Potential new mac user

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MrHood22

Supreme [H]ardness
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Aug 21, 2007
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I'm thinking of selling my Asus M51SN-X2 which was originally bought for mobile gaming (but I rarely used) and getting a Mac (then running Windows 7 and Ubuntu in addition to Leopard).

My price range is about $1000-$1400.

I'm looking at these 3:

http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC240LL/A?mco=Nzk2MzY0MA

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook?mco=Nzk2MTU0NQ

http://store.apple.com/us/product/FB466LL/A?mco=Nzk2MzY0MA

Whichever I get i'm most likely going to take out the 2GB's of ram and put in 4Gb (~$60) and then replace the 120gb/160gb 5400 rpm hard drive with a 250gb 7200rpm hard drive (~$80).

I'm also on the fence about the apple care plan. Would that be beneficial to someone who fixes computers for a living and is going to school for computers? Not to mention this thing won't be used daily.
 
If you are going to get a refurbished white MacBook there is no reason to even consider the retail white MacBook. If I were I would look into a refurbed Unibody 13" MacBook Pro, it is defintely worth the extra cost over the regular white MacBook, and worth it over the Unibody MacBook because of the battery and the better screen, among other things. And you can get it for the same price as a new white MacBook. http://store.apple.com/us/product/FB990LL/A?mco=Nzk2MTU0Mw

On the Apple Care note, I would say get it, because there are somethings that you can't fix without voiding the warranty. But you don't have to get it right away you can wait until the warranty is 1 day from expiring if you want and then get it as long as you get it within the 1 year warrranty Apple has.
 
If you're looking at getting refurbished, like prodigee said, I would definitely get the MacBook Pro.

I just got mine a few weeks ago, and am completely in love with it. Not only is the screen and battery better, but the keyboard too.

As far as Applecare, it extends your warranty an additional 2 years I believe, so definitely worth it, as they cover a lot. I've yet to buy it for mine yet, but I believe you can get it off of Ebay for ~$125. I am also quite computer savvy, but with such a good warranty, would rather keep this one intact. I've heard stories that if you have 3 problems that they have to fix they give a new product?

I bought 4GB RAM and a 500GB 5400RPM HDD for my MacBook as well right away. It was ~$75 for the RAM and I got a deal that Dell had the other day on the HDD for $76.
 
Knuit said:
If you're looking at getting refurbished, like prodigee said, I would definitely get the MacBook Pro.

I just got mine a few weeks ago, and am completely in love with it. Not only is the screen and battery better, but the keyboard too.

As far as Applecare, it extends your warranty an additional 2 years I believe, so definitely worth it, as they cover a lot. I've yet to buy it for mine yet, but I believe you can get it off of Ebay for ~$125. I am also quite computer savvy, but with such a good warranty, would rather keep this one intact. I've heard stories that if you have 3 problems that they have to fix they give a new product?

I bought 4GB RAM and a 500GB 5400RPM HDD for my MacBook as well right away. It was ~$75 for the RAM and I got a deal that Dell had the other day on the HDD for $76.
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Very true I completely forgot that you could get Apple Care off Ebay. But really get the refurbed uMBP 13" (stands for Unibody MacBook Pro). Seriously you will not regret your decision.
 
I just got a macbook pro unibody about 2 weeks ago. I did the student deal, and then got myself the printer and the itouch. The printer has a $100 rebate and then the itouch also has a rebate at the register. I sold the itouch for $160, and I plan on selling the printer for perhaps $70 or $80. This in short will knock down your overall price for the computer if you decide to go for it new. Student deal I think ends tomorrow though? If you order online I don't think that they even ask you for a student ID.
 
I guess I will jump on the bandwagon as well and say you would be crazy not to get the macbook pro.
 
AthlonXP said:
I guess I will jump on the bandwagon as well and say you would be crazy not to get the macbook pro.
Click to expand...

Yeah. The MBP posted above is the one i'm looking at. Now I have to look into selling my current laptop/accessories.
 
Yes, get the MacBook Pro, it's better then the white MacBook in every possible way and even more.
 
Since i'm probably going to upgrade the ram and HD anyway, would there be a way to get a lower end model with around 1gb of RAM and an 80gb HD for like $800ish?
 
From Apple's site, I don't think they would be that low yet, they are still very new designs.

