What would you do? Christmas... or summer?

[klb028]

Hello everyone. I'm looking for some advice here. I'm a high school senior looking forward to graduating and purchasing a MBP for college. These are my two options:

1. buy around Christmas... this would include: spending all $2500 in one shot, installing Leopard later myself, having an older rev. by the time college came around.

2. buy in the summer, before college... this would include: having time to earn more money so that my bank account won't seem so empty after the big purchase, having Leopard already installed, having the "latest and greatest".

I can already predict some responses... and no, it's not really that big of a deal to me to have the "latest and greatest" and yes, I know that if you "keep waiting, you'll be waiting forever." These are just two ideas I'm torn between. I'd love having a MBP now, but I know I can last a little bit longer. Compared to the machine I have now, anything's better, though!

Thanks for all of the future help!

 

[Chundles]

Solve your problems and move down here.

Christmas = Summer.

 

[WildCowboy]

How's your current machine?

I would lean toward waiting until next summer...it'll get you started in college with a top-shelf machine that will serve you well for most, if not all, of you time there.

 

[Bill Gates]

Why would you buy now if you're buying for college? It doesn't make sense.

 

[klb028]

Solve your problems and move down here.

Christmas = Summer.

hahaha... must be nice! I had a friend who took a vacation down there and she loved it.

How's your current machine?

I would lean toward waiting until next summer...it'll get you started in college with a top-shelf machine that will serve you well for most, if not all, of you time there.

oh boy... this is going to be embarrassing. My current computer is a 2001 Gateway desktop with a 951MHz AMD Athlon Processor. It has a 40GB HD and 256MB of RAM. It came with Windows ME... but, I have Windows XP on it now and it hasn't been holding up nicely at all... haha. I can't even count the number of times this computer has froze, been infected with a virus, or made something just not work... period.

 

[klb028]

Why would you buy now if you're buying for college? It doesn't make sense.

hmm... I guess for the same reason everyone else purchases a new machine when they don't necessarily need it... just to have it now and earlier, I suppose.

 

[xfiftyfour]

Why would you buy now if you're buying for college? It doesn't make sense.

agreed. never understood the high school students that buy their college computers while still in high school. granted, you'll only be a semester away, but still.. techology-wise, that's a BIG difference.

look at it this way: you're going to want this machine to last you for several of your college years at least, if not more ("broke college students" - no money for upgrading!). if you bought now, by the time you got to college, your computer would already be nearly a year old!

i say wait until the summer, and buy your college computer when you're actually on your way to college. i know it's hard when you want something NOW, but really, in this case, it just wouldn't make sense.

 

[WildCowboy]

Plus, if you at least wait until you're accepted to college, you can take advantage of the educational discounts.

It sounds like your current machine is fairly crappy, but I'd still like to wait until closer to starting college. I'm not the one who has to use the Gateway everyday though.

 

[theiinlive]

I'd just wait till summer. I'm a freshman in college. I've been waiting for the latest Macbook pro update for only 2 months (borrowing an old 1.25 Ghz PB in the mean time), so it wasn't that big a wait for me. If it's for college, wait until summer. It'll last you longer too (ie. your whole college career).

Plus, you'll want to have a surplus of money when you get to college. Esp if you don't get a job while you're out.

 

[klb028]

agreed. never understood the high school students that buy their college computers while still in high school. granted, you'll only be a semester away, but still.. techology-wise, that's a BIG difference.

look at it this way: you're going to want this machine to last you for several of your college years at least, if not more ("broke college students" - no money for upgrading!). if you bought now, by the time you got to college, your computer would already be nearly a year old!

i say wait until the summer, and buy your college computer when you're actually on your way to college. i know it's hard when you want something NOW, but really, in this case, it just wouldn't make sense.

Thanks for detailed response! Like I wrote earlier, I guess it's just about having it now. It's hard to wait even longer for something when you've already been anticipating it for over a year. Your reasoning is basically the same as mine as to why I should wait. I've heard it as well from friends at school... but, I just wanted to make a thread here to see what other people thought as well, like you.

 

[Bill Gates]

hmm... I guess for the same reason everyone else purchases a new machine when they don't necessarily need it... just to have it now and earlier, I suppose.

Generally those people are in a better financial position than you are.

 

[klb028]

I'd just wait till summer. I'm a freshman in college. I've been waiting for the latest Macbook pro update for only 2 months (borrowing an old 1.25 Ghz PB in the mean time), so it wasn't that big a wait for me. If it's for college, wait until summer. It'll last you longer too (ie. your whole college career).

Plus, you'll want to have a surplus of money when you get to college. Esp if you don't get a job while you're out.

