Did I get a good deal?

[N!ck]

I sort of can't believe I just did this. I went on ebay just looking and i saw this. I put a bid of £700 on it just out of interest.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=120421486790

[Ostinato]

LOL i really dno tbh but I love how you just go on and place a random bid of £700 :p lolol

[dirrty]

yeah thats good considering how much they sell for brand new. i got mine off ebay for £621 in march.

[AgnesIO]

If it is not new you may aswell have bought a new one - would have costed..

823.176 GBP

[dirrty]

yeah, but thats an extra 200 quid wasted if the quality of the one off ebay is really good.

[AgnesIO]

yeah, but thats an extra 200 quid wasted if the quality of the one off ebay is really good.


Well yeh, I know I will sound really snobby here but I never use second hand!

[Johno]

Yeah I would say you got a pretty good deal :) As long as it is in the condition the seller states then yeah great deal! :) (I paid that much for my White one last year!)

[N!ck]

Ok, thanks. I'm still a bit in shock as it's not like me to go out and randomly buy like that. It's because I need a new laptop for uni in September and I want something portable, but not too small (like a netbook). If it comes and is in as new condition like it states i'll be pretty happy.

I'll probably be upgrading it to 4GB RAM as well.

[Jahova]

Aren't new ones coming out next month though?

[timROGERS]

Aren't new ones coming out next month though?

Possibly, it's reasonably unlikely though.

[AgnesIO]

Aren't new ones coming out next month though?

Maybe so, but I am certain it will be overpriced like 99.9% of apple computers ;)

[Wolverhampton]

Saving my EMA for one of these, dno which one to get, also don't know if I should buy off Ebay or from Apple...

[Johno]

Saving my EMA for one of these, dno which one to get, also don't know if I should buy off Ebay or from Apple...
Well if you can get a deal like Nick did then eBay all the way :)

I'm not totally sure if new ones will come out next months - yeah possibly a slight refresh but I don't think it will be anything major.

[Stephen!]

With apple, it's never a good deal.

[Wolverhampton]

Well if you can get a deal like Nick did then eBay all the way :)

I'm not totally sure if new ones will come out next months - yeah possibly a slight refresh but I don't think it will be anything major.

yeah, in six months I should have about £650 off my EMA, and the lowest macbook spec is about £650 (student price)...

I was thinking that, or I could just build my own top spec PC for about £500.

I could do both, but I won't, cause that'd just be greedy, would rather buy either one then save for a car :P.

[AgnesIO]

yeah, in six months I should have about £650 off my EMA, and the lowest macbook spec is about £650 (student price)...

I was thinking that, or I could just build my own top spec PC for about £500.

I could do both, but I won't, cause that'd just be greedy, would rather buy either one then save for a car :P.


Well then surely the obvious choice is to build your own? :P

P.S. Stephen you have to remember.. "All apple products use one sheet of alluminium" - that must make it worth the £200+ more than a decent normal laptop lmao

[Nick.]

Well then surely the obvious choice is to build your own? :P

P.S. Stephen you have to remember.. "All apple products use one sheet of alluminium" - that must make it worth the £200+ more than a decent normal laptop lmao
Where did you find that quote? :rolleyes:
I wasn't aware the plastic MacBook was made of aluminium, nor the iPhone 3G and Time Capsule? LOL

[Wolverhampton]

Well then surely the obvious choice is to build your own? :P

P.S. Stephen you have to remember.. "All apple products use one sheet of alluminium" - that must make it worth the £200+ more than a decent normal laptop lmao

just the thought of owning a macbook though, always wanted one. :P

[AgnesIO]

Where did you find that quote? :rolleyes:
I wasn't aware the plastic MacBook was made of aluminium, nor the iPhone 3G and Time Capsule? LOL

Thats what all the Mac owners I know use an excuse for being mugs, abnd paying huge prices.

"ITS A SINGLE PIECE OF ALLUMINIUM IT WONT BREAK!"

:P


just the thought of owning a macbook though, always wanted one. :P

Nothing special about them :D Just over priced imo xD

[Nick.]

