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The "I just ordered / bought / got my new/refurb MBP" thread [Merged]

New MBP after my last one got stolen.

Went for the cMBP so I could add RAM and a SSD myself without paying top dollars. Add the ethernet I occasionally still use and Superdrive. Also didn't need the high resolution on the rMBP.

  • MacBook Pro Mid 2012 with hi-res glossy
  • 16 GB Ram Kingston KHX16LS9P1K2/16 (1600 Mhz, CAS 9)
  • 512 GB SSD Samsung 840 Pro
  • Speck SmartShell SmartShell (See through)
  • Moshi ClearGuard MB
  • Moshi PalmGuard

Also got the Incase Compact Backpack which is good for my laptop but the rest of the compartments lack.
 
Sammorama said:
Just picked up my first Mac in over 10 years (Had one of the original imacs back in the day).

Loving it thus far - 13" Retina Pro 2.6ghz / 256GB.

Refurbished with 4 battery cycles and a fantastic deal.

Can't believe how much i'm loving OSX! I use Android and disliked iOS on my iphones and ipads but OSX is awesome.

Will keep an eye out on the Haswell developments as fortunately I could easily sell this for what I paid or more if the new 13" is compelling enough.

Otherwise, stoked and can't wait to edit my latest photos on this from Vietnam and Cambodia!
Click to expand...

You didn't happen to get that Refurb from a Best Buy somewhere in Pennsylvania did you?
 
mrcarter2 said:
I decided to write this post because people tend to forget that the non retina macbook pro is still a viable option for many consumers. While it doesn't have all of the flash that the MBA and rMBP, it can still keep up with them and has its own set of advantages. Here are some of the advantages that led me to my purchase.

1. The cMBP comes standard with 500 GB's of storage. It is slower but you have the option to upgrade is to an SSD which leads me to my next point...
2. The cMBP is upgradeable. In the MBA and rMBP the storage and ram are soldered in. In the MBP you can add more ram or storage in a couple years if necessary, making it more future-proof.
3. The cMBP has an optical drive. While most media is downloaded from the internet these days, it is still useful to be able to load a friend's CD into your music library once in a while. While you can buy an external Cd drive for the MBA and rMBP's, that kind of defeats the whole purpose of portability as you'd have to lug it around.
4. The cMBP is more powerful. While the MBA might seem faster due to the SSD, it actually has a less powerful CPU. Once you start doing more intensive tasks the MBA will start slowing down. THe rMBP has the same CPU as the cMBP but it has an inadequate GPU for powering its retina display, making it slow down.
5. The cMBP is cheaper. With my education dicsount, I bought a brand new500 GB MAcbook pro with 8 GB's of ram for only $1,100. It would cost $1,600 to get a MBA with all the same specs.

Well that's why I pulled the trigger on a cMBP and I couldn't be happier! Feel free to chime in if you agree or if you think I'm wrong!
Click to expand...

These are all valid points, and again a lot is going to vary from individual to individual. I decided on a Rmbp primarily for the different cooling scheme. I have a friend who has a Cmbp and it constantly gives her fits about temperature. I also chose the R because it is going to be heavily used in photograph editing and it may not seem like a lot but if a few seconds can be saved with each picture saving/opening etc each, when we are editing photos from a shoot with hundreds of images, that time adds up. Yeah I know we could have gotten the C, but with my education discount I felt the better option was the 2.9R. I can't wait for it to get here.. I got a ship notification yesterday, but when I logged on it was only my gift card.. which somehow arrived today.. such a tease. Hopefully my computer will have that same kind of turn around from ship to delivery. Anyways, as long as you buy an apple you have made a good purchase :)
 
Well I have almost finally craved in and will probably order a 2.7/16/512 from the refurb. It's far more computer than my needs.

Looking to use it for web browsing, some gaming and photo and video editing

Haswell would of been nice but wanted a dGPU and the £350 discount over a new one is the tempting point
 
mrcarter2 said:
3. The cMBP has an optical drive.
4. The cMBP is more powerful.
Click to expand...

Nice post but #3 I haven't used optical media for.. oh.. two years now. Seems a lot of wasted space for something I don't use :) It is handy, however for those few that still use optical media once in a while.

#4, the 15 inch rMBP includes a discrete graphics card and 1GB GDDR5 (the 15 inch cMBP only has 512MB). Now your statement may be OK for the 13 inch model, but it may be a stretch for the 15 inch.
 
So... I need a new laptop. I've been running a 2007 Santa Rosa Macbook Pro since they were released and I just don't think waiting any longer is going to make much of a difference for me...but STILL!

Right now I mainly use it as a media server, and I'm going to continue to do so until it either dies or I end up with a better solution.

My plan was to do the 13" base MBP with education discount for $999, which Apple throws in a $100 gift card which basically brings it down to $899 in my eyes.. And I get 5% cash back thru my Discover card which reduces the cost even more.

