Getting a MacBook Pro from Best Buy ended up better than expected

[vh_bu98]

I've been looking to get a Mac for almost 2 years now trying to decide between the Mac Pro and the MacBook Pro mainly for photo editing. So I finally decided on the MacBook Pro, but held off since I knew a new model was coming out.

The new model came out and I was iffy with it since I expected more and the glossy only LCD thing sort of turned me off on it. So I went to the Best Buy store on Wednesday night hoping that they would price match the clearance price of $1799 for the early 2008 2.5 Ghz model. I showed the store manager Apple's website and he said he wouldn't do it because he would lose too much money. This annoyed me to the point that I e-mailed Best Buy corporate the next day stating how disappointed I was with their price match policy.

I get a call from corporate this morning apologizing and saying that the store manager should have done the price match. And they were going to send me a $25 gift card for the issue. And the irony is that Best Buy lowered their prices to match the Apple clearance prices today anyways.

At this point, I was contemplated on getting the entry level late 2008 model for $1999. I stopped by the Apple store to check out the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros and talked to some of the employees. I like the track pad and the case, but I really didn't care for the black keys, black bezel and the glossy LCD. So I decided on the 2.5 early 08 model and even the Apple store employee thought that was the better option.

Off to Best Buy I went.

Of course it took forever for someone to help me, but it was actually for the best that it did take so long because I met this guy who was also getting the 2.5 MacBook Pro and he was having another BB employee checking with the manager on applying the student/teacher discount. The employee came back saying that the manger approved it. So it was going to be only $1599 instead of $1799! I went to the car and grabbed my student ID so I could get the discount as well.

But here comes the moment of suspense, it was the last one they had in the store and the other guy was their first. The employee then got on the phone with another store to see if they could transfer one in the morning. Now I was wondering if I would walk out of the store with it tonight or not. Lucky for me, the other guy wanted BB to do a 4 GB RAM upgrade and they would have to do it tomorrow, so he opted to wait until tomorrow and I got the MacBook Pro tonight. I did tell him that he could save money by doing it himself, but the BB employee told him that it would void his warranty if he did. I think that spooked him and it ended helping me out.

So I ended up paying $1731.99 ($1599.99+tax) with 18 months of no interest on my Best Buy credit card, plus $35 in Reward certificates and the $25 gift card. So my real cost for a brand new 15.4" LCD, 2.5 Ghz, 512 MB VRAM, MacBook Pro was only $1671.99! And to think I was considering a refurbished model that would have cost me $1623.75 after tax. And yes, OnSale.com/MacMall/PCMall would only been $1643.99 after the $150 rebate, but the extra $28 I ended up paying to have it now and not having to deal with the rebate process was worth it.

That's the end of my journey...sorry that it was so long.

It has been 10 years since I really used and supported a Mac. But I'm a Microsoft Certified Professional so I should be able to figure it out.

My new MacBook Pro should be done charging now...

[S/SOnly]

Grats on the buy, and welcome to the MacWorld!

D

[jdc]

Congrats, Mac household here

[vh_bu98]

I have 3 Windows machines at home so I'm trying to get use to whole idea of adding a Mac. I'll never get rid of Windows since that's how I make my living. It's trying to figure out how to implement every thing together.

[S/SOnly]

Boot Camp or Parallels.....?

Originally Posted by vh_bu98

I have 3 Windows machines at home so I'm trying to get use to whole idea of adding a Mac. I'll never get rid of Windows since that's how I make my living. It's trying to figure out how to implement every thing together.

[newsub]

Once you go Mac, you never go back

[Hatchet]

Originally Posted by vh_bu98

BB employee told him that it would void his warranty if he did.

This, of course, is not true.

[srl7741]

Congrats on the new Mac, as a fellow MCP you will never go back. I love my 17" MBP and 24" iMac. After dealing with the PC all day it's nice to come home to something that works.

[astcell]

At the Apple store tonight I played with the laptops. I got iWork for $79 plus a 17% .mil discount. Beats MS Office by miles!

[flea5590]

I have used I Books, Pro ones and now an air - hate PC's!

[JimSnyder]

I want a Mac!! It will be my next one

[Ed Rooney]

Best Buy is a portal to hell.

[Irish Dan]

With I had Mac't up a lot sooner than I did.

[srl7741]

Yesterday (Saturday) the last hold out in my family pulled the trigger and purchased a new MBP 17" along with a TC.

A few hours later after getting home he telephoned me and told me I was right and he was upset that he used his PC for so long. I had to giggle at him. Everyone else in my family have been using Mac's and have tried to explain how much easier they were to use provide some examples (But NO) he would have none of that.

So within a few minutes of being on the telephone I explained to him we could have a video conference call and save the long distance charge. He about sh_t himself after that. He had no idea and when we began our live video call (for free) we both laughed out loud for about 10 minutes.

