There must be a way to get Apple computers cheaper. There must.

LOVE Macs, but, their prices... not so much. There just must be a way to get Apple computers cheaper. I am a student in high school- unfortunately their education discount only applies to college students. I am aware of their printer discount- I guess I could get a free printer and then sell it on eBay but I want something else more direct. Isn't there some way to get a Mac cheaper- even if its $50 less or something? Are there any coupon codes? Secret mouse gestures that you do on their website and get a dozen free computers?

 

hint* you don't need an Apple...


It isn't even 'cool' anymore, everyone has one...

 

Get refurbs..

Or to save taxes, buy from an online retailer.

You can also buy gift cards for cheaper from those who have them and use them towards your mac.

Other than that, I'm out of ideas.

 

I'm not looking for something "cool." Not at all. I probably won't even bring it to school- I have an iPad for that. I'm looking for something that I will look forward to using. Something that feels nice to the touch. Something that will help me quit gaming. Something that will make it a joy to stay up till 3 AM finishing essays that I forgot about. Have you felt the keyboard? It's INSANE!! What do they even make it out? Precious plastic?

 

Refurb, used, etc.?

whitrzac's correct; you can't be cool and unique when everyone else is doing the same . Want to be different from the crowd? Buy a business laptop and not something from BestBuy or the like. I've only seen one other W520 at Clemson, and that was some DJ that was tailgating at a home game.

EDIT: I posted as soon as you posted your new comment OP. Business laptops aren't the best at gaming (so long as you don't get a FirePro or Quadro 2000M lol). Something like a Thinkpad T420 or T520 for around ~$700. You can definitely go cheaper with other business laptops if you wish.

 

I'm not trying to be different from the crowd! I want

In other words, my #1 priority in buying a computer is what it feels like to use. Imagine sitting down at a dull, grey, ugly Sager made of some kind of chemical rubber that could eat away your skin. Imagine coming home from school and deciding to use pen and paper for your homework because you just can't stand using your disgusting PC. Who cares whether PCs are cheaper and ten times more powerful? The important thing is if your computer is a joy to use. It's like buying a Mercedes over a Lexus. The Lexus is more efficient, has lower repair costs, and costs less, but the Mercedes is a joy to drive.

 

All computers are made with "skin eating" chemicals, including Macs. And beauty is in the eye of the beholder; try telling the guys in the Lenovo form that Thinkpads are dull, grey, and ugly

I love using my laptop, but I learn better with pen/paper. What makes a laptop disgusting, anyway?

You're having problems affording a Mac, I'm sure you'd care. And plenty of people care about power. I'd be pissed off if I tried running CAD on my laptop and it refused to do so. Likewise, I would want to buy a Corvette with a Civic engine, because someone would expect a Corvette to go fast.

Who says the people here who own Windows machines don't enjoy their laptops? And my mom owns a Toyota Avalon (basically just a Lexus without the badge) and I loved it (loads more comfortable than my Altima). Both are joyful to drive though (Avalon because it's a luxury car, and the Altima because it's mine and I can drive it anyway I want ).


Bottom line is this: You can either save up your money/get an extra gig/whatever and try affording the beloved Mac, or get practical and buy what's in your means. Sure, I'd love to own a BMW (not much of a Benz fan , and I've driven a friend's 535i and it was awesome), but very few college students could afford the car and the maintenance costs. You need to prioritize your budget, which is one of the main lessons college teaches you. It'd be better to buy a "dull, grey, ugly" laptop and be able to afford food, books, gas, etc. than to give up some important needs like that for a "luxury" item (debatable).

 

Wow, sorry that I use a dull, grey, ugly laptop.

If you can't afford one, don't use one. Geez.

 

Um, yeah, no, not really. Macs are made of pure aluminum. We bake food in aluminum. I don't think its nearly as skin-eating as plastic.

So... I've been on this forum for a month and so far everybody has been very nice to me. But you people are starting to annoy me. I WANT A MAC. PERIOD. Don't try to change my mind.