Thats what all the Mac owners I know use an excuse for being mugs, abnd paying huge prices.

"ITS A SINGLE PIECE OF ALLUMINIUM IT WONT BREAK!"

Right okay then. Can I just ask one thing though? Why is somebody a mug for having money and spending it on something they want? Who are you to judge them?

[Wolverhampton]

another apple argument. woop.

chilllllllllll.

[Nick.]

another apple argument. woop.

chilllllllllll.
I don't see any kind of argument :S I just see a question?? Are you sure you're looking at the correct thread...?

[Wolverhampton]

it'll turn into one, threads like these always do.

[Recursion]

Right okay then. Can I just ask one thing though? Why is somebody a mug for having money and spending it on something they want? Who are you to judge them?

If that was intended in an "Im rich, your poor" kinda way then :l WTH MAN?!


If it wasn't, then I agree with you statement... :O For once we agree?!?!

[Nick.]

If that was intended in an "Im rich, your poor" kinda way then :l WTH MAN?!


If it wasn't, then I agree with you statement... :O For once we agree?!?!
I wasn't referring to myself nor any kind of rich vs. poor divide, more on the fact that if somebody has a certain amount of money and has a desire for a certain product, they should be allowed to buy it without being called a mug.

Yes, for once we do agree. :D

[AgnesIO]

Right okay then. Can I just ask one thing though? Why is somebody a mug for having money and spending it on something they want? Who are you to judge them?


I'm not saying they are not allowed it.

What I am saying is apple products (cept iPhone and iPod..) are 100% rip offs.

For the £650 apple charge for a 1gb iMac I could get a decent (far better) sony vaio or dell?

---

So imo people are mad to pay the full price for a mac.

---

Oh and btw I could afford a mac if I wanted to get one..

[Recursion]

Apple are renowned for how great their iPods are, really thats how Apple got popular IMO, they revolutionised the MP3 Player industry and still lead it, even if their products do cost a bit more than others. I would always pick an iPod for my MP3 Player.

Apple do a good job with their products, you pay the premium because they build their OS to work with their hardware so there is never any driver incompatibilities, that's how they get such great support in there. If you went with a Windows machine, you get far more choice, and a lot better compatibility and bang for the buck, but your drivers may be buggy, sometimes conflict and cause some problems.

[GommeInc]

Ok, thanks. I'm still a bit in shock as it's not like me to go out and randomly buy like that. It's because I need a new laptop for uni in September and I want something portable, but not too small (like a netbook). If it comes and is in as new condition like it states i'll be pretty happy.

I'll probably be upgrading it to 4GB RAM as well.
You're beginning your journey in becoming addicted to bidding on eBay ;) First it starts off like this, then you'll be buying stuff you really do not need :P

It looks like a good deal, it looks as though you had little competition too, which is a surprise.


Apple are renowned for how great their iPods are, really thats how Apple got popular IMO, they revolutionised the MP3 Player industry and still lead it, even if their products do cost a bit more than others. I would always pick an iPod for my MP3 Player.
I so disagree with that statement. iPods are terrible MP3 players, they're tacky quality and the quality of the sound that comes from them makes them even worse! A Sony MP3 Player and even the Creative X-Fi are millions of times better than the iPod, in all areas other than what could be considered "snob" value :P Apple revolutionised the MP3 Player market, it's a shame it was with a tacky product built for quantity, not quality.

/rant

I still love you though ;)

[Kyle!]

I so disagree with that statement. iPods are terrible MP3 players, they're tacky quality and the quality of the sound that comes from them makes them even worse! A Sony MP3 Player and even the Creative X-Fi are millions of times better than the iPod, in all areas other than what could be considered "snob" value :P Apple revolutionised the MP3 Player market, it's a shame it was with a tacky product built for quantity, not quality.

/rant

I still love you though ;)

I think you're a little confused, the iPods are great MP3 players, and the reason the sound isn't great is because of the terrible iPod headphones that come with the iPod. I can't even believe you're comparing a Sony MP3 player to an iPod, Sony's are terrible. Especially they're walkman series.

[Nick.]

