Price decrease with Intel Macbooks?
Hey all,
Sorry if this is the wrong forum, but I really didn't know where to stick this.
So I was talking to my professor and he's the Mac guru at my university. He told me a little trick he does with the Macs he buys. When he buys a Mac, he keeps it for a year or so for personal/business purposes. He installs all sorts of useful software, such as Final Cut Studio, then sells the Mac after 9 months - a year. He then takes that money and uses it to buy a brand new Mac, then continues the cycle.
When he told me about this, I thought it was a great idea to stay ahead of the tech curve. So I checked eBay to find out the current resale value of the Mac Book Pro Core 2 Duo and found that they were pretty low. Many websites claim the "awesome resale value" that Macs have, but if these eBay prices were anything to go by, that doesn't seem to be the case. I have a 15" MBP C2D 2.16 GHZ, which is $2000+ tax. I'm currently looking at the bid for a same modeled MBP that's ending soonest (1 hour and 5 mins left), and it's only going for $1425!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-MacBook-Pr...QQcmdZViewItem
I know that with a brand-new notebook, one would be getting a year of Apple care, plus the piece of mind that they have a brand-new laptop that hasn't been used by anyone yet, but when it comes down to it, I think folks would rather save a bit more money.
So my question to you all is, do you think switching to the Intel processors have caused the demand for used Macs to go down? Also, is it worth it to "turn your Mac" every year to stay ahead of the tech curve? If it is worth it, how should I go about it? Thanks so much!
Sorry if this is the wrong forum, but I really didn't know where to stick this.
So I was talking to my professor and he's the Mac guru at my university. He told me a little trick he does with the Macs he buys. When he buys a Mac, he keeps it for a year or so for personal/business purposes. He installs all sorts of useful software, such as Final Cut Studio, then sells the Mac after 9 months - a year. He then takes that money and uses it to buy a brand new Mac, then continues the cycle.
When he told me about this, I thought it was a great idea to stay ahead of the tech curve. So I checked eBay to find out the current resale value of the Mac Book Pro Core 2 Duo and found that they were pretty low. Many websites claim the "awesome resale value" that Macs have, but if these eBay prices were anything to go by, that doesn't seem to be the case. I have a 15" MBP C2D 2.16 GHZ, which is $2000+ tax. I'm currently looking at the bid for a same modeled MBP that's ending soonest (1 hour and 5 mins left), and it's only going for $1425!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-MacBook-Pr...QQcmdZViewItem
I know that with a brand-new notebook, one would be getting a year of Apple care, plus the piece of mind that they have a brand-new laptop that hasn't been used by anyone yet, but when it comes down to it, I think folks would rather save a bit more money.
So my question to you all is, do you think switching to the Intel processors have caused the demand for used Macs to go down? Also, is it worth it to "turn your Mac" every year to stay ahead of the tech curve? If it is worth it, how should I go about it? Thanks so much!
Comments
So I was talking to my professor and he's the Mac guru at my university. He told me a little trick he does with the Macs he buys. When he buys a Mac, he keeps it for a year or so for personal/business purposes. He installs all sorts of useful software, such as Final Cut Studio, then sells the Mac after 9 months - a year. He then takes that money and uses it to buy a brand new Mac, then continues the cycle.
I rather get the impression that the resale price of your professor's machines are bumped up by the inclusion of illegal copies of expensive software.
So I was talking to my professor and he's the Mac guru at my university. He told me a little trick he does with the Macs he buys. When he buys a Mac, he keeps it for a year or so for personal/business purposes. He installs all sorts of useful software, such as Final Cut Studio, then sells the Mac after 9 months - a year. He then takes that money and uses it to buy a brand new Mac, then continues the cycle.
It's a shame that such a financially incompetent person could become a professor.
When he told me about this, I thought it was a great idea to stay ahead of the tech curve.
No. It's a great way to burn money fast and not even realize it.
Also, is it worth it to "turn your Mac" every year to stay ahead of the tech curve?
Unless you can truthfully look in the mirror and say that you can afford that, no. Never.
I know that with a brand-new notebook, one would be getting a year of Apple care, plus the piece of mind that they have a brand-new laptop that hasn't been used by anyone yet, but when it comes down to it, I think folks would rather save a bit more money.
