Macbook Pro 2.4 GHz 15" - Price Is Right?

[hachi]

I'm finally making the conversion from PC to Apple. PC has served me well for my needs but I'm looking to build my skill sets. I'm finding more job postings requiring familiarity with Apple platform as well as PC.

I'll be using it for general surfing, PP, video (real novice stuff), some web design.

My mom gets discounts at Apple through her work but it looks like the difference is still $1k between the Unibody and a used one of the previous model. So with that I'm going with a used one as long as the price is right.

I found one with the following specs...

Macbook Pro 15" 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4 GB (2 X 2GB)
160 GB hard drive
8X SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT w/ 256 MB VRAM
+ remote, DVI-to-VGA adaptor, and a cooling pad
+ AppleCare through the end of next year

My questions are...

1. Is $1300 a fair price for the MBP listed above?

2. Can I verify AppleCare expiration over the phone w/ Apple?

3. It only comes w/ Leopard. Is iLife and iWork necessary/useful software I should look into getting?

Thanks in advance!

[hachi]

I found my answer for #2 about AppleCare. I just need the serial # and type it into this website https://selfsolve.apple.com/GetWarranty.do .

I'm just down to 2 questions...

- Is $1300 a fair price for the MBP listed above?

- It only comes w/ Leopard. Is iLife and iWork necessary/useful software I should look into getting?

[Moppie]

I happen to think iLife is just consumer iCrap and iCandy.

Everything but Garage band can be done just as well, or better with other software. Garage band would be nice to have if you are interested in making digital music, and does sound like a more powerful than average tool.


iWork I have no opinion on, except that Open Office has as many featues, and is free.
For only basic stuff, letter writing, simple spreadsheets, documents etc, I would use google docs instead, which also has the advantage of being accesible from anywhere, and any platform with web access.

[wlescall]

Keep an eye on the Apple Store for refurbs. I picked up a previous generation MacBook Pro 2.4 GHz 200 GB HD for $1349 last year.

+1 on what Moppie said about Open Office.

[Tony-S]

NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT w/ 256 MB VRAM

I'd strongly advise against buying this computer because the 8600m is a time bomb. Nvidia really dropped the ball on it. You should google "8600m failure" to see what I mean. Some people think most of these chipsets will fail prematurely.

3. It only comes w/ Leopard. Is iLife and iWork necessary/useful software I should look into getting?

I have both and use only iWeb on a regular basis from the iLife suite, but I use Pages, Numbers and Keynote all the time from the iWork suite. Importantly for me, Pages now supports EndNote so my days of using Word are pretty much over.

[MaxxuM]

I'd strongly advise against buying this computer because the 8600m is a time bomb. Nvidia really dropped the ball on it. You should google "8600m failure" to see what I mean. Some people think most of these chipsets will fail prematurely.

Here's the knowledge base: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377

I have one of these laptops and am a bit worried. Apple told me it was only two known batches that were bad and that it should not effect my computer. In any case, I'm glade they extended the warranty.

[MaxxuM]

I happen to think iLife is just consumer iCrap and iCandy.

Couldn't disagree more. iLife '09 is pretty powerful and for free (with new Mac) it's hard to beat. I know of no better solution for under $80 on the market. If you use Aperture, Final Cut and Logic - yea, I can see how iLife could be considered crap ;)

[hachi]

the nvidia issue is concerning but good to know there's an extended warranty on it. i would like to think if it doesn't fail within the extended warranty i would be in the clear. but then again if it does fail it would probably happen when i have a big project or something. more things to think about.

thank you for the feedback everyone! it's much appreciated!

[Moppie]

If you use Aperture, Final Cut and Logic - yea, I can see how iLife could be considered crap ;)



Exactly, it is consumer level software :p

iPhoto can be replaced by ACDSee or Faststone, etc.
iWeb is nice, but Wordpress is far more powerful, and so easy to use it is scary.

Garage Band, as I said, does sound cool, but only of any use if you plan on using it seriously.

Essentially the whole iLife package is aimed squarly at the gadget concise consumer who wants to be able to brag to his mates, play with the toys a couple of times, and then forget about it. :cool: