Have a couple of questions on the 13" Macbook pro

I am headed out to the Apple store tonight to pick up the 13" Macbook pro for my wife. Is the upgrade to the faster processor, HD, and ram worth the jump from 1199 to 1499? Would it be worth the bother for me to upgrade the components myself? I have no problems working on notebooks, just never have worked on a macbook before.

Also, is there an extended warranty available past the one year that it comes with outside of the seemingly ridiculous cost of the AppleCare Protection Plan for $249?

Thanks for your input and any other suggestions you might offer before my purchase.

 

Get the Apple care now or off E-bay later ... you may need it. for the $300 Upgrade the RAM and HDD yourself.
here's the instructions for dismantling/upgrading. Just need a Phillips 0 and a Torx #6 for drivers

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook-Pro-13-Inch-Unibody/814/1

 

For almost a quarter of the cost of the machine, I don't think Applecare is worth it.

It's a game of chance.

 

WAY too many of my units have need servicing once or multiple times after the first year expires. and I hate having overly expensive bookends.... I have enough.

 

Thank you for your input. So I should do the RAM and HDD myself.

Is there going to be a big difference in performance from the 2.26GHz to the 2.53GHz?

 

yep do the ram and HDD yourself, as for speed difference, for general use not noticible speed difference, if you do much CPU intensive work such as photo editing or video encoding you will notice a little bit of a difference... all depends on what you want to do

and NO you can not upgrade the CPU later as it is a soldered on BGA chip

 

Oh wow, now that I didn't know. Kind of sucks that I can't upgrade the processor.

 

nope none of Apples laptops have a replacable CPU. Irritates me some days as well when I find cheap C2D processors or inherit one from a repair job.

 

Personally I'd go with the lower end MBP (although you will never be able to upgrade the CPU). AppleCare is a must for the repair costs of laptops which are much more likely to fail/break than desktops. I've had about ~$4000 worth of repairs done on my MBP in the 2.5 years I've owned it (logic board swap, cooling system swap, 2*top panel swap, entire laptop swapped (free upgrade to Penryn ), 2 new batteries, LCD panel swap). I paid $170 for AppleCare (ebay).

 

Thanks for the info everyone. I just got back from the store. I did go into the store with the intent of purchasing the lower model, but ended up walking out with the more expensive one. I figured that for the $300 extra the larger HDD, RAM, and CPU seemed to be worth my time in having to purchase and then installing them myself. Also, if I end up upgrading it for her in the future I will probably want to put in an SSD, and for now they are just too expensive.

People are mentioning buying the AppleCare on Ebay. Does anyone have a suggestion for a reputable seller of the AppleCare on Ebay? Just seems odd to me that you can just purchase a warranty on Ebay for less than they sell it in the store.

On a side note, those machines sure are nice looking. One thing that Apple does well is design. Oh, and it was a bit easier to carry than my ASUS

 

Ebayers/retailers sell products below retail price all the time. The price of accessories/addons is usually inflated to have high profit margins. I would look for a seller with a lot of feedback that has a long history of selling AppleCare. The risk is that you are just buying a code and not a physical product so you can't really dispute the purchase.

 

Buying Applecare on Ebay is perfectly fine and you can get a good deal vs. buying it directly from Apple. The thing to look out for when buying Applecare on Ebay are sellers offering to email you the activation code. Stay away from those sellers. Only buy from a seller who will send you sealed box.

Apple allows the customer to return the Applecare anytime while the warranty is in effect. If an Ebay seller emails you the activation code, he can return the Applecare several weeks later, get his money back, your Applecare will get voided and he's got your money.

 

Wow, more great info, thanks everyone!

 

I concur heartily with HLdan's recommendations.

Best advice I can also give for AppleCare on Ebay is to be sure that the one you're buying is the most current version being sold through the Apple Store or Amazon (you can get find these in the Apple Shopping Cart or Amazon product page), and that it be sealed box - NOT where a code is emailed to you..... taking these precautions means that it is thus no different from buying it at the Apple Store or Amazon directly.

I'm a little averse to buying a warranty from an older AppleCare version, which can sometimes go cheaper, and then possibly having it not register or possibly be honored when I need it because it's old. You can simply search on Ebay for the AppleCare code and see what's available.

I always stick with factory sealed boxes - avoids the potential issue with pirated or stolen keys that are then emailed to you but are passed off as legitimate until you actually need it and discover the problem. Had this happen on occasion with software, and learned my lesson.

I've obtained AppleCare for Macbooks, iMac and iPod Touches (x6 total) from Ebay over the past 2 years, reputable sellers. Else, famous axiom says that if the deal appears too good to be true, it probably is.