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Thinking of switching.

R

robshort

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 9, 2007
11
0
Hello all,

I'm quitting my job and I'll be losing my Dell Inspiron 9400. I use this machine a lot for personal use, and I'll be needing to buy a replacement (my new job doesn't have the free laptop perk...)

I'm looking at finally switching to mac after years of (should I say zealoutry?) loyalty to the IBM PC market.

I don't want anything less than the power afforded me by the macbook pro line. I leave my job (and my current laptop) on the 4th of January. Having done a bit of homework, I know that Apple sometimes makes new products available in their product lines after the macworld conference on the 15th of January.

After that long digression, here's my question: should I wait until the 15th to buy a macbook pro? Are the prices on the current models going to drop if/when new ones are released on the 15th, or should I just go ahead and get one now?

I'm planning on buying from Best Buy (they have a decent sized apple store here in Birmingham.) So I think I'll get a 15 day return period, which would allow me to return the laptop for an exchange after macworld, but I'd have to pay a 15% restocking fee to do so.

So...buy now, or wait until after the Macworld announcements?

Thanks. Go easy on this IBM user...
 
I would say wait for only one reason. Even if they announce a new version of the MBP, it will be awhile until they are in store. When new models come out, it's usually to Apple stores first. Followed by the resellers like Best Buy. Locally I've seen it be up to 3 weeks till the Best Buy's stock new Mac's. Even if you have a 15 day return period, the Best Buy might not be stocking the new models before you run out of days to exchange. You might just want to save a headache and wait to see if Apple announces anything. At the worst you go a little over a week without a laptop.

P.S. Don't worry about the IBM thing. If I hadn't bought my first Mac for a laptop a few years ago, I would have bought a Thinkpad.
 
robshort said:
So...buy now, or wait until after the Macworld announcements?
Click to expand...

Hopefully it won't be too much of a drag to not have any machine at all, but most will tell you it's better to wait to see if they release something new or bump the current line.

You could also purchase at the Apple store as well. I find it a much more fulfilling purchase experience when I go to the Apple store. You might also keep your eyes on the online Apple store. You can find some terrific deals in the refurbished section(don't let the let the word refurbished scare you, most of that stuff is brand new. You just save hundreds of dollars!).
 
Thanks, guys. I guess I'll try and hold off / use borrowed machines until after macworld.
 
robshort said:
Glad I cracked and bought a MBP the day after I said I'd wait...
Click to expand...

Why was it, and this is way after teh fact, that you said you needed the power of the MacBook pro? Really, the only 'power' differences are slightly faster processors, the better graphics chip (really only applies to games and some other things, not photoshop though contrary to popular belief), and the ability to drive a 30" Widescreen.

Aside from that, the MacBook can hold its own against the macbook pro in many regards.
 
TheStu said:
Why was it, and this is way after teh fact, that you said you needed the power of the MacBook pro? Really, the only 'power' differences are slightly faster processors, the better graphics chip (really only applies to games and some other things, not photoshop though contrary to popular belief), and the ability to drive a 30" Widescreen.

Aside from that, the MacBook can hold its own against the macbook pro in many regards.
Click to expand...

Mainly for the reasons you stated - the graphics card (and don't forget that the 1GB of memory on a macbook is SHARED with the graphics card, giving you even less physical memory) and the resolution. The resolution was key. Plus, 13 inches isn't enough real estate to do what I need to do photo editing-wise.

Mainly the screen, in retrospect. 13" is a deal-breaker for me.

Why?

(I'm effing LOVING it, by the way...) :)
 
robshort said:
Mainly for the reasons you stated - the graphics card (and don't forget that the 1GB of memory on a macbook is SHARED with the graphics card, giving you even less physical memory) and the resolution. The resolution was key. Plus, 13 inches isn't enough real estate to do what I need to do photo editing-wise.

Mainly the screen, in retrospect. 13" is a deal-breaker for me.

Why?

(I'm effing LOVING it, by the way...) :)
Click to expand...

Just curiosity really. That and some people put way too much stock in a powerful graphics card. Now don't get me wrong, I have a really powerful graphics card in my desktop, but that is because it is just for gaming. But for day to day tasks, you don't need a powerful graphics card... OS X runs great on the GMA950, and the x3100 in the new macbooks is twice as good as the older 950.

But hey, good luck with you machine, the macbook pro is sweet!
 
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