One of those moments where I wish it was being recorded. A classic Windows person waking up and learning something new.

[shoppy]

Congrats on your new machine, I am a mac fan and buy everything that comes out. I have just replaced our laptops from the early 2008 models with the new macbook pros. I got two new spec 17" and a brand new 15" 2.4 standard spec and a new ipod nano to boot.

I have to say, I am still in two minds with these new ones. Both my 17" are high res and glossy, but in the new 15" it is impossible to really view a film unless I am sat a foot in front of my screen. I am writing this one the 15" as I am still setting it up. The new migration was an ass as I did not have a firewire 800 cable only 400 and so had to transfer 166Gb of my data. This took just a little over 6 hours via ethernet.

I am heading in to the apple store to get a new 800 cable and some new port to dvi and vga adapters. Enjoy your machine you will love it.

[oneillba]

I have Mac's. They are great, but expensive compared to PC's. Sadly, nowadays, that is making the choice harder for many people to justify.

[Jimbits76]

Originally Posted by jdc

Congrats, Mac household here

more like dirty mac you old flasher!!!!!!!!!!

J

[vh_bu98]

I'm starting to pick-up things bit by bit, although I wonder if I'm just too analytical. I actually have to try not to over think things when I use the MBP.

So far, I've formatted the MBP and downloaded and installed a few things. I need to get Office for Mac, which is the only thing that is really preventing me from completely moving over now. My 4 GB of RAM should arrive tomorrow.

My thing lately is actually trying to decide on what kind of case to get. I want something light. I've narrowed it down to the Brenthaven Metro II and the Waterfield HardCase. These two cases are quite opposite from each other in terms of looks and price. Does anyone have a recommendation for anything else?

[Jedi]

NeoOffice, which is free, is open source software for both Mac and PC and is arguably more stable than MS Office.

I use it exclusively on my Macs and it is compatible with MS Office... without the bugs.

[mikey]

I have only been in the Mac World maybe 3 months and I love them. The only problem is most people use Windows for work and I used a Dell PC and Compaq Laptop to do that work. Leisure time is Mac time. I have ibook G3, 17in Powerbook G4 with a SuperDrive and waiting for an iphone 8gb as a gift. Two most important features are Macs are virus free and do not crash (if i am wrong then I am sure macs crash less than a Windows laptop).

[Jedi]

Macs do crash, but rarely so, in fact I can't remember the last time, but it does happen. the real beauty is that recovery is completely hassle and stress free. Nothing is too difficult on a Mac.

[shoppy]

Especially now with time machine it is even easier, in my 5 years of using macs I have had only 3 crashes, that have been frustrating.

[Luminor]

I was a pc only sort of guy, used to mod pcs, heck i even spent $4000 usd on a gaming system last year.

I bought a mac book a year ago also, the result........

I got rid of my gaming rig, and i just connect my laptop and use it as a desktop form now on.

I think the MAC OS is really good.

[mikey]

Did you purchase the Aluminum MacBook Pro from Oct 14th? i know the white macbook with same config dropped $100.

[vh_bu98]

Originally Posted by mikey

Did you purchase the Aluminum MacBook Pro from Oct 14th? i know the white macbook with same config dropped $100.

No, I didn't get the new MBP because I didn't like the glossy screen and didn't really care for the black keys and black trim. The only thing I like was the new trackpad, FSB and graphic cards but those weren't enough to justify the cost.

This is what I got....

MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (previous generation)
15.4-inch widescreen display
2GB memory - I upgraded it to 4GB
250GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 512MB of GDDR3 memory
Built-in iSight Camera

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB134LL/A

So far it works although I have had some applications freeze up on me. I really do miss the Windows task manager for those moments since the force quit doesn't quite do it. I just upgraded the memory to 4 GB of CLS 4 RAM so lets see if that makes a difference. I am not sure if it's Safari or not, but IE 7 on my P4 3GHz opens webpages faster. The only thing I can think of is that my desktop is using a 10,000 RPM hard drive vs the 5400 RPM in the MBP.

Hopefully when I d/l Aperture 2 and Lightroom 2, Leopard makes up for it since photo editing was frustrating on my Dell. I am not sure how much of that was due to Capture NX though.

I am getting Office for Mac for $29 so I'm going to use that. I actually like the layout of Office. I'll look into NeoOffice to see if I can import my PST file.

[mikey]

I don't understand the glossy and matte screen debate. I have Leopard 10.5.5 and I love Frontrow. The black keys on the Mac Air is fine since it is backlit. I have the backlit ambient sensor in my Mac laptop too. There was once an older 15inch mac with black keys and smaller keyboard that topped out at 300-400mhz but the black keys remind me of that earlier mac laptop. Enjoy your MBP and its really a top of the line laptop!