books....w/e what u want.....😛
 
In the computer world the longer you can wait general the better item you are going to get. So I would wait until closer to the end of the summer before buying you computer. Right now you are living at home and have the parents computer. You dont need your own computer to really do anything. You dont need a computer for school work yet so it just 3 month of it going to waste and apple gets the intersted on the money not you. Hold on to the money for 3 months you are the one who gains the intersted on the money.

Plus as time goes on techology moves fast so over the summer some better things can come out or problems will get fix that are current in the intel macs.

But like I said you dont need the computer right now so just hold on to the money and see what comes up. If you dont need the computer until Aug any way so dont order it until you need it. The best time to more than like buy would be earily Aug since classes will be starting at the end of Aug. earn the 2months of intersted on that money.
 
I was planning on getting a Macbook Pro, but because I really want to make this (expensive) purchase last, and because of Intel's bump in getting Merom out there, and lastly, because of the heat and whine issues with the current Macbook Pros, I'm going to hold off until the end of August or early September and pray that the revision B's come out then.

I'll be doing design work though, which is why I'm opting for the Pro. Right now, though, the Macbooks are easily much more worth their price than the MBPs.
 
I think Im going to make my purchase sometime in the begining of July or end of June, just so that when I get back from Europe Ill be able to use my new Mac for all of my photos and editing and what not.

Personally, Im going to pick up a white Macbook 2.0ghz with 1gb ram and an 80gb hd drive. Im going to be a business major with minor in legal studies so I dont really need the power of a Macbook Pro(most my gaming will be on Xbox 360) but I do need the portability the small screen and extra battery life offer. Plus it should run most of CS3 just fine for my needs.
 
I already bought mine. I don't regret it at all- my MBP is a speed demon with stock ram. So my point is, whatever you do, you'll be really happy with it, be it MB or MBP, Yonah or Merom.
 
If you dont have a printer, buy before July 17th. If you do have a printer, wait as long as possible, but dont buy the day before college, so incase theres a problem, you have time to exchange/fix.
 
I'm buying a base MBP (with 1 GB RAM upgrade & iwork) in the middle of july, right before the free printer deal ends... this way, I get a free printer, free ipod nano, and i can enjoy my macbook pro for a month and a half before college, as well as deal with any issues it might (and hopefully wont) have... if you need a printer, buy within the next month! a 2 ghz core duo will definitely last 4 years of college, so dont worry about it being obsolete- it's plenty fast. as for macbook or the pro variety, if the screen size and dedicated graphics are worth it to you, go for the MBP, otherwise spring for the macbook IMO
 
smartalic34 said:
I'm buying a base MBP (with 1 GB RAM upgrade & iwork) in the middle of july, right before the free printer deal ends... this way, I get a free printer, free ipod nano, and i can enjoy my macbook pro for a month and a half before college, as well as deal with any issues it might (and hopefully wont) have... if you need a printer, buy within the next month! a 2 ghz core duo will definitely last 4 years of college, so dont worry about it being obsolete- it's plenty fast. as for macbook or the pro variety, if the screen size and dedicated graphics are worth it to you, go for the MBP, otherwise spring for the macbook IMO
Click to expand...

What infuriated me is that I bought my notebook almost exactly a week before this deal emerged. 😡

As for waiting for Yonah/Merom. I'd go ahead cuz there's not much difference between the two. I haven't heard of a 64-bit plan for Mac OS X, battery life is greater if you get a better battery, and if you're male you're gonna want to have a great video card. 😉

BTW, QuietMBP works miracles. It's a shame though that MagicNoiseKiller no longer works as that was much, MUCH better (battery life was better). BTW, from last I heard, the CPU whine is in other computers with duo core processor, so it may be that it's just the motherboard (or logic board as Apple calls it).
 
Timing: Late as possible, as long as it's before the student offers expire. Preferably a week or two into the schoolyear, though, for a very small reason. If you buy it over the summer, your 1yr AppleCare ends in the next summer. If you have any problems in the last month of your Applecare (and if you didn't buy the 2 year extension) then it's easier to send your laptop to Apple while you're at school and have it sent back to your dorm, than to mail it out in the middle of July, and then find out that your parents have to mail it a few hundred miles to your dorm because your term started before the laptop got back.

IMHO, MB's a really sweet deal, and the MBP in comparison really isn't. I'm a finance major, and I don't use my PB for anything extensive - some art, some coding, some word processive, some watching movies - but the latest 12'' PB which is (1) slower than the newest MBs, and (2) used to cost about $500 more, is a very good piece of equipment.

As for the computer being bad for your first month or two at college- it's not too much of an issue. Your college will (or at least, should) have many easily accessible computer labs, but you'll probably have a roommate to leech off of for a bit anyways. And it's not like you're going to be doing anything too intensive in your first couple months, especially if you're a freshman, since your computer use amounts mostly to word processing and playing WoW.

If you really need a computer to game, there are ways to install games onto university computers. Heh, late-night Starcraft and Warcraft 3 in the stock trading room with a couple computer whiz-kids...
 
ZoomZoomZoom said:
If you really need a computer to game, there are ways to install games onto university computers. Heh, late-night Starcraft and Warcraft 3 in the stock trading room with a couple computer whiz-kids...
Click to expand...


I dont know what university that is but at mine, installing unauthorized software is grounds for getting kicked out of the system
 
I just got my MBP...I got 20% off as well as a free Nano Ipod threw my school...look for discounts and deals through your school....good luck!
 
See my signature.

Nar1117 said:
If you dont have a printer, buy before July 17th. If you do have a printer, wait as long as possible, but dont buy the day before college, so incase theres a problem, you have time to exchange/fix.
Click to expand...

The "printer deal" doesn't really end. Neither does the ".Mac deal" which has been going on for years.
 
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