Buy now or wait for Leopard?

mikemac

I am looking to get my first mac shortly.
My 3 year old Dell laptop is getting on a bit and I’m looking for something better.
Lots of people here criticize Dell here but it’s never given me a minutes trouble. I‘ve a buyer lined up for it.

I’ve been trying out the macbook in my local 3G store and love it. I’ve also been using an interface that makes Windows XP appear as Tiger.
Am determined to get a macbook but should I buy now or wait for Leopard in January?
I see a lot of posters buying now so am wondering why they don’t wait.
Will Apple be giving a free upgrade to existing Tiger users?

triple h

first of all i know you are going to buy a macbook and not a imac.

but read all the messages in the 'procastinating about getting an imac' thread and that might answer all your questions. it helped me.

mikemac

thanks

Mods, please lock this thread

Sad Professor

Macbooks were only just updated so now is a good time to buy. Leopard in January is still just a rumor but it does look very likely. Depends how much you mind having to pay 130 euro odd for Leopard later.

I decided to get an imac now instead of later as I didn't see much chance of a revision. Also I'd prefer not to have to be dealing with a new machine and new OS at the same time. Leopard might not be perfect out of the box.

crosstownk

micmclo wrote:

I’ve also been using an interface that makes Windows XP appear as Tiger.

Would that be Flyakite? Pretty cool theme.

I'm looking to upgrade my PB G4 to a MBP but personally, I'm gonna wait for Leopard (and hope for a new MBP!). It's not that far away really......

Urban Weigl

According to my sources, Leopard won't be released until towards the end of the first quarter of 2007. That means you'll be waiting up to four (4) months.

It's up to you. Do you mind waiting or not?

condra

Personally I wouldnt wait for leopard. Tiger came with my macbook but if I ha to go back to panther I really wouldnt care much.

mikemac

Tried searching for info today on when Leopard was to be released and couldn't get a definitive answer. As April 2007 was mentioned several times I took your advice and ordered the macbook.

Here's the specs from the website

* 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 1GB memory
* 80GB hard drive1
* Double-layer SuperDrive

Also, ordered a usb hard drive as I've a lot of films on cd-roms around the place and I'd like them all stored together.
I'm registered for VAT so that'll save me around €260 which is always welcome and I am buying it for business purposes:rolleyes:

Never owned a mac before so I hope I've no problems.
If I do, no doubt someone here can help me

Sad Professor

That's great micmlo, I'm sure you'll love it. Can't see you having any major problems and once you get used to OS X you'll be glad you switched

Re: Leopard's release date, there is only speculation at the moment. Apple are very secretive about when their products are ready and the mac rumor mill never stops churning so you have to take everything with a grain of salt. A January release is looking very unlikely now IMO. Steve will probably give another preview at Macworld SF but the actual release won't be till around April I reckon like SJ said it would.

Urban Weigl

You'll be able to buy a full copy of Leopard for €129 including delivery anyway when it is released. My money is on March 2007.

Dont be at yourself

Havent Mac previously given users a free/discounted version of their new OS if they bought a new machine in the previous 6 months? Or did I dream that?

Sad Professor

Yeah but I don't think its anything like 6 months, more like a month or something. I'm too sure though.

Urban Weigl

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

Havent Mac previously given users a free/discounted version of their new OS if they bought a new machine in the previous 6 months? Or did I dream that?

You didn't dream of that. I know I bought a Mac shortly before 10.2 was released once, and I got it for free. Didn't have to pay a single cent.

mikemac

Sorry to revive an old thread but I thought I'd let you know how I got on in case it helps another potential macbook purchaser.

I ordered a 13.3" macbook and recieved an order confirmation email on December 11th. It was a standard configuration so I wasn't expecting any delay. I also ordered a wireless mouse, a USB hard drive and a printer that I can claim back through a rebate form. Total order was over 1600eur.

I sent payment by cheque the same day. It is now three weeks later and my payment still hasn't cleared. Apple advise it takes 5 business days to clear a cheque and I know we lost two business days in December.

Anytime I phoned with a question, the staff were pretty unhelpful. An example is they have no access to the finance system so they cannot check my payment. They also have no access to the sales system so they couldn't check if the salesman added my Vat number to the order.
I also asked could I check my order status over the internet like Dell do but they couldn't do these as when the salesman placed the order over the phone he never linked it to their web tracking system. I think this was the explanation. It couldn't be amended. I'd have to cancel and place a new order to be able to check over the Apple website.
Finally, I was told twice a supervisor would phone me back as I was getting worried about the cheque but noone ever did.

I remember when I dealt with Dell, the salesman even offered to phone me back to save credit on my mobile and I was able to haggle an upgraded hard drive.

If the payment is cleared this week and going by delivery estimates on the Apple website, it'll have taken seven weeks from placing the order to delivery.
By then, ILife 07 will probably be released so I'll be cancelling my order

Poor show by Apple. This was my first time ever dealing with them and it's left a bad impression with me. Maybe they have great products and great staff and I've been unlucky but I've have enough

I'm off to dell.ie

Fanboy

In all fairness, you cant expect cheque payments to be instant, the post is dreadful around this time of year anyway.

Why didn't you buy the MacBook in a shop? It's the same price as on the Apple Website!! And they will authorise the cheque there and then.

Sad Professor

micmclo wrote:

I'm off to dell.ie

:rolleyes: Don't be so ridiculous! What did you seriously expect paying by cheque? If you wanted it go through fast you should have paid by laser/credit card or gone into a shop and bought it like the previous poster said. It shouldn't take 3 weeks but deciding to get a Dell instead on the basis of this is just silly. For the sake of a couple of weeks, just wait and get the mac. It's the computer that matters.

destraynor

Feck it, let him get what he wants. If he is fickle enough to flip decisions based on a processing time for a cheque, then he is best served sticking with Dell as he obviously hadn't really thought the whole thing through.

I see a lot of these "I was gonna by an Apple, but then my mate got mugged by a guy wearing white", or "I would have had to buy a new laptop bag, so I decided to stick with Dell", or "I was all set to give €22,000 to Apple , but the person I rang didn't said Good Afternoon, when it was quite clearly still morning time".

I don't know why people are doing it, but its happening more and more.

mikemac

I feel I was correct to cancel the order as by the time I get it iLife 07 will be released. So my macbook would have out of date software by the time I get it.
I also remain umimpressed with Apple's ordering system compared to Dell. I've only dealt with both companies once but first impressions last, especially when you're dealing with a farily large sum of money.

I did a few hours of research this morning over the internet. Most people were convinced that iLife 07 will be released in a week or two at some conference that Apple are holding.
I was on to my local O2 reseller and will be buying the macbook from there in two weeks. They also said they can order in the extra items I was looking to buy.
I do lose out on the free printer that the website offers but that's not too important to me.
I would have prefered by credit card but for Vat reasons, I needed to use cheque.

So I will be getting an Apple after all. Maybe I was ranting earlier but destraynor, your reply is way over the top.

Sad Professor

micmclo wrote:

So I will be getting an Apple after all.

Well that's ok for a moment I thought you were serious about getting a Dell instead. I'd have been very disappointed in you

Anyway I've ordered from the Applestore many times and have never had any problems. I've always been very impressed actually so don't let this experience put you off.

The conference you heard about is Macworld San Francisco which starts Jan 9th. Most new products will be announced then. It's very likely iLife '07 will arrive then as well, it has for every year since 2004 AFAIK. But you never know...

destraynor

Agreed, sorry about that MicMclo.