Mac Laptops (SUPERB ones) CHEAP!
I’m writing this on my original-generation 15″ MacBook Pro, that I bought at the end of September 2006 for $2,799 (I tarted it up with extra RAM and a larger hard drive).
You can now buy a refurbished MacBook Pro IDENTICAL to mine, FOR $1,200 LESS, two and a half months later, directly from Apple! I suppose I should be angry or something, but I’m not - I love to see Apple cranking out new generations of hardware as fast as they can. It gives me something to aspire toward.
I suspect that there will be even newer (third-generation, full 64-bit) MacBooks coming out in a month, and Apple is dumping their old stock as fast as they can before the holidays are over.
Do I have any concerns about buying refurbished hardware? NOPE! I’ve recommended refurbs for decades, hundreds and hundreds of people have followed my advice, and I have never gotten back bad feedback as a result. In fact, this laptop is the first Mac that I’ve ever bought that wasn’t refurbished.
So, start thinking about excuses to buy a Mac laptop. If you were thinking about buying a desktop Mac, then I suggest that you re-think your strategy. Sixty percent of all Macs being sold are laptops, and there’s a darned good reason for it - There are NO drawbacks any more. In the old days, laptops were slower, or had limited capability for expansion.
Now, they are pure money-pumps for folks who use their Macs to make a living. I’m thrilled with mine, and never expect to buy a non-laptop for my own purposes, ever again.
So, here’s how it works:
If you go to this s-p-e-c-i-a-l Apple Store link and then scroll down to the lower right corner and click the red “SAVE” tag, then go through the process to buy something, then there is one, special, extra step that I’m requesting:
On the last page, just as you are ready to click the final button to confirm the sale, you will be asked for the Apple Agent Number. Please put in this number:
AA071743
That refers to me. If somebody buys something through that link and supplies that number, I get credit for the sale, and Extra Apple Bonus Points toward dreamy laptops in Tony’s future!
After I wrote this, I was asked about the newer vs. the older MacBook Pro’s:
I would have been a lot more enthused about the Core2 Duo Macs if they weren’t tragically crippled by Intel…Intel makes the motherboards, and the Core2’s have a 64-bit chip on a 32-bit motherboard. They can’t access more than 3 gigs of RAM, forever. The new, full-64-bit motherboards coming this spring will alleviate the problem, allowing up to sixteen exabytes of RAM. That oughta be enough, FINALLY :->
Of course, that’s all theoretical, limited by the amount of cash you’ve got, and how soon those 8-exabyte RAM chips start showing up at the Apple Store!