This is exactly what I have done. It depends how perfectionist you are. I was eyeing a MacBook or iMac for the past 3 months at least. At first, I thought the MacBook 13" would be too small, and the MacBookPro too big (and the 15" matte screen, while big, wide, and high-res is not up to "graphic design" standards. I looked at the iMac, and I likey much but portability and NO international warranty is a big risk since I travel a lot... well, more move cities a lot rather than like business travel on planes, cars, trains, etc.
I had voiced often on these forums my deep concern for dead pixels. So all up I decided to go eBay and purchase a MacBook 13" Core[1] or Core[2] Duo. Only picking up from my metro area (say within 25-30 miles) and with the ability to *inspect* the machine before purchasing.
Lo and behold the screen did have some two white spots and one almost impossible-to-notice dead pixel. Luckily, as I describe in this thread http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?t=70993 AppleCare 1-Year should be replacing the screen. Additionally, the eBay-purchased machine has 2gb of ram, 2ghz whiteBook Core[1]Duo, and some of the "kinks" have been worked out by the previous owner: the palm-rest-discoloration issue (the upper case has been replaced), and apparently the battery died and was replaced (so I get a nice battery which is pretty fresh given the 9 months old age of the MacBook). It has no dual-layer DVD burning, but DVD+-R is 4x which is just a notch less than the DVD+-R 6x burning of the MacBook Core2Duos, also even though the MacBook Core2Duos can burn DVD dual layer, it only is at 2.4x speed which would be quite slow for around 8gb of data.
Given a 5% to 30% speed difference between a 2ghz Core2Duo vs a 2ghz Core1Duo, and the dualcore Core1Duo being reasonably powerful (it really is pretty darn powerful and it is dualcore so things do fly at 2gb RAM), I purchased my MacBook for AUD$1,500 when the latest 2ghz Core2Duo superdrive with 2gb RAM would cost AUD$2,400 brand new.
So my question to you all is, do you think switching to the Intel processors have caused the demand for used Macs to go down? Also, is it worth it to "turn your Mac" every year to stay ahead of the tech curve? If it is worth it, how should I go about it? Thanks so much!
I think the Intel processors have made the laptops very very desirable in general, but 2nd hand vs brand new is something you will have to calculate by watching how MacBooks are bid for and sold on eBay, brand new and 2nd hand ones, to get a feel of the market and depreciation rates.
As Chucker said, unless you can afford it, which some people can, you could have a spare Mac and maybe upgrade even every 6-9 months to a new Mac and eBay the old one..... People that do this are Mac enthusiasts that, as I mentioned, can easily afford this, while some others (like in my case in 2003-2004) doing so absolutely decimated my credit card and fracked me big time.
I have found the best solution is to factor in
1. WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO USE your Mac for. Besides general life improvement (seriously), consider, is it a toy, a tool, an income-generating device, a fun, relaxing, happy thing, etc...
2. CALCULATE THE PER-MONTH EXPENSE of your Mac. This is the key. While different from normal loans, it is more worthwhile to purchase and own the Mac, and then sell it after say 6-18-24+ months. You can work out the total cost of the Mac, minus what you anticipate the eBay realistic price will be, within the time frame you think you will keep your Mac, and you come up with something nice like say $50-$100-$200 per month as your "cost of Mac ownership and enjoyment" for the time period you want to hang on to it. Try thinking of it this way and it will make sense in the budgeting. In so far that your Mac, unless seriously accidentally damaged or lost or stolen (consider 3rd-party insurance options), is a depreciating, but an asset nonetheless that holds value analogous to cash in the bank, with of course, all the differences between a liquid asset and a "fixed" or "semi-liquid"(?) asset.
Good luck. 8) I too hope to learn more and understand and manage my Mac experience better, along with financial challenges/ opportunities I face now.
Here's a tip: Talk to your professors in the Commerce/ Business/ Accounting departments at your school/ college/ university. Don't talk to professors in Science, Maths, Physics, Biology, IT, and such...
On the software front: installing pay-for software on a machine, then selling the machine with the software still installed and also keeping the software for yourself is illegal and theft.
...On the software front: installing pay-for software on a machine, then selling the machine with the software still installed and also keeping the software for yourself is illegal and theft.
Yeah, similarly, when purchasing any Mac on eBay, "pre-installed software" is not always useful without the actual original install discs -- because remember, if anything happens to your Mac hard disk, how are you going to get that expensive software back??
I watched used Macs on eBay for a month, but ended up getting a better deal on a refurbished one from Apple.com. I would say that Macs have the highest resale value of any computer.
