Yes, ANOTHER "when should I buy" topic

[Pickoff]

...so sorry. Please extend your patience one thread longer...


Anyway, I am going to be buying the lower-end base model MacBook Pro for boarding high school next year. I probably will not have the money until early August anyway, but I am disappointed that the new models still are unreleased. I will be having this computer for the next four years at least, and possibly college also, so I want to make sure that the computer I get is the most modern and capable machine available. Unfortunately, I leave the 23rd of August and I really need a computer by then. For those who have bought computers that tight after an update, could you give me a date that if the new models are not released, I should order the current generation to be safe (shipping/problems/breaking in/delay periods after update)?

Thanks. Also, What is up with this 14-day restocking thing?

Thanks x2.

 

[CaptainChunk]

...so sorry. Please extend your patience one thread longer...


Anyway, I am going to be buying the lower-end base model MacBook Pro for boarding high school next year. I probably will not have the money until early August anyway, but I am disappointed that the new models still are unreleased. I will be having this computer for the next four years at least, and possibly college also, so I want to make sure that the computer I get is the most modern and capable machine available. Unfortunately, I leave the 23rd of August and I really need a computer by then. For those who have bought computers that tight after an update, could you give me a date that if the new models are not released, I should order the current generation to be safe (shipping/problems/breaking in/delay periods after update)?

Thanks. Also, What is up with this 14-day restocking thing?

Thanks x2.

Apple usually releases new Macs twice a year: beginning of the year (around Q1) and during the Fall. The months are never exact though. The upcoming MBPs are only evolutionary updates that don't really have significant improvements. The MBP honestly won't see major improvements until Nehalem, which probably won't be available until well into 2009. Like I tell everyone, if you need a computer and have the money, just buy the computer. There's always going to be something around the corner that will be bigger and better. It's an endless cycle.

As far as restocking fees are concerned, this is actually common practice with virtually ANY store that sells computers (PC or Mac). In a retail environment, margins are always pretty slim on any computer. Nine times out of ten, a store will lose money returning a non-defective computer. The product has to be restored and prepped for resale at a reduced price, hence the restocking fee.