Where do you shop for MAC

kavlock99 · Posted: Oct 22, 2008 8:56 am Post subject: Where do you shop for MAC

I am looking to purchase a new macbook pro.

I have considered 2 options.

Refurbed 15" with applecare

or

New 15" with applecare

I have configured the pricing based on education discount.
So far I am looking under $2300 for either option.

Is there a better source for discounted mac stuff besides apple.com?
I am totally newb when it comes to mac so I'm open to suggestions.

scott a · Ladies Man Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 9810

I'm pretty sure Apple has a hard on for regulating what shops are selling their product for- meaning no real discounts anywhere. But then there's a new MBP model out now so maybe the old style will drop in price a bit?

Wakebrad · Ladies Man Joined: 11 Dec 2003 Posts: 12257 City: Dallas

Are you really going to pay that much for a laptop? What work would you do on it that would require paying that much for an Apple?

kavlock99 · Posted: Oct 22, 2008 12:43 pm Post subject:

I have a dj biz and have a powerbook on its last leg. I want to buy something that I will keep for another 5 years. Mac has proven its reliability to me, so it is worth it.

ontrider · Ladies Man Joined: 30 Jul 2003 Posts: 16491 City: Russia

Wakebrad · Ladies Man Joined: 11 Dec 2003 Posts: 12257 City: Dallas

My PC that I built in 2001 is still running and is being used as a backup server. Still going strong. That's 7 years. It's not a laptop though.

scott a · Ladies Man Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 9810

JoeyJojo · Posted: Oct 22, 2008 2:22 pm Post subject:

i have a laptop almost that old still kickin. the trick is to keep the needless fluff off the damn things. it sucks, but when i would buy a cheap dell/hp/etc. i would reformat and reinstall windows from the start. but i dont know if they even ship the vista cd's anymore, or about the activation thing. altho there are other ways ...

but i digress, i tend to prefer some of the no-name "discount" laptops for this very reason. they are cheap b/c they come with minimal freebies. they are also usually made by the same company that make the big brand laptops too.

Wakebrad · Ladies Man Joined: 11 Dec 2003 Posts: 12257 City: Dallas

scott a, haha yeah, graphics are not an old computer's friend.

The only thing I do with mine is host files for my other computers and run a Counter Strike server off it - specifically GunGame mod. It has enough juice to do both pretty well.

jumalian · Ladies Man Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 7625 City: san diego

wow...that's an expensive mp3 player. Laughing

Dragonlady8 · Black Widow Joined: 27 Aug 2004 Posts: 9198

The educational discount is going to the best discount you find.

ontrider · Ladies Man Joined: 30 Jul 2003 Posts: 16491 City: Russia

JoeyJojo, is 100% correct. Keep the crap off the machine and it will run forever. I've got laptops from 1999 or so and my desktop must be at least 3 years old and I have no problems with it.. the previous one I had for about 4 years and I do run the latest graphics stuff off them. I tend to fix the odd PC for family and friends and it is always spyware/malware unncessary plugins add-ons and old software that hasn't been removed that messes things up. Computers are made by smart people, they're just used by lots of dumb people who break them.

kavlock99 · Posted: Oct 23, 2008 6:14 am Post subject:

I use a mac because the software that I prefer for my business is strictly mac. I am not unaware of the benefits of pc. I too have a dell that is going strong. It has its uses for me as well. But for my preferences I still want/need a mac for the biz. Seeing that you can now dual boot with windows as well due to intel processors seems to be a wonderful addition to an already super stable platform.

I am happy you all have good running pcs. I'm with you on that. I just wondered if anyone had better ideas for purchasing arrangements other than the obvious.

Dragonlady8, Very Happy

thanks for confirming what I wondering!