??? Are you saying I'm poor? My family has a 3 million dollar house in Moscow. We have a $700,000 house in Closter, Bergen County- one of the richest counties in America. My dad is a CEO. FYI. He is just very frugal and that's the reason I'm on a tight budget.

 

Are you in school?

Often the only discounts I have seen are educational discounts. See if you can purchase one through your school.

Apple store employees get a discount. Try and make friends with one.

Otherwise, buy one used. Sometimes people will dump barely used notebooks on ebay just because they changed their mind. If you save a search on ebay in your 'my ebay' profile, you can compulsively reload it a few times a day if you are really on the hunt.

 

What do you mean "if I can't afford one?" I have a budget of $2,300. I can afford one and wanted to buy one at some point until I visited the Apple store. My priority in everything that I have ever bought is looks- that's right, looks. NOT being cool. I don't care about that. I care about what something feels like, and whether it is good-looking.

Go back to playing video games in your parent's basement, PC lovers.

 

You forgot the inside parts like the motherboard.

We've told you it's pretty hard to find a cheap Mac. Sorry, but they hold their value very well. You either have to find more money, or look elsewhere.

Never accused you of being so. But if you're on your own budget, that means the your money supply is separate from your father's. He's the rich one here. whitrzac, Ryan, and I don't have any other idea on buying a cheap Mac is all. The only other possibility is that you buy a much older Mac, like this.

Also, I'm not really impressed with your attitude in this thread. Nobody here insulted your desire to own an Apple product. yet you come back to insult our laptop choices, and try to assume that you're better than us by showing off your father's wealth.

 

I was trying to help you,

and you started insulting my laptop for no reason at all?

Grow up, kid.

 

Wow, dude. Sorry. I never read signatures. I swear I never saw you had a Clevo. Sorry 'bout that.

 

Agreed. What's more important to you Baloney: a laptop or your college education? One is a purchase that you'll replace sometime in 2-4 years, and the other is a lifetime experience that'll improve your livelihood for as long as you live.

 

You don't get it. My dad is paying for the computer but I said he's very frugal and gave me a budget of $2,000, + $200 of my own money and my mom offered to pay $100 which makes $2,300.

I don't get it. How do you relate a laptop to college education? What are you talking about? Clarify, please. I don't see how saving $500 and buying a PC is going to increase my chances of getting into college. What is your point??? You just start talking about college out of nowhere for some reason.

 

You could buy a 13" MBP for $1199 or a 15" MBP for $1799.

 

Umm... I don't exactly touch those parts...

Hold on, hold on!!! Don't avoid my question about what a laptop has to do with college education. Answer it.

 

Amazon.com: Apple MacBook Pro MC723LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop: Computers & Accessories

No tax unless you live in a state where Amazon has a warehouse.

I actually don't care too much for Macs, since I see nothing special in them personally, though I can't stop you from buying one since it's your money. I spent around the same for my W520 (~$1750, plus ~$400 for RAM and SSD), so I could have gotten a loaded Mac if I felt like it. Different people like different things, is all. Can't stand island-style keyboards

Anyway, I think this thread should be moved to the WNSIB subforum.

 

Well, thanks for giving up the anti-Mac war. That's basically what I'm looking for except I want an HD screen. Why does MacMall have such insane prices? Apple charges $200 for a RAM upgrade and MacMall charges $674???? Aren't they supposed to be cheaper...

P.S. I love island-style keyboards!!! I think they look nicer (I really do only care about looks, don't I? I do need to grow up. )

FYI, everybody...

Over the past 6 years, my dad has had 3 PCs. Every single one died after no more than 3 years of use. Every. Single. One. The first one was a Compaq. One day it just stopped working. Then my dad built his own computer. After two years XP would get stuck booting and would never load- had to call in an IT technician. It took him a week to fix it. Then that same computer broke down again- this time the BIOS went, and that was for good. Then my dad bought an HP HDX Premium laptop for me. After two years of use, the screen started flickering. Then the hard drive went. I did everything to it: I installed Linux. Linux crashed. I reinstalled Windows and formatted the hard drive AT LEAST five times. Nothing helped and eventually the computer couldn't even get past BIOS. Paid $1500 for that laptop. Sold it as junk for $64. I think this justifies my hatred of PCs. And, it's not that I hate PCs so much. It's more that I'm scared of them. I don't want to throw away $2000.