You're beginning your journey in becoming addicted to bidding on eBay ;) First it starts off like this, then you'll be buying stuff you really do not need :P

It looks like a good deal, it looks as though you had little competition too, which is a surprise.


I so disagree with that statement. iPods are terrible MP3 players, they're tacky quality and the quality of the sound that comes from them makes them even worse! A Sony MP3 Player and even the Creative X-Fi are millions of times better than the iPod, in all areas other than what could be considered "snob" value :P Apple revolutionised the MP3 Player market, it's a shame it was with a tacky product built for quantity, not quality.

/rant

I still love you though ;)
I understand it's an opinion but I fail to see how the current line of iPods are tacky?

[GommeInc]

The build quality and design is all wrong, since when was a portrait screen good for an MP3 player that plays films? An MP3/MP4 should have a landscape view when viewing a film, you shouldn't have to tilt it when viewing videos or pictures, it's so obvious it went over the heads of current iPod designers.

The sound quality is awful in general, not down to the crappy headphones. Heck other MP3 player manufacturers ship off their products with at least some decent headphones - Creative do with their Zens and Zen X-Fi. For a company leading the way in the MP3 market, you'd expect them to at least ship off a product that is decent in all areas, attachments aswell. When you hook up an iPod to a car for example, the quality, although not immediately noticeable, is very noticeable when you attach a Zen afterwards (the joys of driving around in a car with one, and swapping between a friend's iPod and Zen :P). If you have the Zen on full volume for example, it won't distort and you don't get a buzzy feel. With the iPod you have to have the volume set at half way, 3/4 at most.

And don't get me started on their "Hey, let's create a product and then ship a new model out for no apparent reason making it meaningless for consumers to buy a sculptured product!" Stick to one design, that is as perfect as it is going to get. Sheesh. The only decent iPod was the Mini, all that needed was a small make-over and a colour screen!

But I suppose it's kinda obvious, Creative make soundcards, such as their Xtreme Fidelity ones, so it's only natural that they know how to lead the way in music quality. You seem to get more with a Zen aswell, like wireless transfers. You'd think with the MacBook Air and how Apple advertise the fact you can transfer things via a CD from one Mac to the Air, they'd do it with their iPods.

Of course, this is just opinion :P

[Recursion]

The build quality and design is all wrong, since when was a portrait screen good for an MP3 player that plays films? An MP3/MP4 should have a landscape view when viewing a film, you shouldn't have to tilt it when viewing videos or pictures, it's so obvious it went over the heads of current iPod designers.

The sound quality is awful in general, not down to the crappy headphones. Heck other MP3 player manufacturers ship off their products with at least some decent headphones - Creative do with their Zens and Zen X-Fi. For a company leading the way in the MP3 market, you'd expect them to at least ship off a product that is decent in all areas, attachments aswell. When you hook up an iPod to a car for example, the quality, although not immediately noticeable, is very noticeable when you attach a Zen afterwards (the joys of driving around in a car with one, and swapping between a friend's iPod and Zen :P). If you have the Zen on full volume for example, it won't distort and you don't get a buzzy feel. With the iPod you have to have the volume set at half way, 3/4 at most.

And don't get me started on their "Hey, let's create a product and then ship a new model out for no apparent reason making it meaningless for consumers to buy a sculptured product!" Stick to one design, that is as perfect as it is going to get. Sheesh. The only decent iPod was the Mini, all that needed was a small make-over and a colour screen!

But I suppose it's kinda obvious, Creative make soundcards, such as their Xtreme Fidelity ones, so it's only natural that they know how to lead the way in music quality. You seem to get more with a Zen aswell, like wireless transfers. You'd think with the MacBook Air and how Apple advertise the fact you can transfer things via a CD from one Mac to the Air, they'd do it with their iPods.

Of course, this is just opinion :P

I disagree with this, you try holding an MP3 player with a landscape screen and using it with one hand ;)

The sound qaulity may be bad, but the Apple earphones are just about the only ones I find comfy in my ears LMAO. But come on, how many other MP3 players, the size OF an MP3 Player, can you install Apps on, browse the web on etc? ;)

[Nick.]