True... which is why I talked about blowing my $2500 now in one shot. I would love knowing I still had some money to back me up if I needed it. I worked over the summer and I work now, but I definitely don't see myself being able to have a job once college starts.

Plus, if you at least wait until you're accepted to college, you can take advantage of the educational discounts.

It sounds like your current machine is fairly crappy, but I'd still like to wait until closer to starting college. I'm not the one who has to use the Gateway everyday though.

Well, I've already been accepted into college(s), and I know where I'm going... so, that's not really an issue for me at this point. Thinking about my Gateway in general every day could make anyone depressed and more eager to get into the Apple World.

 

[GraceMolloy]

be strong young man. Wait for the Summer Release.

I held off for months, waiting on the Core2's. But my new job requires me to buy one. I actually needed it 5 weeks ago but I borrowed one for the interim.

You don't actually "have" to have one right now. I'd hang off.

But I definitely understand the anticipation.

 

[AvSRoCkCO1067]

I bought mine around March of my Senior year (which was a good thing - MBP's were updated a week ago, and I needed my computer by the time school started).

I'd recommend buying the DAY AFTER the NEXT Semi-Major/Major MBP update - as I believe there will only be one more before school begins next year. Plus, you'll probably have Leopard preloaded by then. Oh, and this update will likely lie in between your "Christmas" and "Summer" seasons, so it's the best of both worlds...

 

[klb028]

I bought mine around March of my Senior year (which was a good thing - MBP's were updated a week ago, and I needed my computer by the time school started).

I'd recommend buying the DAY AFTER the NEXT Semi-Major/Major MBP update - as I believe there will only be one more before school begins next year. Plus, you'll probably have Leopard preloaded by then. Oh, and this update will likely lie in between your "Christmas" and "Summer" seasons, so it's the best of both worlds...

Thanks for your sweet reply! I had a friend who did the same exact thing you did. He bought one in March and thought the C2D's would come out at WWDC, so he wanted to buy one then and give his older one to his Dad. When they didn't, it was time for him to head off to school. He says that even though he was anticipating the new ones, he's most likely going to stick to the one he has now because he's gotten so attached to it... haha. I like your idea!

 

[ksz]

As they say, wanting is better than having. The novelty will wear off quickly and by the time fall classes begin next year Apple will be offering more capable machines at the same price points. There'll be faster processors, faster memory and better battery life with Santa Rosa, 802.11n, newer graphics cards, cheaper high-capacity hard drives, perhaps external SATA, and of course Leopard and iLife '07.

The only justification for buying early would be to use that time to learn the applications you'd expect to use in college. For that, I would recommend using someone else's machine (or your school's machine).

 

[klb028]

As they say, wanting is better than having. The novelty will wear off quickly and by the time fall classes begin next year Apple will be offering more capable machines at the same price points. There'll be faster processors, faster memory and better battery life with Santa Rosa, 802.11n, newer graphics cards, cheaper high-capacity hard drives, perhaps external SATA, and of course Leopard and iLife '07.

The only justification for buying early would be to use that time to learn the applications you'd expect to use in college. For that, I would recommend using someone else's machine (or your school's machine).

I'm really glad you brought that up! I was talking to some friends in school about it and I mentioned another reason that I didn't want to buy now was because I didn't want the "newness" to wear off. I didn't want to go into college already semi-tired of my laptop. I know that with it being my first Mac ever in general, I'll have loads to learn and play with... but I'd love to do that right before college. Someone offered me their Mac Mini to test, so I'm probably going to take them up on that offer now.

 

[3nm]

i would buy now because:

i.) i'd want to maximize my utility given that the C2D MBPs are just released

ii.) i use my computer everyday at least 5-6 hrs (lectures, homework, etc)

iii.) i'd most probably buy a new laptop sometime next year (one laptop/yr)

with that said; however, i was using a PII450 w/ 384mb ram running WinXP (from Win98) until the release of MB earlier this year. i waited because i didn't think the G4 PBs were worth it and was looking for a completely redesign apple laptop. i then switched from a black MB to MBP due to various issues, and now i'm switching to C2D MBP sometime next week.

just wait if you don't need a new computer right now. put the money in an investment account and use the money you earn on booze, 420... you gonna need that in college!!

 

[bottleddissent]

same bucket

Ha, i came on this forum to ask the very same question. I'm happy to see my question was already addressed...however it is still really hard to convince myself to wait considering I could have a pretty new laptop now. Must...be...strong!

 

[klb028]

Ha, i came on this forum to ask the very same question. I'm happy to see my question was already addressed...however it is still really hard to convince myself to wait considering I could have a pretty new laptop now. Must...be...strong!

Glad to see I could help you out as well. It seems like I've made my decision to hold out too... you're right... must be strong! Must be strong!