[thelist] Mac advice?

[Steve Axthelm]

On 2010-03-30 Simon MacDonald wrote:

>Hi Folks,
>
>I've been using Windows PCs since they started (even used CPM boxes, before
>that),- currently on Win 7 Ultimate - and have some *nix experience. I'm now
>considering venturing into the dark side (for me) - the Mac.
>
>I want to buy a second hand Mac for two reasons; - doing proper 
>Mac testing for my websites  that I build, - and venturing into 
>the world of iPhone app building - this latter one
>being the main reason.
[snip]

Lots of good advice already. I agree with the refurb rec's, I've 
bought a number of refurbished machines (Apple online store) and 
have had great luck with them.

One thing I didn't hear mentioned was the product lifecycle on 
the machines. There's a good site that tracks this:

<http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/>

If you're thinking about one of the Macbook Pros, I'd recommend 
waiting a short bit if you can. There will probably be new 
machines released in a couple of months and the performance bump 
should be considerable. This is not always true, Apple does big 
bumps (architecture), then a few incremental bumps (speed 
bumps), rinse, repeat. This one will be an architecture bump. 
Even if you don't get one of the new ones, that should drive the 
price of the previous models down.

HTH,


-Steve

-- 
Steve Axthelm
steveax at pobox.com