I agree. I haven't tried it, but I imagine a painful nightmare trying to palm off even a 1.5 year old stock Dell desktop or laptop.
Unless you can truthfully look in the mirror and say that you can afford that, no. Never.
Eh...its doable. Say your budget is $2000 for a computer. Option 1 - MB and refresh every year. Option 2 - MBP and refresh every 3+ years.
Year 1 buy a $1000 MB. Save $1000. AppleCare Free 1st year.
Year 2 sell for $700 or so. Buy $1000 MB. Save $79 on new iLife. Save $129 on new Leopard. Save $125 on AppleCare (50% of 2 years AppleCare). Lose $300 cash.
Year 3 sell for $700 or so. Buy $1000 MB. Save $79 on new iLife. Save $125 on AppleCare. Lose $300 cash.
Year 4 sell for $700 or so. Buy $1000 MB. Save $79 on new iLife. Save $125 on AppleCare. Lose $300 cash.
Sell for MP for around $700. Time to invest another $2K in your laptop with $700 to start. Extra $100 offsets some of the tax/shipping etc.
Through these years you also likely get update to 802.11N final, faster Meroms, perhaps an ExpressCard and any other additions to the MB that Apple adds. You're stuck with sucky GMA graphics until less sucky Santa Rosa integrated graphics. This is the downside of this strategy. Upside is some "free" software updates worth a few hundred dollars and "free" applecare for 4 years.
A 4 year old C2D MBP is not going hold value as well as the G4s Powerbooks did. $700-800 seems reasonable.
Vinea
Eh...its doable. Say your budget is $2000 for a computer. Option 1 - MB and refresh every year. Option 2 - MBP and refresh every 3+ years.
Year 1 buy a $1000 MB. Save $1000. AppleCare Free 1st year.
Year 2 sell for $700 or so. Buy $1000 MB. Save $79 on new iLife. Save $129 on new Leopard. Save $125 on AppleCare (50% of 2 years AppleCare). Lose $300 cash.
Year 3 sell for $700 or so. Buy $1000 MB. Save $79 on new iLife. Save $125 on AppleCare. Lose $300 cash.
Year 4 sell for $700 or so. Buy $1000 MB. Save $79 on new iLife. Save $125 on AppleCare. Lose $300 cash.
Sell for MP for around $700. Time to invest another $2K in your laptop with $700 to start. Extra $100 offsets some of the tax/shipping etc.
Through these years you also likely get update to 802.11N final, faster Meroms, perhaps an ExpressCard and any other additions to the MB that Apple adds. You're stuck with sucky GMA graphics until less sucky Santa Rosa integrated graphics. This is the downside of this strategy. Upside is some "free" software updates worth a few hundred dollars and "free" applecare for 4 years.
A 4 year old C2D MBP is not going hold value as well as the G4s Powerbooks did. $700-800 seems reasonable.
Vinea
Hey, I like that.
Eh...its doable. Say your budget is $2000 for a computer. Option 1 - MB and refresh every year. Option 2 - MBP and refresh every 3+ years.
Year 1 buy a $1000 MB. Save $1000. AppleCare Free 1st year.
Year 2 sell for $700 or so. Buy $1000 MB. Save $79 on new iLife. Save $129 on new Leopard. Save $125 on AppleCare (50% of 2 years AppleCare). Lose $300 cash.
Year 3 sell for $700 or so. Buy $1000 MB. Save $79 on new iLife. Save $125 on AppleCare. Lose $300 cash.
Year 4 sell for $700 or so. Buy $1000 MB. Save $79 on new iLife. Save $125 on AppleCare. Lose $300 cash.
Sell for MP for around $700. Time to invest another $2K in your laptop with $700 to start. Extra $100 offsets some of the tax/shipping etc.
Through these years you also likely get update to 802.11N final, faster Meroms, perhaps an ExpressCard and any other additions to the MB that Apple adds. You're stuck with sucky GMA graphics until less sucky Santa Rosa integrated graphics. This is the downside of this strategy. Upside is some "free" software updates worth a few hundred dollars and "free" applecare for 4 years.
A 4 year old C2D MBP is not going hold value as well as the G4s Powerbooks did. $700-800 seems reasonable.
