Looking for an Apple Laptop deal

[jerseygurl]

My daughter is looking to buy her first Apple. She nor I know anything about Apple or the system they run, so any help and information you can share would be appreciated. This is what she says she is looking for...

 

Apple Laptop

preferable white

15 inches or bigger

for every day use, and some gaming

looking for decent specs

 

I don't want to go to the Apple Store and have them sale her something that she really doesn't need or way over priced.

 

Thanks in advanced. She has saved around a $1000 so far, and will continue to save. Educate us please:confused:

[flosmoney]

Look and see if she qualifies for an education discount or if you know a college student or home schoolers. Right now if you buy a Mac and iPod you get a rebate for the iPod. Go to an apple store and look to see what you actually need and then look online at the refurbs. Good luck.

 

flosmoney

[dancergirlmom]

Be careful with the white ones - they get dirty/look old much quicker than the silver....I've heard they don't hold up as well either (can crack). If you go to the Apple Store - they will help you with what you need...they don't work on commision. My brother runs an IT department, and what he told me we needed for my teenage daughter, was exactly what the people in the store said. If you don't know anything about Apples - you might want the "extended warrenty" which includes help over the phone whenever you have questions. The "genius bars" in the store are great also - you make an appointment on line, and you can bring your laptop to get help with any problems/questions at no charge. We used the student discount as well...it was definitely the way to go. Good luck!

[biomajor]

My daughter bought a Macbook Pro last Friday (Tax free weekend). She got an educational discount of $100 plus a discount on the AppleCare, too. Sometimes you can find some nice ones on Apples site as refurbed. We almost went that route until we calculated the tax and the discount. She got the 13 inch one because she likes little computers :)

[Renkat]

I would highly recommend you go to the Apple store if you can. Most of the associates know what they're talking about and they do not try and sell you on anything you don't need. You can even call ahead and make an appointment and they will spend as much time as you need. You tell them what you want to be able to do and they make suggestions - in my case, I thought knew what I wanted when I went in (macbook Pro) but the "expert" I spoke to told me that I could get a desktop/iMac low-end model in my case and an iPad for less money (I needed some portability for just a few things.) He even wrote down everything and the prices of each along with AppleCare and other accessories and I could compare and see in person the price and feature difference. So they try and find the best solution for you and your situation rather than just sell you the most expensive thing.

[nirvana4all]

Just buy a PC. No, honestly, what are you looking to do, so we can know what you need. Are you doing video editing, autoCADD, etc, so we know why you should get an apple, and how to help advise you.

[SkippyThorson]

As an Apple follower / nerd by trade, let me try to help you. There is going to be an Apple media event today, so any updates that take place to their notebooks will happen today. They keep on schedule - the laptops update around this time every year.

 

There is no longer any 15" white MacBook. The only white MacBook is a 13", and is every bit as capable as their higher spec'ed and higher priced counterparts, so as a new buyer, don't let them upsell you by some magic fancy smart talk.

 

The 15" laptop is an aluminum MacBook Pro. If the only thing she cares about is screen size, this is your only option. The 13" is, as I said, basically the same innards, and does all the same stuff, just in curvy white plastic.

 

Incorrectly stated above, the white plastic does not get dirty or yellow easily. The white MacBooks are a polycarbonate plastic, which does not yellow nearly as easy at all. Cleaning the OUTSIDE ONLY takes a simple light scrubbing with Mr Clean Magic Eraser. The plastic will also not dent like the aluminum if it takes a light fall, perfect for the young crowd.

 

Macs are notoriously not great for gaming. Today, they are perfectly capable, but the problem is finding the games. The upside to this? Something PCs can't do - Macs can run Windows, so you can have 2 computers in 1. That way, she can game on Windows, and do everything else on the Mac!

 

Anything else? I subscribed to see replies. I thoroughly enjoy helping people with technology. :)

[SkippyThorson]

-- and unfortunately, Apple rarely does sales. The only one you can count on is the Back To School promotion, where you get $100 off a laptop, a free iPod (up to a $200 value) and a free ($100) HP printer.

 

That's a pretty good deal, and you just have to prove the student goes to any school (just a short talk with someone about the education discount) and you're set. The discount only comes around for August / early September though.