I disagree with this, you try holding an MP3 player with a landscape screen and using it with one hand ;)

The sound qaulity may be bad, but the Apple earphones are just about the only ones I find comfy in my ears LMAO. But come on, how many other MP3 players, the size OF an MP3 Player, can you install Apps on, browse the web on etc? ;)

Well, actually Tom, I think you're wrong there haha. The iPod touch is bigger than a lot of standard MP3 players as far as I'm aware. And I know it's just you but have you tried in-ear headphones? I switched because my iPod ones broke and I've never looked back. I got a pair of creative ones for about £6 off Amazon and they're really good. Every time I put iPod earphones in now they're so umcomfy.

[timROGERS]

Regardless of headphones, I find that the sound on the iPod touch 2G is totally awful. To me, it actually sounds better with the Apple includes ones that with my Sennheiser ones!

On my old iPod Video though, the Sennheisers sound great...so I don't know what the problem is really!

[GommeInc]

I disagree with this, you try holding an MP3 player with a landscape screen and using it with one hand ;)

The sound qaulity may be bad, but the Apple earphones are just about the only ones I find comfy in my ears LMAO. But come on, how many other MP3 players, the size OF an MP3 Player, can you install Apps on, browse the web on etc? ;)

That's a touch... The iPod Touch really isn't an MP3 player, it's a multimedia device, not a standard MP3 player. That's like calling a computer a typewriter... Also, I can hold my MP3 player one-handed? How else do I control it when driving? :P And they could of made the new iPod with a landscape screen, although this would effect the overall size of the screen... Although if people desperately wanted to watch videos on their iPod, the Classic and Touch would be more adequate. My argument is with the iPod MP3 Players. not the touch, though I suspect they've dropped quality for other aspects of the device.

[Mentor]

How did a conversation about laptops turn in to a disccsuion on mp3 players lol

Anyway i really cant see how this is a good deal, primarily as dont side with any O/S.
I mean, in the sence you got the laptop for much cheaper than it would be to buy, then yes the deals ok. But in the sence you paid £670 for such a low spec machine its terrible.
Think of it this way, if i buy an hdmi cable for 1.99 i think thats a good deal. If someone buys a Monster hdmi cable (exactly same as my 1.99 one) and get it for £50, they think thats a good deal becuse normally there closer to a £100.
Dispite that i still dont.

You could have easly doubled or possibly even trippled the spec and still paid much less if you went with an ordinary computer. Taking that in to account you pretty much just paid £400 for a copy of OSX... thats worse than a retail vista copy* :O

Just my 2 cents


* manufactures generally absorb most the price of the O/S when it comes preinstalled, by both getting decent savings from there bulk orders and the crapware they fill it with pays the rest :P

[N!ck]

How did a conversation about laptops turn in to a disccsuion on mp3 players lol

Anyway i really cant see how this is a good deal, primarily as dont side with any O/S.
I mean, in the sence you got the laptop for much cheaper than it would be to buy, then yes the deals ok. But in the sence you paid £670 for such a low spec machine its terrible.
Think of it this way, if i buy an hdmi cable for 1.99 i think thats a good deal. If someone buys a Monster hdmi cable (exactly same as my 1.99 one) and get it for £50, they think thats a good deal becuse normally there closer to a £100.
Dispite that i still dont.

You could have easly doubled or possibly even trippled the spec and still paid much less if you went with an ordinary computer. Taking that in to account you pretty much just paid £400 for a copy of OSX... thats worse than a retail vista copy* :O

Just my 2 cents


* manufactures generally absorb most the price of the O/S when it comes preinstalled, by both getting decent savings from there bulk orders and the crapware they fill it with pays the rest :P

Well i've looked into it and found that to buy a similar spec'd 13"ish Windows laptop brand new in a shop i'd be paying around £650-700 I think that got 4GB RAM (ok, i'll be upgrading the macbook to 4GB eventually, RAM is pretty cheap), a slightly larger HDD but a not so good graphics card. Quite a way away from doubling the spec.

At a normal 15-17" size laptop maybe, but at this size no way.

