Is this a good deal on the apple macbook pro laptop ?

[wearetheborg]

My univ is offering the macbook pro to some of its faculty/staff. I have a T30 (P4 2Ghz), running linux, never owened macs, but heard good things about it. Trying to decide whether to get the macbook:

Specifications
==============
15" MacBook Pro
Intel 2.0GHz core duo
****1 x 1GB memory module
**** 100 GB hard drive
15.4 inch screen
***** 256 MB video ram
SuperDrive (read/write)
iSight camera
Mac O/S
iLife software
*****3-year applecare protection

Price: 1550 + Tax

Comments ?

Are macbooks robust (with respect to shocks etc) ? How do they compare to IBM laptops ? If there were a similarly priced T60, which one would you recommend ?

 

[theblackbox]

Sounds like a good deal. Thats a lot of laptop for 1550+tax. The ability to load windows through boot camp is a plus too.
I love mine, it's the best laptop i have ever had, and does everything i need it to.

 

[AmigaMan]

man that's not a good deal, that's a GREAT deal! My setup which is exactly like yours cost me $2700 (including tax and 3yr AppleCare) and that was after the educational discount I got. How the hell are you getting this deal? I didn't know universities would discount off the already lowered Apple Educational price.

My MBP has survived well in the month I've owned it. I take it to work every day use it for 8-10 hours, then take it home in my backpack and use it at home for another 3 hours. No issues so far. It's comparable feature wise to the Lenovo Thinkpad T60p which costs $2700+tax as well (although you'll probably get a lot better price). Theres no questioning the Thinkpad quality and for me it was a tough decision. It came down to me being able to hold a MBP in my hands to see how I like it, I could walk out of the store with it (Thinkpads are horribly delayed in shipping), and I wanted to really use OS X. If I had gotten the Thinkpad, I would have installed Ubuntu Linux on it and dual booted.

And yes, I'm extremely jealous

 

[wearetheborg]

Originally posted by: AmigaMan
man that's not a good deal, that's a GREAT deal! My setup which is exactly like yours cost me $2700 (including tax and 3yr AppleCare) and that was after the educational discount I got. How the hell are you getting this deal? I didn't know universities would discount off the already lowered Apple Educational price.

My MBP has survived well in the month I've owned it. I take it to work every day use it for 8-10 hours, then take it home in my backpack and use it at home for another 3 hours. No issues so far. It's comparable feature wise to the Lenovo Thinkpad T60p which costs $2700+tax as well (although you'll probably get a lot better price). Theres no questioning the Thinkpad quality and for me it was a tough decision. It came down to me being able to hold a MBP in my hands to see how I like it, I could walk out of the store with it (Thinkpads are horribly delayed in shipping), and I wanted to really use OS X. If I had gotten the Thinkpad, I would have installed Ubuntu Linux on it and dual booted.

And yes, I'm extremely jealous

Its a special deal univ has negotiated with apple. The deal just expired today morning - after much debating last night I chose not to get the MBP
Unfortunately now I find out the similar T60 deal that will be offered will have a 14.1 screen.
Oh well, hoping for something similar next year :brokenheart:

 

[halfadder]

That *was* a great deal. The normal educational price varies from $1700 - $1900 for that combination depending on if you're buying for a school versus buying as a parent/student/faculty/staff.

 

[Tu13erhead]

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