P.S. My dad used all the very best and most expensive parts for the computer he built himself.

Let me tell y'all another horror story I had with PCs. I was about to order an HP dv6tqe when I read that they don't have drivers for the dedicated graphics card. They released the laptop and it turned out only the Intel HD 3000 graphics actually worked- the driver they made for the 6770M didn't work, and HP refused to refund the laptops (unless they were returned within 21 days). That was close. Really close. I'm afraid to trust any PC company.

Let's stop the war here, though. Everybody likes different things. I just tried to explain why I don't want a PC- maybe you understand me better now. It is very possible that I got lemons, but, after an experience like that- you know how it is.

 

You may have missed my post in the fury of posting throughout the last 2 pages.

Basically I said: see if you can get an educational discount through school. Often that is the deepest discount apple offers, besides to its apple store employees (maybe you can make a new friend with one?).

 

Sorry 'bout that. I hate it when people start anti-Mac wars. As if I was asking what computer to buy. I just visited the Apple store today and haven't been able to make any friends. Also, I'm going to order online because I get a free printer. Apple education discount is only available to college students or any teachers. The live chat people said that. It also says that on their website. My aunt is a teacher but the education discount can only be used once a year per family for laptops, so if my aunt wanted to buy one she would not get education pricing so we don't want to do that.

 

Eh, my experience with the HP Pavilion and Compaq lines are crap as well (I'm to guy my family members turn to for computer problems and several people I know own Pavilions). Basically, you kept buying garbage, and got it. Sorry to hear your horror stories. However, I could throw up counter points of my own experiences (owned a Win98 machine up until '05 with only a few DLL issues, then XP on an eMachines for ~$600 3yr w/o problems, and my family currently uses a Vista HP desktop w/o problem for ~$1000; and I use to own a Toshiba Satellite for ~$430 with Vista then 7 w/o problems).

I wasn't trying to start a war in the first place. I recommended something else because you're a college student, and assuming that you didn't have enough for a new Macbook (you forgot to mention you had $2300 to spend...). Then some of us offered suggestions such as refurbs, used, and the educational discount. Then you turn around to insult our own choices in laptops, so in that way you kind of started the "war". Finally you mention that you actually do have enough money to buy a MBP all along, so what gives?

Both Windows and OSX laptops use the same electronics inside (Foxconn, Asus, Toshiba, Intel, Seagate/WD, Samsung, etc.), and the only real difference between these two x86 platforms are the metal construction (which some Windows-based laptops have too; see HP Probook/Elitebook, Dell Latitude/Precision, some Asus models, HP Envy, off the top of my head. Thinkpad X/T/W series have an internal rollcage, which is stronger than a metal skin).

Ps, I would have gladly bought that $64 laptop of yours . The RAM and CPU alone would have been worth around $150 at the least.

EDIT: As a rule of thumb, business-class laptops > consumer laptops, always.

 

I'm not a college student. I'm in 9th grade in high school. I just graduated middle school last year.

"Insult." Geez, I didn't know your laptops meant so much to you guys!! Common, I just joined this forum last month!

 

You can buy and use any RAM for a Mac. RAM is RAM is RAM. the only reason they sell "Mac RAM" is to fool people to paying more for it.

And yeah, maybe

Okay, could've corrected me earlier. Though that brings up the question of why a 14-15yo needs a $2000+ laptop, though since you say your family is in the upper tax bracket, I won't bother asking.

"Insult." Geez, I didn't know your laptops meant so much to you guys!! Common, I just joined this forum last month![/QUOTE]

Well, it is a forum that allows users to discuss their laptops >.>

Apple lovers have their own subforum here, too, just saying.

 

There are other 'nice' laptops out there that wont cost over $2k. And when it breaks it will be much easier to repair.

