Macbook Pro choices.

[Fragil1ty]

So the parents agreed to lend me a few hundred quid for a Macbook Pro laptop, but I cannot seem to decide what to do:

On one hand I was going to get a Macbook Pro off E-bay, it was only the 2009 model but it had 8GB ram and Apple care til 2013.

Sadly, someone bought it before I did so now, I'm kind of stuck?

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The other option is to buy one off Argos, they're currently going for £899 (10% off and they have one available in my Town store at the moment, so that's good.)

What would you do?

(Any other options are also welcome.)

 

[Oh Ed not again.]

I'd buy new, or nearly new as I have with all my Apple machines. I've then bought the AppleCare for another couple of years peace of mind as it's a seriously worthwhile investment.

What is your budget and what do you need it for? Don't stress about RAM at purchase, 4GB is plenty for most tasks and 8GB kits can be had on the net for not much bucks.

If you go for older generation C2D machines, watch out for the 8600 GPU based machines, they have a tendency of dying and exhibiting GPU faults that normally require reballing or board replacements.

 

[durbs]

Keep your eye on the refurb section of the apple store. The kit there is effectively new and you can get decent savings but you need to check regularly as the good deals sell fast. Go for a Core i though rather than a Core 2.

 

[Fragil1ty]

I can get the discount, but i'd only be saving £50'ish on the Macbook Pro.

I'll look through the refurb store now and see what deals are going on.

I definitely want a i5 rather than a C2D, I don't really mind the RAM, 4GB should be plenty for the time being, it's just going to be getting used for Photoshop work, dreamweaver, Microsoft word.

I was thinking about also maybe, booting into bootcamp for the occasional game, just The old republic mainly.

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I went ahead and found this:

http://store.apple.com/uk/product/FC700B/A#overview

 

[MrMoonX]

ram is so cheap outside of apple upgrade it to 8gb

if you can get one with the high res screen its lovely

SWTOR is going to run like a dog on that if at all

 

[Alpherah]

Yup, really need a 15" with the dedicated GPU for any 'new' game.

 

[Fragil1ty]

It runs on the same hardware that World of Warcraft does and that is pretty playable with Windows 7 installed via: bootcamp, more than playable with the videos I've seen on Youtube.

Turn shadows/aa off, play on Med and you're golden. ;>

 

[Al Vallario]

I can get the discount, but i'd only be saving £50'ish on the Macbook Pro.

Go through the HE store. Not only do you get the ~15% discount, but you also get a three year parts and labour warranty thrown in free of charge under the HE National Agreement.

When your MagSafe adapter falls apart (£60), your battery dies a painful death (£120), etc. you'll come to appreciate the extended warranty. That's not to say the unibody MacBook Pros aren't reliable machines, but there's a whole load of things you can expect to go wrong with any laptop within three years of ownership