Apple now?

I'm doing a summer school program at a college and have a legitimate student ID right now. I've been thinking of getting a MBP using the student discount in this case as it would save me some dough. However, I don't need a new laptop until next summer when I do go off to college; my P-6831FX can still last me one more year through high school.

What do you guys say in this predicament? Should I buy a MBP now just for the student discount?

 

Well, in all honesty, if you wait a year, you are going to get more bang for your buck. In other words, hardware is going to be more powerful in another year, a MBP might come with more features in another year, and the price shouldn't really change all that much. So $1500 will take you a lot further in one year than it will now. So that is a positive aspect of waiting.

A negative is that any MBP out now is going to run circles around your current notebook including the 13" baseline model (though I do not know how the Nvidia 8800 stacks up against the HD 3000) so you have that to look forward to.

Personally, your current notebook (which was pretty expensive 3 years ago) isn't all that bad if school work is your main focus as it can get any school related task finished in a timely manner. I would wait until next year when you will likely need a new system. Stretch the Gateway to 4 years of operating time so that you get the most for your money. If you really want to change things up a bit, you can always buy Windows 7 and put it on there (do a clean install though). That will improve things over Vista if you still have that on your notebook. Save up your money and, by the time you are ready to purchase a new computer, start weighing your options. You might have enough money by then to buy a top of the line 17" MBP or Apple could come out with something new by then (a 17" MBA) that is more appetizing that what is out now. So, unless you have a pressing need for a new computer, I don't see why you can't wait another year.

 

Or you can always buy a cheaper 2011 model by then!

I can only think of a processor upgrade and USB 3.0 ports that might be worthwhile for the money for a 2012 model. The GPUs in the apple line aren't renowned like in windows machines, so there is not much worry there.

 

Well, I would be getting the 13" MBP for $1100 if I decide to purchase now. The 17" laptop now is way too big for college. I have had my Gateway for ~3.5 years and I can still see another school year out of it. I won't spend another cent on the laptop and I still think it is plenty fast enough for the work I do and the games I rarely play.

I was just wondering if buying now would give me more bang-for-the-buck or not. It seems that I can wait until 2012 and get a new laptop when college starts for me.

Thanks!

 

17" is most certainly NOT too big for College.

Don't confuse the typical size and weight of a PC 17" with that of the MBP. It's thin, light, will fit in most backpacks and lasts 6+ hours on a charge.

 

If its the standard student discount you can get that easily with out having an ID. Just wait it out for next year's model.

 

6+ hours and that a 17 inch MBP? LOL!

 

I'm not seeing the funny part of AJ's post.

 

the 17" is very expensive, and I also think it's too big for school.

I would maybe consider the air if you were buying today, just because it has a better resolution than the 13" pro.

 

A 17" noteboook is certainly too big for me to lug around college. As I said, I'm doing a summer school program at a college right now and my laptop only stays in my dorm room. If I had a 13" notebook (15" max), I would bring it to class and use it more often.

The 13" Air is more expensive than the 13" Pro and I don't want to spend too much on another laptop. All of mine have been under $1200 and I like to keep the price as close to $1000 as possible. I'm also don't really care about resolution; my 17" screen has a 1440x900 resolution which isn't that high at all. Plus, I'd like to keep a CD drive just in case.

How do I do that then? Just show them my age and tell them I've graduated HS and am attending a college?

 

the 17" MBP is smaller/lighter than many companies 15" machines

Ordering with a student discount online they have never checked my ID... I guess its the honor system.

 

So you seriously lasted 6 hours on a charge with browsing (wifi), watching movies, running programs? Now, I would have trusted you blindly if it weren't for the fact that I also have a 2011 MBP.

 

As long as the movies arent Flash, it's possible, and yes, I have one too.

 

Actually I never said such, especially the movie watching and neither did AJreynol. That battery time is very realistic, at least for me.
I have a 2010 15" MBP. Now, to be fair it's rated at 8-9 hours depending on what you're doing. I get 6-7.5 hours on wifi surfing, listening to music, an occasional YouTube video and working on projects such as designing brochures in Pages all with 50% screen brightness with bluetooth turned on so those battery times are very possible.

