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When does Apple's back to school plan kick off?

JON Birmingham

JON Birmingham

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 1, 2008
8
0
I'm currently using an '04 Powerbook G4 that has finally started breaking on me, and when I say that I mean literally breaking. The joint that the screen opens and closes with detached itself from the back of my laptop, so now I have to prop it up against a 90 degree angle to get the screen to stand up properly.

Point being of this post is that my laptop is now immobile. It isn't safe for me to take out of the house and use for any of the stuff I used to use it for and now I'm finally in the market to replace this trusty ol' computer at last.

Looking at the spec for my Powerbook I'm floored at how underpowered it is by todays current line-up of Macbooks and Pros.

Here are the specs for kicks if anyone cares:

Processor: 1.33 GHz PowerPC G4

Memory: 256 MB DDR SDRAM

Bus Speed: 167 MHz

At any rate, this Powerbook has been trusty and reliable from a software and until recently, hardware stand point for over 3 years and now I'm contemplating picking up a MacBook to replace it sometime during the month of June/July.

I'm still a student at USF St. Pete and I'm itching to use my student discount as I did for the PowerBook ages ago. With that I'm curious to how much Apple gives you towards a new iPod when you pick up one of their laptops and if they include a free printer by some odd chance? I recently bought an iPod shuffle for when I jog and that little bugger is pretty damn cool. I used to scoff at them, because of their storage capacity, but when used for what they are intended for it's a useful little tool.

With that said I'm looking into getting an iPod touch when I pick up my Macbook and this brings me to another question which I'm sure nobody has definitive answer for. Do any of you think there will be price drop for the iPod touch sometime this summer? I know they are getting ready to do a revision for it this fall and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a price cut.

I remember vividly when I bought the PowerBook that I picked up a 3rd gen. iPod 20GB and we got a free HP printer with it. Granted the HP printer wasn't mind blowing or anything, but I'm assuming they only give you a printer when you buy a MacBook Pro these days.

I think it's safe to say that I will see a huge performance increase when I finally upgrade. Myspace and Yahoomail run like garbage on this Powrbook and I can't wait for the day to come when that isn't an issue anymroe.

Alrighty then, thank you for any replies and I hope yall are enjoying your Macs as much as I have for the past few years.
 
June-September, I think.

Perfect, considering WWDC is right at the beginning of June.
 
I bought my macbook in the summer of '06 and got a free nano, and a $100 voucher for a printer. I know they did the same thing last summer too.

Also, I know you were able to substitute your free nano for a $150ish discount on any other ipod. The iPod touch should see a price drop too with the new 3G iphone (whenever that may be), so that could be a HUGE chunk off a touch.

I'm pretty sure this has become a tradition for apple, and I don't expect it to stop anytime soon.
 
it has started as early as June 5th and usually ends early September. i believe you get $200 off an ipod and $100 of a printer of your choice. Its all mail in rebates but its still pretty sweet. I'm waiting for the discount and to see if anything exciting happens at WWDC.
 
Thanks for all the replies people it's much appreciated. I'm saving up a chunk of cash for this upgrade so I have a ways to go still, so it's nice to know that I have basically the entire summer to take advantage of the offer they have going.
 
June is my birthday month... coincidence?

I'm in a similar situation. Except I've never owned a Mac, but am looking to buy my first. I still have a little more than a year to go in college and am looking to get a laptop and a desktop for home use.

I've been contemplating whether or not I should get a refurbished 2.2ghz Macbook or the new 2.4ghz Macbook. Saving a couple hundred bucks is ideal if the performance between the two is negligible.

Now, as I've been reading through some of the topics on these forums, I think waiting until June/July to see if the WWDC brings anything exciting is in my best interest. Agreed?

All this waiting is driving me nuts. I want my Macbook!!!!

