Advice Needed - Older model or new?

[kmarketing]

Hi,

I'm hoping to get some advice from the experts here as this will be my first macbook air.

I was looking forward to get a new macbook air, but then a friend offered to sell me his for $800.

It is the 11" 1.6ghz/4gb/128gb model, and he is willing to sell it for $800.

Is that a good deal, or do you think I should just get a new one.

I've been happy with my Core 2 Duo computers, so I don't know how much power I actually need, although more speed never hurts. I also don't want to spend on something that would be considered obsolete right away.

What do you think? Go with the older model or the newer one?

Thanks so much!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Seriously, you have to ask yourself what it is you wish to do with any laptop computer you buy. What are your needs from a computer?

If finance is an issue, then your friend's offer is a good one. An even better one would be to buy a refurb MBA laptop (the just superceded models which will be as good as new, will have been individually tried and tested, and will have all of the warranties/guarantees of a brand new computer). This is what offers the best value in Apple computers at the moment. Personally, rather than buying a not-quite-brand-new computer from a friend, I'd spend just a bit more and buy a refurb, which will offer you the advantages of a brand new (if not quite the technologically latest) computer at a considerable discount.

If you must have the latest tech, then buy the new ones; however, I would recommend you wait a few days at the very least, until you hear some feed-back as to what the new changes are like.

Cheers

 

[kmarketing]

Hi,

I just picked up the 2010 11 inch macbook air - 1.6ghz/4gb/128gb HD for $780. After playing around at the apple store last night, and reading all the various posts, I'm unsure what to do as to if I should keep this one, or go for the newer model. I'm also debating about 11" or 13", but budget is a factor.

I'm really trying to figure out if I should sell the 2010 for a small profit and then try to get the newer model which I would have to put money into.

For resale value purposes, what makes the most sense? Will the value of the 2010 drop considerably more from the $780 with the 2011's out?

 

[sporadicMotion]

Hi,

I just picked up the 2010 11 inch macbook air - 1.6ghz/4gb/128gb HD for $780. After playing around at the apple store last night, and reading all the various posts, I'm unsure what to do as to if I should keep this one, or go for the newer model. I'm also debating about 11" or 13", but budget is a factor.

I'm really trying to figure out if I should sell the 2010 for a small profit and then try to get the newer model which I would have to put money into.

For resale value purposes, what makes the most sense? Will the value of the 2010 drop considerably with the 2011's out?

If you're just browsing the web, writing emails and some light document creation; then don't worry about having the latest machine.

If you are a power user and drive your machine hard regularly with intensive multithreaded applications; then get the new one.

 

[kmarketing]

Hi,

Thanks for your response. I was pretty content with the other core 2 duo machines that I had, but am a little nervous that this 2010 air may be quite weaker in comparison.

And hearing how much more powerful the new ones are, it gets pretty intimidating!

 

[Jaro65]

There will always be newer and more powerful computers out there. You got a very good deal on a nice machine. Why not trying to just enjoy it for a while and see how you feel about it once you had a chance to spend some time with it? My wife is using a machine identical to yours for everything she does: work in Windows 7 using VMware, as well as browsing, listening to music etc. when not in Windows environment. It is a great little machine.

 

[leftywamumonkey]

Hi,

I just picked up the 2010 11 inch macbook air - 1.6ghz/4gb/128gb HD for $780. After playing around at the apple store last night, and reading all the various posts, I'm unsure what to do as to if I should keep this one, or go for the newer model. I'm also debating about 11" or 13", but budget is a factor.

I'm really trying to figure out if I should sell the 2010 for a small profit and then try to get the newer model which I would have to put money into.

For resale value purposes, what makes the most sense? Will the value of the 2010 drop considerably more from the $780 with the 2011's out?

Wait???
You were unsure and bought one anyway and you are still wondering about what to do with it? Why?

 

[kmarketing]

Jaro65: Thank you. It's always a battle to know that there is something better out there! But you may be right, it may do everything I need to do. It's just reading on this forum makes a person think otherwise and want the latest and greatest

leftywamumonkey: I got it because I really wanted to get an air, and felt that there was a tremendous difference in price from this 2010 one and the 2011. In the worst case scenario, I was thinking that I could just get it first and then sell it if I wanted to move up.

I do generally try to upgrade machines every 1-2 years. I just can't stand losing much on resale prices. It reminds me of trying to sell back college textbooks!