Vinea
Interesting. This would show Year 1 $1000, Year 2 $300, Year 3 $300, Year 4 $300. ]
This works out to the average monthly cost of $1900/48 ~$39.60
Sounds too good to be true. Can someone check my math please?
I agree. I haven't tried it, but I imagine a painful nightmare trying to palm off even a 1.5 year old stock Dell desktop or laptop.
Just call your local community college, ask for the Computer Information Systems/Computer Science program chair and tell them you would like to sell it at a good price to a student...I garentee you will have a buyer in a day or two!
There were some times in school that I would have given my left arm to have a laptop and not use thee lab PCs...for MANY reasons...but I blew my (rather limeted) $600 computer budget on a Mac Mini...not a bad choice, but a sacrifice none the less.
In my (or any of my classmates) hands, it would not have been stock by the end of our first hour with the unit (clean copy of XP + all drivers from manufacturer can work wonders...and costs computer students about $5 with the MS campus agreements in place with many schools)
So my question to you all is, do you think switching to the Intel processors have caused the demand for used Macs to go down? Also, is it worth it to "turn your Mac" every year to stay ahead of the tech curve? If it is worth it, how should I go about it? Thanks so much!
"the curve" is just that, a curve, your idea is more like a tight hairpin followed by a sweeping right...
Look, a laptop bought a year ago would be a core duo, todays are a core 2 duo: the onily differance is a negligible speed bump and "64 bit" which, in the current breed of laptop, means exactly SQUAT as they cant handle more than 3GB of ram...32-bit is fine untill you hit 4GB of ram...at this point, you are not even getting different bundle-ware...and even if you were, replacing a laptop with damn near identical hardware just for an OS or iLife upgrade is STUPID.
iLife @ 79 and Leopard at 129 will be $210...plus you accidemic types get a steep break on that price, so you are spending like $300 just to get ~$140 in software...here is a tip: max out the ram with the extra $ and see if it doesn't "feel" new.
"the curve" is just that, a curve, your idea is more like a tight hairpin followed by a sweeping right...
Look, a laptop bought a year ago would be a core duo, todays are a core 2 duo: the onily differance is a negligible speed bump and "64 bit" which, in the current breed of laptop, means exactly SQUAT as they cant handle more than 3GB of ram...32-bit is fine untill you hit 4GB of ram...at this point, you are not even getting different bundle-ware...and even if you were, replacing a laptop with damn near identical hardware just for an OS or iLife upgrade is STUPID.
iLife @ 79 and Leopard at 129 will be $210...plus you accidemic types get a steep break on that price, so you are spending like $300 just to get ~$140 in software...here is a tip: max out the ram with the extra $ and see if it doesn't "feel" new.
Heh. Kinda why I got a MacBook Core[1]Duo - because it was being eBay-ed with 2GB of RAM. Not Apple original RAM, but laptop was used by someone that works in the Apple Tech circles. 1 piece of RAM is SwissBit and the other has some faint almost dot-matrix like print on the sticker. Seems to hold up good in my week of testing, 2ghz dual core MacBook + 2gb RAM = sweeeet. All I need next is that mini-DVI to DVI dongle, my 17" LCD (2000+miles away
But yeah, the fact that most benchmarks show only 5-30% difference (usually 10-15%) between a 2ghz Core[1] and Core2 Duo helps me sleep reeeaal well at night. 8)
Look, a laptop bought a year ago would be a core duo, todays are a core 2 duo: the onily differance is a negligible speed bump and "64 bit" which, in the current breed of laptop, means exactly SQUAT as they cant handle more than 3GB of ram...32-bit is fine untill you hit 4GB of ram.
This is not necessarily true here. x86-64 doubles the number of registers, which can really help. If you do a lot of encoding, encryption and such, the larger ints can really help too.
In general, upgrading every year is not worthwhile unless you make money with your computer and the newer computer would add to your productivity to make the upgrade pay for itself. Installing illegitimate copies of software is generally frowned upon.
Also the challenging part about if you use your own computer to make money is to have redundancy measures if your main (or only) Mac needs to be taken in for servicing, that puts it out for anywhere between 3 days to 3 weeks.
This is a nightmare for high-quality graphic/ web design, for example, when you are 1. used to the programs on the Mac and 2. have all your fonts sorted out properly. I used to be able to handle PC/Mac web design but nowadays it's all a bit fuzzy and going from OS 10.4.8 to WindowsXP2 can be like, GGGAAAAAHhhhhhhh!!!!!