And I don't care how cool the iPhone gets, I'm not switching to AT&T!! :eek:
 
If you're going to wait until June, you could help out your performance in the meantime by bumping your RAM up. It would make a huge difference. I have a ibook G4 and I remember when I went from 768MB to 1.25GB -- the computer slowed down to the point that it was almost unusable. I was completely frustrated: then I checked the system profiler and it was only reading 256MB because the chip wasn't completely seated. Once I fixed that, the difference was night and day.
With RAM prices being what they are, there's really no reason not to. There's a program called "Do I need more memory." It's old but still works -- run it for a few days to see.
 
Does the free iPod promotion work for refurbs or just new machines? I'm planning to get a refurb, so if I can't use the promotion I might as well get my Mac now.
 
Out of curiosity, do any other retailers try and match Apple's deal?

Like does Amazon offer free iPods or a free gift card or something like that?
 
blurb23 said:
June-September, I think.

Perfect, considering WWDC is right at the beginning of June.
Click to expand...

If it is the same as last year then June-September sounds right. I know someone who got a MBP when the June 07 one was released and got an iPod for 50 bucks with it, so yeah.
 
Is there any chance it will be open to high school students now? Many high schoolers need a computer nowadays.
 
soccersquirt82 said:
Is there any chance it will be open to high school students now? Many high schoolers need a computer nowadays.
Click to expand...

doubtful...student discounts are only give to higher level education and teachers of all varieties...if your parent is a teacher, then abuse the privilege :)
 
I don't know if this is the same in the U.S but I just bought a macbook from the UK higher education store and got a free printer (via rebate), just thought I would throw that in there in case you were desperate to get it now, which it sounds like you might be! :)

Sarah xx
 
soccersquirt82 said:
Is there any chance it will be open to high school students now? Many high schoolers need a computer nowadays.
Click to expand...

I am almost positive it will be for students in High School. Currently the Education discount, like $200, for a macbook pro is for high schoolers and i do not think they would offer part of the deal to the high schoolers.
 
danvan21 said:
I am almost positive it will be for students in High School. Currently the Education discount, like $200, for a macbook pro is for high schoolers and i do not think they would offer part of the deal to the high schoolers.
Click to expand...

I am almost positive you are 100% wrong. :p

It always been college students. Always.
 
danvan21 said:
I am almost positive it will be for students in High School. Currently the Education discount, like $200, for a macbook pro is for high schoolers and i do not think they would offer part of the deal to the high schoolers.
Click to expand...

Occasionally (usually private schools) buy in bulk and get special deals, but it's different from the higher education discount.

blenks said:
I don't know if this is the same in the U.S but I just bought a macbook from the UK higher education store and got a free printer (via rebate), just thought I would throw that in there in case you were desperate to get it now, which it sounds like you might be! :)

Sarah xx
Click to expand...

Free printer deals have been around for almost 2 years straight! :)

blurb23 said:
No, but Apple doesn't actually check online.
Click to expand...

More and more schools require you to log in before you can reach the education store...they're getting smart :)
 
I just saw a 13" black macbook go from $1,499 to $1,049 because it is a refurb. I have never bought anything refurbished and am hesitant but $400 is a huge difference in savings (31% according to apple website) and for the specs it is well worth it and is something i'm seriously looking into and I suggest you do as well. A free printer and ipod sounds good, but i'd take the $400 savings over either or both of those. But, I think you can still get the free printer right now even when purchasing a refurb and you can also add a .mac membership for $69.99 ($30 off for a limited time right now) which is a good deal. So if you're looking into getting a mac or even upgrading, right now is a good time.
 
intoxicated662 said:
I just saw a 13" black macbook go from $1,499 to $1,049 because it is a refurb. I have never bought anything refurbished and am hesitant but $400 is a huge difference in savings (31% according to apple website) and for the specs it is well worth it and is something i'm seriously looking into and I suggest you do as well. A free printer and ipod sounds good, but i'd take the $400 savings over either or both of those. But, I think you can still get the free printer right now even when purchasing a refurb and you can also add a .mac membership for $69.99 ($30 off for a limited time right now) which is a good deal. So if you're looking into getting a mac or even upgrading, right now is a good time.
Click to expand...
.mac and the printer deals are constant and they never end. Limited time... meh, they've been going on forever.
 
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