Hey guys,

I was looking into purchasing a Macbook some time soon. However, I want to find out if it is a better idea to wait until summer time just because of any student deals/offers that they may have. I'm not really in a hurry to get one this term so it can wait, but is it worth waiting for or are the prices between now and then not going to vary much (based on other years)?

And for those who already have Macbooks, what type of Macbook do you recommend considering a student budget and it being used only for regular school use (not for games, watching movies etc). Thank you in advance for those replying back.

That's kind of a hard question to answer. Macbooks are expensive in GENERAL... maybe you can get a used one for half price?

As for price variation... my cousin's fiance is manager of a Mac Outpost and even during Boxing Week they only gave a max of $100 off. Not much of a deal if you're paying 2 grand for your lappy.

I say get one now.

If cost matters at all to you, I would not recommend getting a >$1000 Facebook and MWord machine when you could have a perfectly nice $500 Facebook and MWord machine. However, if >$500 difference isn't a big deal to you and/or you're willing to shell out for the brand and/or you're very computer illiterate, carry on.

The only people who "really" need macs are coders, art people or people with money. The first question to ask what are your primary reasons for using the laptop (just school, gaming, programming, etc) and what is your budget?

i bought mine from future shop during april and I received a student discount of 100 bucks. I dont know if that was just for that particular day or something and just as a heads up u dont have to go ahead and buy the programs for mac (ms word and all) u can just download them from someone else who has the cd saves u like 90 bucks

mac is really worth the money though so go for it as long as it doesnt kill ur pocket

Originally Posted by Amaryll

If cost matters at all to you, I would not recommend getting a >$1000 Facebook and MWord machine when you could have a perfectly nice $500 Facebook and MWord machine. However, if >$500 difference isn't a big deal to you and/or you're willing to shell out for the brand and/or you're very computer illiterate, carry on.

Are you calling me computer illiterate? If you aren't, you better rephrase your post and/or provide an explanation.

Originally Posted by Leeoku

The only people who "really" need macs are coders, art people or people with money. The first question to ask what are your primary reasons for using the laptop (just school, gaming, programming, etc) and what is your budget?

People who code do not need Macs. Nor do "art people". Those two groups and many others could have their needs satisfied by a Windows machine.

You can always get a student discount from the Apple Online Store. Start here.

store.apple.com/ca/findyourschool

I'd recommend the 13" Macbook Pro, if you care about a disk drive and need lots of hard drive space, or the 13" Macbook Air if you can forgo those amenities.

if youre really sure you want mac; go to apple store online and look for the education section.
if you want the mac os, get a pc and install windows
if you just want a laptop; id recommend the lenovo Y580; its on sale right now i believe (450$ off) at 950$ right now.

good luck

Originally Posted by chrisA

You can always get a student discount from the Apple Online Store. Start here.

store.apple.com/ca/findyourschool

I'd recommend the 13" Macbook Pro, if you care about a disk drive and need lots of hard drive space, or the 13" Macbook Air if you can forgo those amenities.

http://store.apple.com/ca_edu_107995.../home/shop_mac

Not seeing much as far as discounts go.

you wont find many deals on a mac beyond the student deal. Unless you..
-Are an iOS developer (or software developer in general)
-video edit a lot
-much prefer the Mac OS over the windows interface

then you are basically looking for a macbook for popularity and or the looks of the laptop, at the expense of your wallet. That said they are good, solid laptops with pretty good performance. Be aware not to spill anything on it tho. They are more susceptible to water damage than just about any other laptop. Macs tend not to go on sale except in august and even then the savings is relatively low. Apple has near-zero competition and so does not need big sales on any of its products. The student deal is the best for them (all year round).

As for design configurations...that s totally up to you. For macbooks the 13 inch pro is the most popular. But it really depends on the person. For example my Minimum requirements for a new laptop would be:
-Mid-High range Corei7
-SSD > 256gb
-8GB RAM
-low-mid range GPU (with hdmi and vga)
-USB 3.0, 9 cell batt, 14 inch, good keyboard
But my requirements would be targeted toward an extremely small niche audience. Maybe you could elaborate on what YOU want to do with your computer.

Originally Posted by herBs

Are you calling me computer illiterate? If you aren't, you better rephrase your post and/or provide an explanation.

I am utterly and completely baffled as to how you managed to interpret this as being directed at you and how you managed to get offended. What do you mean, "you'd better rephrase/explain?" I stated some reasons I would not recommend a mac if one only needs a computer to do some light web surfing and homework (Word, Excel, etc.). What on earth was so offensive about that?

"Hai guys, a laptop thread. I wonder what it'll eventually devolve into?" -Nobody (Ever)

Originally Posted by RyanC

"Hai guys, a laptop thread. I wonder what it'll eventually devolve into?" -Nobody (Ever)

You know, I was actually about to post that. Great minds and all that jazz I guess.

Originally Posted by Amaryll

I am utterly and completely baffled as to how you managed interpreted this as being directed at you and how you managed to get offended. What do you mean, "you'd better rephrase/explain?" I stated some reasons I would not recommend a mac if one only needs a computer to do some light web surfing and homework (Word, Excel, etc.). What on earth was so offensive about that?

You can be baffled all you want. Your post was directed at all MacBook users. If you don't see how, then you can feel free to PM me, and I'll explain.

Originally Posted by herBs

You can be baffled all you want. Your post was directed at all MacBook users. If you don't see how, then you can feel free to PM me, and I'll explain.

She shouldn't need to rephrase what she said though. Macs almost never get viruses, require little to no maintenance, and are more difficult to screw up than a Windows PC so they're better for people that are don't know how to/don't want to deal with those things. She didn't say everyone with a Mac was computer illiterate, just that not being good with a computer is one of many legitimate reasons to spend an extra $500 to get a Mac.