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This deal or Haswell rMBP?

B

BAMitUp

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 17, 2013
5
0
So I've been tracking local Best Buys for open box rMBPs to see what deals I could get and came across a rMBP that has:
  • 15"
  • i7 2.7GHZ
  • 16GB RAM
  • 512GB SSD
  • "Excellent" condition

The standing price for the machine is $2399 (off of $2799) and I went ahead and sent an email to the manager and offered to pay $1950 because I'm a student and really need the machine (of which is all true).

He agreed. So now I think I'm getting a good deal on the machine but I don't know if it's worth buying now or waiting till Haswell and buying then (I really want wireless AC). My gut feeling is to buy it and then sell it on Craigslist later for probably at cost ($2141 after taxes), but wanted to gauge your thoughts.

Thanks!
 
That is an incredible deal. I'd buy it. You can always sell it later for more than you paid for it if you decide you want a Haswell 15".
 
Nice one. So you can haggle BB open box items? Or is it pretty at the descretion of the manager cause I always thought the prices were non negotiable.
 
Nice! get it now! thats an amazing deal! i have a 17" laptop though with better specs that i got for only $1099 (no discounts) so if youre not set on having a macbook (like i used to be) then let me know if youre interested :cool:


UPDATE: (the name of it and specs are in my signature)
 
tgi said:
Nice one. So you can haggle BB open box items? Or is it pretty at the descretion of the manager cause I always thought the prices were non negotiable.
Click to expand...
Speaking as a former best buy employee, the max amount you can get off an open box item is 30%. However, they normally won't price an open box item 30% off - majority of the time the people who get 30% off are employees.
 
the question is , do you NEED 802.11ac ?

its a good thing, but then how many of us have machines or connections that can max out the 802.11n speed?

do you know that 802.11n maximum throughput is a generous 450Mbps?
 
Take it now and enjoy this machine. When apple releases the Haswell MBP you can then decide to sell this machine if you wish or keep it.
 
Get it then get a Haswell machine when it comes out.
 
Last edited:
Now all you need on top of it is for BB to run a 10% off open box coupon as well :) Great deal!
 
Nice find. I am hoping to sell my refurb and get a Haswell when they come out.
 
devilcm3 said:
do you know that 802.11n maximum throughput is a generous 450Mbps?
Click to expand...

In theory. Problem is that it's very difficult to achieve anywhere near that in practice. The main advantage to AC is that it'll be easier to achieve that type of throughput at longer distances. Still, unless you're moving large chunks of data around on your network at long distances, it won't make that big a difference as most people probably get less than 56MBps throughput from their ISPs. I'm lucky to get 1/10 that from mine.

Regardless - BUY THE DARN LAPTOP

>
 
NewishMacGuy said:
In theory. Problem is that it's very difficult to achieve anywhere near that in practice. The main advantage to AC is that it'll be easier to achieve that type of throughput at longer distances. Still, unless you're moving large chunks of data around on your network at long distances, it won't make that big a difference as most people probably get less than 56MBps throughput from their ISPs. I'm lucky to get 1/10 that from mine.

Regardless - BUY THE DARN LAPTOP

>
Click to expand...

indeed, i think most of the bottleneck is on the ISP rather than 802.11 connection.

if TS runs an 8-bay $2k NAS on the network, then he can utilize all the AC bandwidth ... otherwise all that speed would be redundant ...
 
NewishMacGuy said:
In theory. Problem is that it's very difficult to achieve anywhere near that in practice. The main advantage to AC is that it'll be easier to achieve that type of throughput at longer distances. Still, unless you're moving large chunks of data around on your network at long distances, it won't make that big a difference as most people probably get less than 56MBps throughput from their ISPs. I'm lucky to get 1/10 that from mine.

Regardless - BUY THE DARN LAPTOP

>
Click to expand...

Well I can justify the AC connection because of a gigabit sequential line that will be wired to my apartment in January. I realize that it may be against the "I'm a poor student" story, but I'm getting such a good deal on it that I justified it.

I'll look in to buying it today or tomorrow, the machine has been sitting at the Best Buy for quite a while.
 
BAMitUp said:
So I've been tracking local Best Buys for open box rMBPs to see what deals I could get and came across a rMBP that has:
  • 15"
  • i7 2.7GHZ
  • 16GB RAM
  • 512GB SSD
  • "Excellent" condition

The standing price for the machine is $2399 (off of $2799) and I went ahead and sent an email to the manager and offered to pay $1950 because I'm a student and really need the machine (of which is all true).

He agreed. So now I think I'm getting a good deal on the machine but I don't know if it's worth buying now or waiting till Haswell and buying then (I really want wireless AC). My gut feeling is to buy it and then sell it on Craigslist later for probably at cost ($2141 after taxes), but wanted to gauge your thoughts.

Thanks!
Click to expand...


Buy it then sell it if you think you want the Haswell. You're still going to be under the warranty right?
 
adiddas125 said:
Buy it then sell it if you think you want the Haswell. You're still going to be under the warranty right?
Click to expand...

I'm not entirely sure, but when I go to purchase it I'll chat with them about it.

Any tips for what I should look for when I go to inspect the machine?
 
BAMitUp said:
I'm not entirely sure, but when I go to purchase it I'll chat with them about it.

Any tips for what I should look for when I go to inspect the machine?
Click to expand...

I would check for the screen model, either LG SJA1, LG SJA2 or Samsung. For that you will need the running script, which you would run in terminal mode. You can bring it on a piece of paper, on a document on a pen drive or even pull it from your e-mail. Samsungs are said to be less prone to Image Retention, but if it is an LG would not rule out its purchase based on the price you are getting. (Perhaps would pursue either Applecare or Best Buy extended warranty)
 
Any tips on how to actually search for what kind of monitor it is?

Also any other things I should look for?
 
BAMitUp said:
Any tips on how to actually search for what kind of monitor it is?

Also any other things I should look for?
Click to expand...

Look up the ultimate image retention thread on MacRumors then type that command into terminal.
 
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