[Mentor]

Well i've looked into it and found that to buy a similar spec'd 13"ish Windows laptop brand new in a shop i'd be paying around £650-700 I think that got 4GB RAM (ok, i'll be upgrading the macbook to 4GB eventually, RAM is pretty cheap), a slightly larger HDD but a not so good graphics card. Quite a way away from doubling the spec.

At a normal 15-17" size laptop maybe, but at this size no way.
I picked up an Advent 4401 at pcworld last year for £400, its a 12.1 laptop with an Intel Core 2 Duo T5550 processor (So a tiny bit slower), 160GB hdd(same), vista(equiv) and 2GB of ram(same) (though dont actually know whether or not its upgradeable)
Has impressively good battery life too (like 5 hours) as an added bonus as spec mentioned nothing of it. Mac's are generally pretty good with batters so i imagine its also about the same on this.
Since hardware generally jets down in price pretty quickly, i expect i could probably find a better deal if i were looking now o.0

[N!ck]

I picked up an Advent 4401 at pcworld last year for £400, its a 12.1 laptop with an Intel Core 2 Duo T5550 processor (So a tiny bit slower), 160GB hdd(same), vista(equiv) and 2GB of ram(same) (though dont actually know whether or not its upgradeable)
Has impressively good battery life too (like 5 hours) as an added bonus as spec mentioned nothing of it. Mac's are generally pretty good with batters so i imagine its also about the same on this.
Since hardware generally jets down in price pretty quickly, i expect i could probably find a better deal if i were looking now o.0

Maybe you were lucky?

The only ones that PCWorld have that I think are comparable are these:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0223669210.124318716 9@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccecadehfmikjfkcflgceggdhhmdgmj.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=923409&category_oid=-27757#productInformationSection
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0223669210.124318716 9@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccecadehfmikjfkcflgceggdhhmdgmj.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=639080&category_oid=
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0223669210.124318716 9@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccecadehfmikjfkcflgceggdhhmdgmj.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=723078&category_oid=

[Mentor]

Maybe you were lucky?

The only ones that PCWorld have that I think are comparable are these:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0223669210.124318716 9@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccecadehfmikjfkcflgceggdhhmdgmj.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=923409&category_oid=-27757#productInformationSection
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0223669210.124318716 9@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccecadehfmikjfkcflgceggdhhmdgmj.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=639080&category_oid=
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0223669210.124318716 9@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccecadehfmikjfkcflgceggdhhmdgmj.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=723078&category_oid=
Naa, with pcworld you just have to time it right. There Advent range tend to be pretty good value, but disappear quickly.
For other bands you can pretty much garentee ebuyer or a web retail will be able to knock a good £50 or more quid of the price. :p (hell they still try and sell Ethernet cables for £30..)

[N!ck]

Naa, with pcworld you just have to time it right. There Advent range tend to be pretty good value, but disappear quickly.
For other bands you can pretty much garentee ebuyer or a web retail will be able to knock a good £50 or more quid of the price. :p (hell they still try and sell Ethernet cables for £30..)

Yeah, i'm looking at eBuyer now. Comparable ones:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/151796 - probably best deal
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/160794
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/162000
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/154992 - similarly priced-ish?

[Mentor]

Yeah, i'm looking at eBuyer now. Comparable ones:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/151796 - probably best deal
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/160794
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/162000
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/154992 - similarly priced-ish?

Given compared to run of the mill value your deal wasnt all that bad, since the apple tax was pretty heavily diminished by the savings you made by getting it off ebuyer.
That said, consider what the price would be of some of the above if you saved a similar percentage of the amount in a deal :p

[N!ck]

Given compared to run of the mill value your deal wasnt all that bad, since the apple tax was pretty heavily diminished by the savings you made by getting it off ebuyer.
That said, consider what the price would be of some of the above if you saved a similar percentage of the amount in a deal :p

Yes I know, but I can't be bothered to look into that on ebay especially since i've bought it now and it's too late. There probably isn't as much of a market on ebay for the other models either so I doubt the same amount of saving would be there. Or maybe more of a saving due to less bidders?