OT: I need advice on buying a Mac | The Boneyard

OT: I need advice on buying a Mac

CL82

CL82

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My daughter is going off to college and wants a Mac. Is there anything in particular that I should look for in specs or models?

I appreciate any advice. I'm not an Apple guy.
 
We are doing the same. Apparently there are some new models coming out this summer? Mother-in-law has generously offered to buy her the latest and greatest as her graduation present, so we're waiting a month or so; and I believe there are college student discounts, as well.

Congrats, CL. Exciting times. Ours just graduated on Monday and we just got back from her summer orientation Friday night; and moments ago I just booked her train tickets home for Thanksgiving break (upon realizing during this trip how much timing affect the cost of Amtrak tickets)!. Quite a roller coaster.
 
8893 said:
We are doing the same. Apparently there are some new models coming out this summer? Mother-in-law has generously offered to buy her the latest and greatest as her graduation present, so we're waiting a month or so; and I believe there are college student discounts, as well.

Congrats, CL. Exciting times. Ours just graduated on Monday and we just got back from her summer orientation Friday night; and moments ago I just booked her train tickets home for Thanksgiving break (upon realizing during this trip how much timing affect the cost of Amtrak tickets)!. Quite a roller coaster.
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No need to wait, new models have already been introduced a couple of weeks ago. My daughter going of to college too and probably going to go with the 13" Macbook Pro too, like above.
 
Brett95 said:
No need to wait, new models have already been introduced a couple of weeks ago. My daughter going of to college too and probably going to go with the 13" Macbook Pro too, like above.
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Thanks. I went and checked after I posted and just realized that. The last few weeks have been a blur...
 
8893 said:
We are doing the same. Apparently there are some new models coming out this summer? Mother-in-law has generously offered to buy her the latest and greatest as her graduation present, so we're waiting a month or so; and I believe there are college student discounts, as well.

Congrats, CL. Exciting times. Ours just graduated on Monday and we just got back from her summer orientation Friday night; and moments ago I just booked her train tickets home for Thanksgiving break (upon realizing during this trip how much timing affect the cost of Amtrak tickets)!. Quite a roller coaster.
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Congrats to you and daughter as well! Yep it's a fun time for the kids and for us as parents. Graduation was last and orientation is next week. We are in the mist of grad parties now. I remember a lot of the kids from middle school up and some of them from pre-K. It is pretty cool to see the young men and women they are becoming.
 
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the Q said:
Best advixe: don't.

Especially if you haven't been a Mac family before.

Expensive and laughably overrated.
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I'm not a fan, but my kids are.
 
CL82 said:
I'm not a fan, but my kids are.
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I'm nonplussed about them (would have no problem using one, but choose not to). But yeah, the kids love em. And if they have an iphone, easy integration makes it a slam dunk. And tons of college campuses are Apple, so that syncs up as well.
 
I switched to Mac three years ago and I love it. I have the former Macbook 13" and its awesome. The display is amazing, the keyboard is great and the thing works like a charm. I run large excel files, word, videos, games you name it, no problem. I carry it in an Ipad case, its so compact. Its never so much as hiccuped. No problems at all. I was on PC for 20 years before that with constant problems. One thing I like to do is plug into a really large screen when I'm deep into excel work.
 
fatlucy said:
I switched to Mac three years ago and I love it. I have the former Macbook 13" and its awesome. The display is amazing, the keyboard is great and the thing works like a charm. I run large excel files, word, videos, games you name it, no problem. I carry it in an Ipad case, its so compact. Its never so much as hiccuped. No problems at all. I was on PC for 20 years before that with constant problems. One thing I like to do is plug into a really large screen when I'm deep into excel work.
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I agree with this. Once I switched to Mac, I stopped swapping out my laptop every year due to issues.
 
intlzncster said:
I'm nonplussed about them (would have no problem using one, but choose not to). But yeah, the kids love em. And if they have an iphone, easy integration makes it a slam dunk. And tons of college campuses are Apple, so that syncs up as well.
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This is sort of non-responsive. I like the easy integration, too ... which is why I actually have a Windows phone. There aren't many of us, "The few, the proud," etc. It syncs everything with my desktop, my Surface at work, and my traveling HP Elite laptop. I've had an iPhone in the past, and hated the iCloud, love OneDrive. Also, Apple screwed up text messaging, so that since I once had an iPhone, anyone in my contacts that has one, has previously sent me texts when I did, and that doesn't modify their settings for SMG has trouble sending me texts, and I get blamed. All the rest of my house drank the Apple Kool-Aid, however, so I'm considered a total weirdo.
 
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the Q said:
Best advixe: don't.

Especially if you haven't been a Mac family before.

Expensive and laughably overrated.
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Nothing like unbiased advice! :rolleyes:
 
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I went to their refurb site and got one there. Saved $400 plus and got the regular warranties. My kid needed a mac for design stuff. I was happy enough. Got 3 plus years and then he broke it. Dumb A**.
 
CTMike said:
Nothing like unbiased advice! :rolleyes:
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I owned a PC laptop until thanksgiving 2016 and I still use a PC at work.

I have used both.

I don't see what the big deal is, or why it's 3x the price. It's just not a great value.
 
Vancat said:
There's a reason they cost more.
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At this point: Status symbol. They used to be at the forefront of tech, but now others have caught up, and even surpassed in a number of areas.

No knock on Apple mind you. The build quality is still excellent.

If you think 'cost more = better', I've got a ton of stuff to sell you.
 
Vancat said:
There's a reason they cost more.
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That's just stupid. The reason they cost more is marketing and design. And Im not against Apple. I own them and have bought my high school daughter 2 of them in the last 8 months. But "the reason they cost more" yeah, no.
 
temery said:
Every PC I've own was a pain to maintain. My Macs have been trouble free. A greater learning curve, yes. But far fewer problems.
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Yeah, I can understand that. I could even get paying a little more for that inconvenience, but 3x is a hard sell in terms of value.
 
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temery said:
Every PC I've own was a pain to maintain. My Macs have been trouble free. A greater learning curve, yes. But far fewer problems.
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We are well into year 6 on the last iMac desktop I bought, the previous one lasted 5 plus before the hardware could no longer keep up with newer software demands. Never had a problem that I couldn't work out on my own.
 
tykurez said:
You can currently get the newer models refurbished directly from Apple. You'll save upwards of $250 and they've got a 1-year warranty.

Here's a link to the 13" MacBook Pro refurbish list.
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I thought about this, but for the difference in money it didn't seem worth it.
 
CL82 said:
I thought about this, but for the difference in money it didn't seem worth it.
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Yea - totally up to you. You're talking about a savings of ~15% and still getting a good warranty. I've always myself just gone the "new" route though because it has a higher resale value (I tend to swap machines pretty frequently.)

Good luck and congrats to your daughter!
 
tykurez said:
Yea - totally up to you. You're talking about a savings of ~15% and still getting a good warranty. I've always myself just gone the "new" route though because it has a higher resale value (I tend to swap machines pretty frequently.)

Good luck and congrats to your daughter!
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My thought process is that I'd just as soon limit any increment risk of hassle to my daughter for the price differential. I do see the value in it though.
 
CL82 said:
My thought process is that I'd just as soon limit any increment risk of hassle to my daughter for the price differential. I do see the value in it though.
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Buy her a new one, she deserves it. and as someone else mentioned, whats a 150 bucks in the scheme of the beatdown you are about to take!
 
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