Mac shopping

Where can I get a deal on a Mac Book air? I have had it with PC's, maybe someone gives veteran discounts on Mac book?

 

Discount on a Mac? You might get a $100 off if you are a student, but they don't give deals.

 

Macs have their own issues as well.

 

Like what?

 

Mac issues?

I'm the owner of 2 macs that I use daily for my business, and we've got 1 PC in the office(about to huck it) and 1 on my CNC table that occasionally crashes and and lags constantly. Both of the PCs have issues on and off on a regular basis.
My 2011 Macbook pro(bought new) however is still kicking just like new which is also why I purchased a 27" iMac desktop a few months ago for a permanent computer on my office desk. My girlfriend also has a 2010 Macbook pro and a 2012 iMac at our house with no issues through the years.
In the past my PCs have lasted me about a year and a half on average, so 3 years of constant daily use (both home at night and packed to work with me daily, often used in the shop for CAD drawings not just my office) on my macbook and no sign of needing to be replaced will keep me coming back for their 'over priced' computers again next time around.
Only thing my macbook pro has needed is new magsafe charge ports as it's magnetic and I use my computer in my fab shop so metal dust is attracted and shorts out the plug every year and a half or so. $50 later and I'm back to new.

 

Hard drive failure (My sisters HD (early 2011 macbook pro) and my cousins HD (early or mid 2011 macbook pro), and loose screen (floppy).

My Mom,Dad,Sister, cousin,cousin, and myself all have 15'' macbook pro's with the intel I5 processor and We're all happy with ours.

 

Apple will give you a discount. Amount depends on which computer you buy. You can call or go into an Apple Store and they'll tell you. I think it's at least $100 for the smaller laptops.

I wouldn't get the air though. I'd go for the new MacBook Pro. Nice upgrade from the couple year old models, yet still very light weight.

I've had my MacBook since 2010. Still looks and performs like new. After multiple PCs prior, I'm never looking back.

 

Macs get viruses just like PC's do. (Know this hadn't been brought up). They cost 2 to 3 times as much depending on the models compared and usually don't do as much. We had them in our middle and high school as an experimental thing with apple. Believe me Macs have their issues. Mine would freeze and lockup frequently, the hard drive quit, motherboard had issues as well. The screen also quit on it. Like anything else they have their issues. Not saying PCs don't but for the money I can't see it unless you do CAD/CAM or other graphics.

 

One issue I have is Windows 8. I hate it, HP has laptops that still come with Windows7. I may look into them. I hope I can return the new Dell I bought a few weeks ago. It is acting really odd already.

 

My company has around 12,000 Apple computers and 8,000 PC's and it's my team's job to support all of them. So I feel like I have a pretty good feel for the problems that both platforms have. As far as the hardware is concerned, they are both made in China electronic devices and there isn't any appreciable difference in the number of problems between the Macs and PC's.

Regarding the operating systems, I'll take OSX every time, not because its any better than Windows, but because Apple hasn't fucked it up the way Microsoft farkeled Windows 8. Training literally thousands of users to use a brain damaged interface is something I fight against doing every time the subject of migrating is brought up. And, while there are Mac viruses I can't think of a single infection we've had. The PC's on the other hand have had thousands.

Software is another story there's a lot more PC only programs which can be a deal breaker for the Mac if you have one of them. (And yes I know you can run Parallels or Fusion or Boot Camp, but why? If you need a PC, buy one.) There are few choices in the Mac world and completely forget about any gaming.

My work computer is a MacBook Air and I love that little computer. Its perfect for what I do, I'm traveling around, going to meetings and it is fast enough, super light weight, and the battery lasts all day. But my personal computer is a Toshiba laptop. Why? Because I can buy 2 Toshibas that are faster, have more memory, more disk for the price of my MacBook Air.

In my roll at work lots of people ask me what kind of personal computer they should buy. My first question is do you want a Apple or a PC? If they say Mac, my job is easy. I tell them to go online or to the Apple store, pick out the Mac that suits their fancy. You won't go wrong. You will get a computer that has all of the whistles and bells and should be a good working machine for years to come.

Now if they say PC, it gets a lot harder. Just walk into any BestBuy and get ripped off. They will have 2 generation old computers sitting right next to the current generation for the same price. If you don't know what you are doing, don't ask the clerks, they are as clueless as you are.

So, should you buy a MacBook Air, absolutely. I really do love mine. If the price is too much come back and I'm sure the group will help you avoid the BestBuy rip-offs.

 

This isn't a mac vs pc debate, op wanted to know where he can get a deal.

 

OP, try the apple website, sometimes a refurbished one could save you some money. Got a decent deal around Christmas through Best Buy for my iPad mini. Also, I see you are AF, try your exchange. They'll price match any advertised (even online )price and you won't pay the taxes either (did this with wife's Macbook air, best buy was $200 cheaper and in the end we saved almost $300).

 

This is so full of misinformation it's funny. This guy used macs probably os9 in the early late 90s early 2000s I'd guess.

THERE are no known viruses in the wild for osx.

Mac's do not get viruses just like pcs do. The term "virus" is commonly but erroneously used to refer to all types of malware, adware, and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability of a true virus.

The bottom line is this: as a Mac user, your chances of being affected by a trojan or other malware are extremely slim, unless you've been careless about where you get software and when you enter your administrator password.

If you're experiencing a problem or unexpected behaviour with your Mac, there's better than a 99.9% chance that it's something other than a virus or other malware.

Of course a mac can have an issue it's an electronic device. That being said just check customer satisfaction charts on the web macs have far less issues than pcs. Apple isn't #1 in the customer satisfaction in the industry because of "issues"

there isn't much of a price difference between comparable Macs and PCs. If you built a PC to match what a baseline Mac offers -- with similar hardware, equivalent software, and all of the bells and whistles that come standard on a Mac -- you'd actually be looking at two similarly priced computers

Also resale value: when you are done with your pc you give it away or throw it away. with a mac you get like 60-90 percent of what you paid for it very similar to our tacomas. So your next mac is cheap.

 

I'm not trying to make this a pissing match because ultimately run whatever system you want but don't say I have misinformation when I used the apple stuff for 6 years. I know what we had to deal with and it was a constant pain.

 

You might wanna re read what I said if you were using macs before osx that's a totally different beast

 

only issue i've had with my macs is the price. otherwise they have performed flawlessly for me.
check newegg maybe for better pricing. it doesn't vary too drastically though.

 

Veterans and military get the same discount as student. $100 off pro and $50 of air. You can also get a great deal on a refurb from apple.com and comes with the same 1 year warranty that a knew one does with the option to add applecare. Most refurbs are open and closed boxed just look for a good deal.

 

Macmall.com can come up with some alright deals as well.

 

You can get a similary spec'd PC for much less than a Mac and anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool.

That being said, the average consumer could end up much happier with a entry-level MacBook then with a lot of the PCs are on the market these days.

 

No doubt you can get a similar spec'd PC for less then a mac. Problem is the PC will give more issues then a Mac.
I bought two laptops before I bought my Mac. Both PCs were brand new, nicely spec'd, etc.... Both gave me problems from day one. I have an issue with electronics and them not working. When they glitch out, the rage sharks start swimming, and I turn into the Hulk.

Since I bought my mac in 2010, not one real issue. I think I've had to turn it off due to it freezing twice since 2010.