Pars Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 Sorry if this has already been posted... My oldest son is starting college next fall and we need to get him a laptop, preferably a Mac. I don't need a $2K PowerBook Pro or whatever, just something decent. I'm not opposed to used also, although it would need to be something reliable. Thanks for any suggestions, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n_maher Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 I'd go w/ a refurbished Macbook ($1000) or 15" Macbook Pro ($1500) and definitely get the warranty for a college kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBLoudG20 Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 definitely get the warranty for a college kid. Beer and laptops don't mix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grawk Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 Seconded. Refurbed macbook, upgrade the memory and hard drive on your own (it's simple) rather than paying apple to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voltron Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 Macbook (refurb) thirded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pars Posted May 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 Thanks. The Apple Store refurbs the way to go for this? I bought my PowerMac G5 desktop there and have never had a bit of trouble with it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n_maher Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 Thanks. The Apple Store refurbs the way to go for this? It's the only place I'd buy an apple refurb if only for the Applecare option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pars Posted May 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 I didn't bother with Applecare on my home machine... this I might however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voltron Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 I didn't bother with Applecare on my home machine... this I might however. Absolutely. My kids both have Macbooks and neither has had a problem but you never know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 did anyone mention refurb macbook? if not, refurb macbook.Malkovich malkovich. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pars Posted May 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 I've decided to go an entirely different route... how about a Macbook, perhaps a refurb from, oh, lets say... the Apple store? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrice Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 I've decided to go an entirely different route... how about a Macbook, perhaps a refurb from, oh, lets say... the Apple store? Get him a mac mini, great home entertainment server. refurbed of course. On another note, I got a great little 2.5 Western Digital internal drive (320GB) for my MacBook, super easy to install. http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/MacBook_13inch_HardDrive_DIY.pdf It won't void your warranty if I remember correctly, whereas a user replacing the hard drive for a macbook pro will void the warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pars Posted May 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 Might be kinda hard to deal with a mini in class... On a related note, I will probably need to add another drive to my G5 PowerMac... any recommendations? I know I've seen posts where you and Grawk and ?? have been discussing drives (RAID, etc.), so that's why I asked. It has an 80Gb stock... maybe add something 250G or maybe larger? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrice Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 Yeah, just kidding about the Mac mini....it was a thing a little while ago. People tend to like Western Digital and Seagate. I've been using Western Digital drives in external cases for a couple years now without problems. I'm guessing it needs a 3.5" drive? I don't know the specs. Best Buy will have some good sales every now and then on hard drives as well as Buy.com. Newegg.com is another place to look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salt Peanuts Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 On another note, I got a great little 2.5 Western Digital internal drive (320GB) for my MacBook, super easy to install. http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/MacBook_13inch_HardDrive_DIY.pdf It won't void your warranty if I remember correctly, whereas a user replacing the hard drive for a macbook pro will void the warranty. Really? I may have to give it a go on my MacBook then, as voiding warranty was why I hadn't upgrade the hard drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted May 7, 2008 Report Share Posted May 7, 2008 the unofficial word from Apple on upgrades has always been "do what you will, but if you break it you're fucked" on everything. How is that any different from voiding your warranty? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grawk Posted May 8, 2008 Report Share Posted May 8, 2008 It only voids your warranty for the things you specifically damage if you damage anything. Since that's always true, it's not that your warranty is voided, it's that apple doesn't warrant their product is free from user caused damage. I don't think that's even an apple thing, I think it's covered in US law. They can only exclude damage caused by the user, they can't refuse a warranty repair unrelated to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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