First Mac buying overseas

[SCMRubix]

I've been toying for some time the idea of getting a macbook pro to use as a laptop for the next 4 years to see me through University.
A few things I'm curious about though, before finally reaching in to my pocket and spend some cash on something still a little alien to me.
I am currently overseas in Australia doing a bit of travelling and visiting of family which leads me on to the first question.
I am planning on buying a mac over here as it is cheaper than in the UK.

- If I buy a mac here (Australia), will I have the same security of it back in the UK? i.e Warranty and Applecare

Possibly looking at some refurbished ones as well.

- Can you purchase Applecare for refurbished macs? And what sort of warranty do they come with before applecare? (30 days?)

- If I do go refurbished, 15" from May 2010 or 13" from 2011? (Both very similar prices)


Thanks in advance for your help

 

[Atrox Moris]

- If I buy a mac here (Australia), will I have the same security of it back in the UK? i.e Warranty and Applecare
. Yes.

- Can you purchase Applecare for refurbished macs? And what sort of warranty do they come with before applecare? (30 days?). Yes you can. Refurbs come with the same one year warranty as new products.

- If I do go refurbished, 15" from May 2010 or 13" from 2011? (Both very similar prices). It's entirely up to you and what you think you will need in terms of things like processing power and screen resolution.

 

[SCMRubix]

Thanks for the quick reply and info.

Looking for greatest performance for lowest price (as everyone else is)
Which is going to give me most bang for my buck out of these two?


2011 13"

Processor 2.7 GHz dual-core Intel Core i7
Cache 4MB shared L3 cache
Memory 4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; supports up to 8GB
Graphics Intel HD Graphics 3000 with 384MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory5
Hard disk drive1 500GB Serial ATA, 5400 rpm


2010 15"

Processor 2.4GHz Intel Core i5
Cache 3MB shared L3 cache
Memory 4GB (two 2GB) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
Graphics Intel HD Graphics5 and NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with automatic graphics switching
Hard disk drive1 320GB Serial ATA, 5400 rpm


Would mainly be doing photoshop, video watching, and a small amount of gaming.

 

[Margaret]

I can't remember if the i5 in that 2010 15" is a quad or not.

If it isn't the 2011 will wipe the floor with it CPU wise, however the 2010 model has a superior graphics card by a fair margin. You may want to go for the 2010 if you plan on some gaming.

I would also strongly advise you boot into Windows for your gaming needs as every version of a game runs far worse in OS X than Windows. It's fine if you are playing non demanding games but as you are on a laptop you'll want every bit of FPS you can get, so Windows is the smart option.

Edit: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1102927

Yep, the HD3000 is terrible compared to the 330M. For gaming the 2010 will be much more bang for buck.

 

[panthro]

I bought my macbook pro when I was living in Australia. I got a 10% discount just by using the telephone sales instead of the internet. The warranty is worldwide and the only difference between buying abroad and the UK is the keyboard layout.
Managed to get my 15" MBP 2.2ghz sandybridge for £1600, which is not bad considering its around £1800 in the UK.