 

I will try it with just surfing but I am pretty certain I will get around 3 hrs!

My netbook said up to 9 hrs, but I got 6 hrs on full brightness, flash etc. Now, the apple claim of so and so hours seems pure deceivement to me.

 

use gfxCardStatus and force your Intel HD 3000 on... not letting it kick the AMD on will save a couple hours by itself.

 

QFT, I should've mentioned that I use gfxCardStatus and I keep it set to Intel graphics. Makes a big difference in battery life.

 

I did that and still am getting around 3 hours from 2.5 hours before.

 

the 17 in macbook pro weighs in at about 5-6lbs.

Your gateway weighs in at 10 + 2lb. power brick...

How do i know? Check the sig

 

you need to double check everything you've installed and have running in the background. Kill off programs you don't need that are still running. And I mean really quit them, not just close their windows... there may be something wrong with your machine and/or battery as well, as that seems really low.

 

I agree, that is way too low even for a 15" or 17" MBP. Apple's current battery life claims also aren't incorrect either. If anything, they are more accurate than last year's claims and they are definitely more accurate than most other PC companies. My supervisor has a 2010 i7 15" MBP and still gets about 7 hours on a single charge while I normally pull in 6.5-7.5 hours under OS X depending on what I am doing. There is no way you should be getting 2.5-3 hours on a single charge unless you are running a bunch of background programs, have bluetooth on, are constantly accessing information through wi-fi, have the display brightness all the way up, etc.

 

I took it to the genius bar for a missing screw and they ran the power test for the battery and said the battery was fine. The "genius" told me that my claim for 3 hours was actually right around the corner if I am running video / flash on the computer. I would say that 50% is very low and would be strain on the eyes.

Isn't that what wifi does?

 

Getting back to the main topic, as already mentioned, Apple doesn't really verify your college student status when you purchase online.

If you buy in-store, they used to ask you to log into your university e-mail account on the spot or provide some other written proof of enrollment. They'll accept a college ID card or, if you just graduated from high school, any written documentation that proves you will be attending a particular college in the fall (letter of admission works, even if you didn't actually accept the offer yet).

If you buy over the phone, the salesperson used to ask you for your university email address or the name of your institution.

No clue if those procedures have changed--was quite a while ago.

 

That's odd, now I don't know how long ago they were doing that but the last few years I've had no issue getting the student deal over the phone. I do a lot of continuing education for my business so that counts so I just tell them the school I attend, they look it up and that's it, I get the discount. No paperwork to fax in and no university email address to confirm with. Just bought my 15"MBP that way as well. I will say this, when it comes to Microsoft vs. Apple, I will have to give Apple the thumbs up on their honor system. Nice that they trust their customers enough online and over the phone. I only mentioned MS because their activation scheme and after a couple of reformats you have to call them directly to basically unlock you so you can reactivate.

 

I would disagree. I simply cannot run my MBP anywhere near the maximum brightness as that would strain my eyes. In fact, I find a backlight level of around 45% to be optimal while also allowing the MBP to automatically adjust the level with fluctuating light. So 3 hours would be an accurate number if all you are doing is playing Flash content. I stated how I use my MBP. I suggest you conduct a battery test using it as such and go from there. Any notebook, whether it is a MBP or not, won't be able to last the advertised time if you have the backlight above ~50% and are constantly playing back Flash content.

As in you are constantly downloading content while on battery. For example, I surf the internet while I am on my battery and then I am done using wi-fi. I don't have something in the background that continues to download/upload thus continuously accessing wi-fi.

 

The wifi chip draws variable power based on how much it's being used.

If you are watching HD flash video at full brightness on Lion, you're about as bad off as you can be for battery life.

You're cpu will be working hard, wifi working hard, fans running full speed, screen sucking down power.