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View Full Version : UMD's 2.16ghz MBP build w/ 4yr warranty at $2113 - Should I buy?


srizvi1
2007-03-20, 14:09
So I'm 2.5 years into my Powerbook G4.... (in case anyone's interested, I actually got the lead to get this old G4 from here at applenova thanks to poopycat: http://forums.applenova.com/showthread.php?p=156585#post156585 )

Anyways, I wanted to sell this and get a new intel MacBook Pro soon. I thought I'd hold out for Leopard to come out thinking they might bump up macbook pro's or introduce something groundbreaking, but the prices seem to be a little low right now, and there's this deal that's at my university that I thought I might want to take advantage of.

It's the 2.16ghz model which comes with a 4yr warranty instead of the option to get the 3yr. The price on it is $2113.

I took a screenshot of the main sub page which shows the unit:
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http://r1i.com/images/mainpage-4yearapplecare.jpg
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For anyone who has access to educational discounts, the standard price of this model is $1799 and if you put in the 3 year applecare, you'd be at $2038. So for $75 extra dollars, you get an extra year of coverage. I don't usually keep my macs that long but, I don't know.. I thought I'd consider it.

This is something else interesting. One of the reasons I'm really considering buying now instead of later is because I really want to get Final Cut Express HD and there's this promotion going that gives you $200 back when you buy final cut with a mac. I don't know if that applies to educational discount though because its only $99 to buy Final Cut Express HD for students, but it does say so here in the customize your mac page. I wonder if I could place the order and then argue if I don't get the discount.
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Here is the option BEFORE I select FCE HD:
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http://r1i.com/images/customizepage-fcehd-notselected-applecare.jpg

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Here is the adjustment AFTER I select FCE HD:

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http://r1i.com/images/customizepage-fcehd-applecare.jpg
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And then here's the final summary:
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http://r1i.com/images/customizepage-pricewithfcehd.jpg
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Also one more question on going with the 2.16ghz instead of the 2.33ghz option, let me know if I'm on the right track here:

I think I'm more interested in the 2.16ghz at $1799 because that only comes with 1 stick of 1 GB RAM which leaves one bay totally open to put in a 2GB stick. If you go with the 2.33ghz, it'll come with 2 1GB RAM sticks, and when you replace one of those with a 2 GB RAM stick to max it out, you now have an extra 1GB stick that'll do nothing. Maybe you can sell it on ebay, but I'm not sure what it'll go for.

Besides being .16ghz faster, the only other difference between the 2.16ghz model and the 2.33ghz model is that the 2.16ghz's build has a:

ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics with 128MB SDRAM

while the 2.33ghz build has:

ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics with 256MB SDRAM

Does anyone know how big a deal this is? There's roughly a $500 price difference between the two, but my guess is that its mainly in the RAM.

torifile
2007-03-20, 14:17
Could you take those inline images out? They screw up your post's formatting so I can't really read it.

I'd check on that 4 year warranty thing because AppleCare is only 3 years total.

srizvi1
2007-03-20, 14:18
Could you take those inline images out? They screw up your post's formatting so I can't really read it.

I'd check on that 4 year warranty thing because AppleCare is only 3 years total.

I just adjusted the images a little on width... I think it's more readable now.

Wyatt
2007-03-20, 14:35
From the fine print on the FCE offer:

Qualifying purchases made on the Education Individual store are eligible for a $50 instant rebate.

There's your answer on that. Still, you'll only be paying $50 for FCE after the rebate. It's a mail-in rebate, and the software must be on the same invoice as the computer. And no, you can't argue that you deserve a $200 rebate for a $100 piece of software. Apple isn't stupid.

torifile
2007-03-20, 14:37
Well, it's not a mail-in rebate for Apple Store purchases. It's an instant rebate. The price for FCE is actually $149 edu and $99 after instant rebate.