Apple Mac question

Chili

Thats good to hear, thanks Mike. Am trying to get as much info as I can before making the purchase!

I wondered about the £1099 one being the worst of the bunch, but it seems from what you say thats not the case. Great Stuff.

steveOooo

Chili wrote: »

Mike,

Am looking for a macbook pro for my son going to uni to study motion graphics and animation. The uni has recommended it (though not obligatory obviously) but as you know they are very pricey.

I would probably go for the cheapest one at £1099 but I have to say we are new to macs so any advice is great. It would seem that with the refurb ones you get what your given pretty much. Whereas when I looked on the student discount bit of the site (not as cheap as a refurb) there were lots of choices to make on size, peripherals, type of finish on screen, modem cables etc..
All a bit confusing for a mac newbie!

We cant afford to go much higher than £1099 so I could do with knowing what I actually need to make the thing run properly. I have rung apple helpdesk but they are not much help tbh and just out to sell me as much as they can!

My advise... wait till your son is at uni in sep/oct, use the unis internet (cheapest discount by using unis campus internet), go to the education store on apple store and youll receive between 10-13% off a BRAND NEW mbp (guess off around £120). also, from early september - end of oct, apple will chuck in a FREE ipod (via mail rebate - cost off ipod before tax - so ipod would cost about £10-£15). this is a offer they do every yr for students.

Also, mbp are likely to receive a big re-design soon - could be before the start of the student calender.. macrumours.com

with the student discount, it makes the brand new mac about the same as buying from the refurb store. Btw, i bought a 30gb ipod in nov 2006 off the refurb store and its still going strong today (albeit a few cracks adn millions of scratches)

bbtw get the 17' model as doing anything creative, you would want the extra screen real-estate. Also i strongly suggest elgatos' eye tv product - watch, record, pause, rewind etc.. live digital 'freeview' tv - excellent for uni - turns the mbp into a 17' lcd tv!