Mac on A Budget

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Well thanks to our friends over at Engadget, we now know what Steve Jobs is unleashing at the Macworld 2008 conference this morning. The new MacBook Air, the thinnest laptop on the market, will be pretty pricey, but it sure seems attractive to law students who carry dozens of pounds of books around with them daily.

Last semester I made the switch over from my bulky Gateway to the black MacBook. It’s true that the MacBook put a major dent in my pocketbook, but it also greatly increased my daily productivity, enabling me to get more done faster. Thanks to great tools like OmniOutliner, OmniFocus, Quicksilver and the ease with which my Mail, Address Book and iCal work with all these programs makes the MacBook “hands-down” the best purchase I’ve ever made.

If you read Mac Law Student (if not you definitely should; here’s the link)you’d know that Macs happen to function a lot like law students’ brains. They have the ability to accomplish multiple tasks at once, storing information in a meaningful and easy to recall way with the overall goal of retaining tons of information for yesterday, tomorrow and into the future.

I do have some tips though for getting yourself into a Mac, even when you’re on a budge

1. Never Purchase New
Generally computers are a lot like cars. They’re not going to go up in value once you’ve taken them out of the box, in fact, computers tend to depreciate much faster than cars simply because the technology is updated more frequently. With this in mind, you should always strive to purchase last season’s technology. So, if you’re in the market for a MacBook now, wait until MacBook Air saturates the market, and then try to purchase a regular MacBook from someone who upgraded to Air.

2. Troll E-Bay
Buying a computer online can be intimidating, you just need to ask plenty of questions, and make sure you’re bidding on a trusted seller. A good rule of thumb I use is to bid and sell using Pay-Pal only, because then you have another level of built-in corporate policies protecting you. In fact, I’m using Ebay now to sell my 16GB iPod Touch (I like the new iPod nano version better; see link here).

3. Call Your Local Apple Store and Ask If They Sell Refurbished
Local Apple Stores will many times have refurbished Macs in stock, or old floor models that they pull off the floor but are available for purchase. It’s best to call your local store or show up and ask them what their particular store’s refurbished options are.

4. Constantly Monitor Mac’s Online Refurbished Sections
Apple will sell their own refurbished products to you here. Most other online retailers also sell refurbished Macs, but I’d stay safe and purchase directly from Apple.

5. When All Else Fails, Finance Your New Mac
I hate to recommend this, but if you can’t find what you want used, and are extremely picky, you can purchase new (and finance through Apple’s Juniper Bank Visa Card–with a huge and unattractive APR). I would almost never recommend this, unless it is your only option to put yourself into a Mac and you are truly in dire straits. My position is that being “backwards” into a Mac by financing it on a credit card is still marginally better than owning and using a PC as your primary computer (sorry for offending PC users–I still have two PCs in my home).

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8 Comments

1. Michael on 15.01.2008 at 18:20 (Reply)

   I’m glad you like the macbook.
   I think there are similar resources available for PCs, but the ones available for the mac really do work well together. Especially for GTD fans there are some great mac resources.
   have you seen http://macstyles.com/ ?
   $20 may seem like a lot to spend on what is essentially just decoration for your mac, but they actually serve a pretty good purpose. The macbooks, like the ipods, can have a tendancy to get scratched up. If you plan on selling yours in the future big scratches or scuffs could make it harder to sell or cause you to get less money for it. So, the 20 dollars will allow you to customize your macbook and protect it from some cosmetic damage as well. (I have a white macbook with blue macstyle)

2. Michael on 15.01.2008 at 18:24 (Reply)

   Another tip to save money on a mac is to see if your school has a discount when purchasing through apple. Sometimes it can make getting a new macbook not much different than a used one with the same specs.

3. Erik on 15.01.2008 at 23:27 (Reply)

   Brett,

   First, thanks very much for the link. Second, great suggestions.

   I’d add one more, which is that some road warriors upgrade their laptops relatively frequently. If you can make contacts with professionals who use Macs (designers, salespeople, programmers, etc.), you may be able to get first dibs on used hardware.

   Hope you’re having a relatively relaxed semester.

4. Brett McKay on 16.01.2008 at 06:31 (Reply)

   Erik-
   You should thank, Tony. He wrote the post. I’m hoping to get a bigger author display at the top of each post to stop the confusion.

5. Erik on 16.01.2008 at 10:02 (Reply)

   Ah, now I see where the author slug is. Apologies, Tony!

6. vh on 17.01.2008 at 19:25 (Reply)

   Thanks for the lead to the refurbished Macs.

   Since I run a computer until it falls apart, I’ve egotistically assumed everyone else does the same…never thought about getting a computer second-hand. This is something to look in to!

7. ThinkingRock + AutoHotKey = GTD Nirvana | The Frugal Law Student on 22.01.2008 at 07:31

   […] many of you know, I’ve really wanted a Macbook. Despite Tony’s great advice on how to get one on a budget, I still don’t have the scratch to afford one. One of the reasons I want a Macbook so bad is […]

8. copyright trademark on 04.10.2008 at 14:48 (Reply)

   You have to be careful buying second hand laptops, they tend to break really fast.

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