I ordered a OWC storage doubler for the optical drive... so I'm going to do a 120gb SSD and move the 500gb internal drive over to the optical slot. I'm also upgrading the RAM to 8gb thru crucial.

I feel like this is the smartest, most cost-effective choice at the moment given that we probably have a few more months before another refresh, and when that does happen they'll still be pretty damn expensive for a while.

I'm basically looking for some feedback on this choice. I've got 15 days to return it for a full refund by 08/01 which is when it comes.

Do you guys think I'm getting a good value by doing this now or are these haswell processors and wi-fi ac worth waiting a few more months for... along with paying the super premium for the latest and greatest?
 
Gah.. I sold my old White MacBook in April because I hoped for MacBook Pro update in June but today I got tired of waiting and ordered the base 15" retina. Should come this Friday :D

The guy in the store even tried to sell antivirus with it...
 
Jumped on the Best Buy rmbp 13" deal

This past Saturday, I could not resist and got the Retina MacBook Pro 13 inch from Best Buy for only $1,291.55. Saved over $300. They had the $200 off deal plus, I was able to use my student discount to save another $100. So far I am in love with the machine. I do wish the battery life was a tad bit better. I'll most likely keep the machine and wait till the Haswell rmbp comes out. I might sell this pro and get the haswell, if I can justify it. In the meantime, I will go about selling all of my old electronics to get some extra cash, incase I feel like grabbing the new Haswell rmbp.

:D
 
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Was waiting for Haswell so I could start off college with it but that doesnt seem too likely anymore as school starts in August so i ended up buying a new rMBP 15in, 512GB SSD, 8GB RAM, 2.7GHZ. It ships in 1-3 days but i really hope i get it by the end of this week because i am just too excited. Either way, it's going to be one hell of an improvement to my current 6 year old Sony VAIO that doesnt even work unless it's plugged into the wall :D
 
nickandre21 said:
I know what you mean, I've been getting those, "Dude what a Screen" "What how can that screen be so thin?" How can it be so light?" comments.:D:cool:
Click to expand...

Purchased this thing in February and it is STILL blowing my mind.

I frequent a college coffee hangout spot and the comments and looks I get make me smile. I love showing this off.
 
Was planning to wait, but saw a deal on kijiji that was near too good to be true.

Early '13 rMBP
2.6/8/256
One month old, receipt included for $1100

I finally understand the rants about the integrated GPU which causes slight stuttering. Plan is to hopefully make a slight profit off of the current machine when Haswell comes out.
 
I just wanted to stop in after a week of using my new refurb 15" rMBP and say that I am loving it! I don't have any regrets about not waiting for Haswell right now! I guess we'll see if I change my mind in September or October, but I am loving this machine right now. :cool:
 
Woohoo! Over the weekend I purchased a very nice condition used 15" Macbook Pro off of Craigslist. It is the 2.7/16GB/256GB SSD and has the high resolution antiglare lcd. It also has the extended applecare and a Booq case. It was only $2100 which I think is a pretty good deal for everything included. Probably not quite as good a deal as some of those Best Buy clearances but I checked around Denver and couldn't find anything left.

As far as the antiglare display I am liking it. Not as good viewing angles as the retina but its nice to not have any UI lag or reflections. This is also a much higher quality antiglare display than what I am used to on windows laptops. None of the bad coating that almost all of the Dell's I have owned had which make whites and bright colors look dirty.

It is absolutely stupid just how much faster Ruby on Rails runs on OSX than on Windows. Tests are completing in about 1/4 the time as my windows laptop which had an i7 2760qm - certainly no slouch.
 
tgi said:
Refurbs ship from China?
Click to expand...

Wasnt a refurb, was new. It's now in Alaska as of 5.30 Alaska time.. feasibly Fedex could get it to be by tomorrow but I doubt that's going to happen with standard shipping. Oh well... Thursday it is.

----------
lcseds said:
Would not surprise me. I ordered a refurb iPod nano. It just shipped from China. Seems like a lot of miles for a piece to travel for a rebuild.
Click to expand...

miles yes but the money they save in cheap labor allows them to give you a discount on it. Shipping internationally- especially for a company the size of Apple is almost the same as domestic. I formerly worked for one of the large shipping companies, and I regularly saw discounts to and from china in the 80% range for companies that shipped less than Apple would..
 
This might be a dumb question. But do 2012 refurb rMBPs ship with Lion or ML?
 
The "I just ordered / bought / got my new/refurb MBP" threads, merged

tgi said:
This might be a dumb question. But do 2012 refurb rMBPs ship with Lion or ML?
Click to expand...

I think mine came with Lion but I was able to update to Mountain Lion for free. Although, it wasn't a refurb.
 
Pulled the trigger on a refurbished 15"/8GB/256GB rMBP. The $1599 price was just too nice given the machine you get for it. It should be here Saturday, and I'm beyond excited :)
 
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