I do laptop repair for extra $$$ I see nearly as many macs as PCs...


IMO I would take a sony vaio Z over a mac any day. The same 'stye' better components, and more options...

Spoiler

http://newtechinformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/126360-sony-vaio-z-series-9290.jpg


This is the first that came to mind for me, there are others...

 

Ah, I see that now. My bad

 

The Sony Vaio Z is a 13 inch laptop. If you read any of my posts you would know I was looking for a 15 inch. Listen to me, and listen to me very carefully. I'm tired of all the Mac haters on this forum. You either help if you know about getting a Mac cheaper, or you shut up and go away. Got it? I've never been to a forum with so much negativity!!! And don't try to say "I was only trying to help." You were NOT trying to help, you we trying to change my whole way of thinking.

P.S. Is the Sony Vaio carved out of one solid piece of aluminum, or is it made out of one thousand pieces of cheap plastic. Yeah. I can't wait to see your response to that. Genius.

 

Fair point.

Who said that NBR was full of Mac haters?

Which we already did, see our previous posts. We've shown you the educational discount, and I showed you an Amazon link (and an eBay link, iirc).

Wow, kid, wow... We've kept a calm tone throughout this thread trying to point out, and you're sitting here with this bad attitude of yours and 'yelling' at us through your typed words. We always strive to be nice here to people looking for help on these forums, but you've tried my patience. Stop acting like a spoiled brat. Either buy your precious MBP and get over it, or go somewhere else. I don't care who you (or your dad) are, but you're not going to sit here and 'yell' at us for trying to help you find a cheap MBP.

Will I get attention from the mods for the above paragraph? Maybe, who knows? But I'm tried of dealing with you. Take our advice, or leave it.

Oh really, you say we didn't try helping? Really? Please tell me you're kidding

By the way, we don't care how you think to be honest. A laptop is nothing more than a means to an end, a tool to use to complete a task. A laptop isn't the end itself. If you like OSX, use it. If your needs require something else, use something else. If you "can't afford" a Mac (and I doubt it, after you've flaunted your dad's wealth), buy something you can afford, or buy used. If you want to act like a zealot, be our guest. There's zealots and moderates in every computing environment. A lot of NBR members have experience with at least 2 OSes (I have experience with Windows and Ubuntu, and a bit of OSX, for example), and while some of us have favorites, we respect the choices other people make. We typically base our advice based on what is best for the OP's requirements and especially what they write in the sticky on the WNSIB subforum. You still complained about the market price for a MBP, so we offered alternatives and because of that, you accuse us of trying to change your computing mentality? Kid, grow up.

Personally, I don't know since I never expressed enough interest in the Vaio Z to find out. However, you can look in the Vaio Z owners' forum to find out. It's a well built laptop, I know that for sure (and so do the owners).

Carving a laptop out of a piece of metal doesn't make for the strongest of frames. Have you ever dropped a metal laptop (or any solid metal object of the same shape) and notice how easy it dent it? Plastic has the (sarcasm) amazing ability (/sarcasm) to flex, so dropping it won't damage the case. A much stronger laptop design would be a hard plastic outside, with an internal rollcage on the inside to protect the electronics. using a car example, which truck would you take off-road with you?: a solid metal truck, or a truck with a rollcage around it to protect you from injury? All the off-roading videos and trucks I've seen have rollcages inside.

Even you said that certain plastic notebooks felt nice to you. Don't be a hypocrite...

My final word to you:
If you REALLY want a MBP, just go buy one and be on your way. You have PLENTY of money to do so, so why are you even bothering posting here anymore?

 

This thread has gone about as far as it can go. Several users have already pointed out a couple avenues for the OP to secure a relatively discounted MBP (ie: eBay, educational discount, etc), so the question at hand has been answered.

For future reference: no one on NBR (with the possible exception of retailers) is paid to help you. If you want help, ask nicely. If you don't get the exact responses you would like, think about what you might be doing wrong, and politely ask again. Personal attacks and calling people names isn't going to help, and that goes for everyone.

Now, thread locked.