Best time to buy a MAC? (Student)

Wiggynut

Hello

I'm buying a Mac soon but keep hearing that I should wait until the summer for the best deals - but I've yet to hear about such deals - I mean in the sense of why wait?

I'm hoping to get an IMac - I'll be going to Uni in Sept to do Digital Media Production as a mature student (I'm a photographic retoucher at the moment and use Photoshop daily).
I've only had a low level PC at home for the last few years and have decided to get the Mac of my dreams :rolleyes: (well... can't affrod the Mac Pro so the next one down!)

to be practical I should get the 20-inch: 2.66GHz as it's just £891with VAT - the next one up is the same but with a 24" screen - just I splurge and get the 24" - inch: 3.06GHz?? £1,305.00 (These prices are with the student discount).

http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore.woa/wa/RSLID?nnmm=browse&mco=MjI4NDk4&node=home/shop_mac/family/imac

I'll be buying the education software package that come's with Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, etc http://www.studentexpressware.co.uk/gbu0-prodshow/ADB19280127.html

I have confirmation of my place at Uni and frankly I'm being impatient and would love to get my mits on this kit now !

should I wait a little longer?

do individual Uni's have better deals with suppliers or does it make any difference?

do you get things as 'free' printers when buying Macs? (similar to buying a PC)? I currently have a HP printer which I don't think are compitable with a mac.

any suggestions and help would be greatly appreciated as I don't want my desire for a nice new shiny IMac to make me miss out on any deals.

(I can't wait though )

Conor_3

Personally I'd save your money and buy a PC. An equivalent spec PC is going to be half the price full retail of the student discounted Mac. In addition to that, you're not going to have the hours of time you'll waste with the transition from Windows to Mac OS X and now that all the graphic design applications that are available on Mac are on Windows, there's no point paying the "Apple Tax" anymore. As you've highlighted yourself, not a lot of hardware is Mac compatible so that's even more money to spend replacing a perfectly good printer.

If graphics and media companies were still wholly Mac shops as they used to be, I'd say go for a Mac without any hesitation but they're not anymore.

sandra_nz

I think you'll find the 20-inch plenty big, I know we do and we do a fair bit of media work on ours.

You might like to investigate refurbished Macs (available from the Mac store online) - you can get some significant savings:
http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore.woa/wa/RSLID?sf=w2YF4JXY4AHCAJCDF&nclm=Certified


Apple usually release their new models in the summer, I think that's why you've been advised to wait. But if you're going for refurbished, that doesn't really affect you. The way I see it, as soon as you buy a computer and walk out the store, it's out of date!

Wiggynut

Conor wrote: »

Personally I'd save your money and buy a PC. An equivalent spec PC is going to be half the price full retail of the student discounted Mac. In addition to that, you're not going to have the hours of time you'll waste with the transition from Windows to Mac OS X and now that all the graphic design applications that are available on Mac are on Windows, there's no point paying the "Apple Tax" anymore. As you've highlighted yourself, not a lot of hardware is Mac compatible so that's even more money to spend replacing a perfectly good printer.

If graphics and media companies were still wholly Mac shops as they used to be, I'd say go for a Mac without any hesitation but they're not anymore.

I've brought PC's for years purely for that reason but I do want a Mac - (a small excuse but I did go for a job interview recently which was Mac bases and I faffed up a lot!)
usually when everyone jumps on the band wagon ie: ipods, I run in the other direction but I've finally succumbed and got an Ipod recently. :rolleyes:
but I confess to getting rather excited at the prospect of owning a mac rather than just another PC!
so it will definitely be a Mac

Wiggynut

sandra_nz wrote: »

I think you'll find the 20-inch plenty big, I know we do and we do a fair bit of media work on ours.

You might like to investigate refurbished Macs (available from the Mac store online) - you can get some significant savings:
http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore.woa/wa/RSLID?sf=w2YF4JXY4AHCAJCDF&nclm=Certified


Apple usually release their new models in the summer, I think that's why you've been advised to wait. But if you're going for refurbished, that doesn't really affect you. The way I see it, as soon as you buy a computer and walk out the store, it's out of date!

Thanks - I'll have a look at those refurbished mac's - could be a good option (I've always got refurbished PC's in the past and never had any problems - and obviously a lot cheaper too!)

Bob63

Refurb Macs are good value. Quite often they are machines returned under the 7 day cooling off period and therefore may not even have been used.

S0litaire

The Apple site has 2 versions of its Education discount. One for anyone who is in education. The other is a discount deal for the School / College / University for it's students (Only accessible within the Uni's network). First discount is around 10% the second is between 12% to 15%.

Mac's are generally the standard for Audio visual work these days. They are slightly better at these tasks than an equivalent PC.

But there's nothing stopping you building your own Mac! Lots of people have done it for a fraction of the price of a real Mac

Wiggynut

http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore.woa/wa/RSLID?nplm=FB322

This one looks very nice!

(what is the difference between 'Duo' and 'extreme' - is that processing speed?)

Wiggynut

S0litaire wrote: »

The Apple site has 2 versions of its Education discount. One for anyone who is in education. The other is a discount deal for the School / College / University for it's students (Only accessible within the Uni's network). First discount is around 10% the second is between 12% to 15%.

Mac's are generally the standard for Audio visual work these days. They are slightly better at these tasks than an equivalent PC.

But there's nothing stopping you building your own Mac! Lots of people have done it for a fraction of the price of a real Mac

I don't suppose the student discount applies to refurbished Mac - but if you supply proof of you Uni placement (letter from the Uni) do you think you can still get the 12-15% discount of the new mac's?

I dont' know much about the insides of Mac's - I've messed around with PC's but chickened out of dealing with the processor/chips!
I think I should just get one 'off the shelf' so to speak... I'd like it to look new for awhile before I break it

S0litaire

Mac is basically a PC running a different OS (With specific hardware). :D

To get the bigger discount you have to log in from the Uni's network so you may have to have a Matriculation (Student ID) card

If you have a Placement Letter give the Student Services a call and see what they say. They should have the details of what deal a student can get especially if they are just starting Uni.

sandra_nz

Wiggynut wrote: »

http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore.woa/wa/RSLID?nplm=FB322

This one looks very nice!

(what is the difference between 'Duo' and 'extreme' - is that processing speed?)

Yep - 2.4 vs 2.8 GHz

Going for the 24 inch now, eh?