I'd also try to shoot for one with the new "7 hour battery" as opposed to the ones in late 08.
 
go 13" MBP. backlit keyboard, better case design, multi-touch keyboard, better screen, much better battery. all things make it worth it.
 
I seriously doubt they'll ever ship the MBP with 1GB RAM and 80GB HDD. Just grab an external case for the 160GB that comes with it.
 
No amount of technical skills will make a logic board cost less than $400. You can extend the Applecare before 1 year is up. The standard coverage gives you 1 year of hardware warranty and 90 days of application support. Applecare lets you call and ask things like, how the **** do i import pictures into iLife. To me, it is worth it, but you can extend it as long as you purchase it within 1 year. I've had two problems fixed under Applecare.

Your decision, to me, is the cost worth the risk of the hardware issue in the laptop. That's your call to make.
 
general said:
No amount of technical skills will make a logic board cost less than $400. You can extend the Applecare before 1 year is up. The standard coverage gives you 1 year of hardware warranty and 90 days of application support. Applecare lets you call and ask things like, how the **** do i import pictures into iLife. To me, it is worth it, but you can extend it as long as you purchase it within 1 year. I've had two problems fixed under Applecare.

Your decision, to me, is the cost worth the risk of the hardware issue in the laptop. That's your call to make.
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This.

The only things AppleCare doesn't cover are accidental damage repairs (due to spills, cracked screen, dropped, run over by a car, pet pee, etc.). Considering what a replacement logic board, display, etc. costs out of warranty, if you need service after the first year AppleCare will pay for itself on the first use. If you don't ever need service in 3 years, it would arguably have been a waste of money. But in the end it's insurance against the unknown, and unlike most retail channel warranties it's a true comprehensive defect warranty backed by the manufacturer. Well worth the cost IMO. :)
 
I actually ordered that refurbished Macbook pro posted above (2.26ghz, 2gb, 160gb, 13.3", $999).

I think i'm going to end up getting the applecare before the 1 year runs out. Thanks for all your help everyone.
 
Very good choice. Add it to the sig, and post pics. I have yet to see what a refurb of the new pros.
 
The aluminum unibodies crap on the other ones literally in build quality. You made a very good choice.
 
Congrats on the purchase, I'm sure you'll really like it. I have the same laptop, but got a larger hard drive.
 
I think there should be a sticky for new mac users to come to with questions.
 
Update:

So with this being my first ever apple purchase I can safely say so far i'm extremely disappointed.

Apple marked it as shipped on the 12th (bought it the 11th). I got a tracker number shortly after and tracked it (via fed ex). It eventually said estimated delivery date "Sept 15th" and then Sept 15th came and instead of delivery it they just removed the estimated delivery from the page. I wasn't frustrated yet because Apples order confirmation said it would be Delivered by the 16th so I waited until today and it's not here. Immediately after getting home from work I call fedex to ask for an update on my package because it was supposed to be here and tracking info hasn't been updated since the 12th. The rep told me they never received the package, just the billing information. So I call up apple (first time dealing with their customer service). After being transfered 3 times (in about 5 minutes) I ask for a supervisor and wait another 5 or 10 minutes as the rep fills out some form. I get in contact with a supervisor and he tells me I have to wait 3 business days (aka wait until sept 28th) and if I didn't have it by then I should contact him and at soonest i'll get it by Sept 30th which is nearly 2 weeks after I ordered it...


cliffs:
ordered first apple product ever (macbook pro) on the 11th

fedex expected delivery on 15th, Apple expected it 16th

16th comes and I still don't have it

Called fedex and they said they never received it from apple

called apple, got unsatisfactory customer service, and they said they can't check if it was shipped

All I can do now is wait until the 28th and call them again

VERY FRUSTRATED!
 
Sorry to hear this man, let me know if you need me to call my Apple Rep for you. I have been able to get issues fixed in the past for myself and my friends before.
 
If you got a tracking number, then at some point FedEx received a package and generated the tracking information. For them to tell you they never received anything is a little strange, considering they can't really track something that isn't going through their system in the first place.
 
Terpfen said:
If you got a tracking number, then at some point FedEx received a package and generated the tracking information. For them to tell you they never received anything is a little strange, considering they can't really track something that isn't going through their system in the first place.
Click to expand...

did it fall off their truck in China???:confused:
 
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