Opinions on rMBP

Hi, I'm a college student and considering on getting the macbook pro 13in mainly because of its portability and battery life. I will be mainly using it for school work and playing DotA 2. I will be purchasing the base 13in model with 128gb which is my main concern because it seems too small. Though I'm considering on getting an external hdd and just store my stuff there. Opinions?

Also, I've looked around the internet and read that refurb from Apple are good? I generally don't like refurbs as I like my stuff brand new but they seem like a good deal.

 

I just got my 13" rMBP this week and I'm already liking it a lot. It's my first Mac and the only difficulty I've had so far is relearning the shortcuts from being a Windows user all of my life. I got the 256GB model and I feel that the 128GB would be too small for most people. Since you are a student, check to see if your school has any free or discounted software because it can save you hundreds of dollars, like I did with free Microsoft Office for Mac and other things.

From what I've read, the real plus to getting a refurb is of course the discount in price you will get. Apple thoroughly checks refurbs before re-selling them, so you're more than likely going to get a great product, even if it's from the last product cycle generation. However, with the $110 gift card they are throwing in at the moment for education pricing, it may not make much of a difference between getting new and old, depending on the specs you want. Also, be mindful that for warranty issues, if you plan to use your credit card's extended warranty for coverage rather than buying Applecare, refurbished purchases are sometimes not covered by credit cards, which is one of the reasons I bought a new 2014 model rather than a refurb.

 

Macbook Saved my life. Of course I don't speak for everyone but I can honestly tell you today as a Senior Business Objects Developer that while in college it sadly took me 5-6 years to graduate. In those 5-6 years I switched my major around and got caught up in PC Video Games (Battlefield 2 was pretty big, and if you knew me at the time I had a list of Alienware laptops in my sig like 5-6). At the time macbook's were very expensive and unjustified in their price compared to PC rivals. Luckily for me I had a friend who was an Art Major who wanted to move to New York City and pretty much sold me his macbook for $900 (His Graduation Gift).

Long Story short, I had to eventually give him back his macbook (his parents were pissed) but i was able to purely focus on school work better and I've been through ever iteration of Macbook Pro Retina 15". I think what I really want to say here is that for me, I have been more task/work orientated when using my Macbook and my life shifted/changed for the better as soon as I picked one up. One of my best decisions. It's a good thing I did NOT do drugs, I am an obsessive compulsive person, however if I am able to shifts those tendencies to something positive I have been able to obtain some incredible achievements.

Again, I only speak for myself specifically. Moving on to your questions, I highly suggest a 15inch Macbook Pro Retina, and if you can't afford one get a refurbished one they're great! You won't know the difference. Try to get a macbook pro with a dedicated card, and try not to install games on OSX. Unless you have good self control. I would suggest installing Boot-Camp and installing your games on Boot Camp as to separate OSX from Windows. And most importantly of all try to have fun while in college, but not too much fun I feel the best advice probably is to try to do new things, but try to do things that you will not regret down the road. Good Luck!

I was able to buy my 2nd Macbook Retina for 1500 on Craigist, so try there as well. You never know what you may find.

 

Thanks for the replies! Appreciate it a lot. Really helpful.

So I'm down to 3 laptops:

1. Refurb June 2012 15" Macbook Retina 650m
2. Asus Zenbook ux303ln
3. 2014 13" Macbook Retina

I'm leaning towards a refurb june 2012 15" macbook pro retina. I'm still having doubts though, mainly because it's a refurb and the Asus zenbook ux303ln looks pretty good as well. Oh, decisions decisions..

 

From what I understand Apple refurbs are basically the same thing as new. If I could have found one when I got my MacBook Pro I would have gone the refurb route for sure. I don't think you will be disappointed with a refurbished MacBook Pro.

 

I too was considering getting the Asus UX303LN for most of the summer because the dedicated graphics card in an ultrabook form is very tempting. However, the yellow color issues on the QHD panel was a big turn off and getting an FHD version shipped to me in Canada was too expensive and too much of a hassle. Depending on where you are from and your budget, your tolerance/experience may vary.

 

I still have my 2012 Macbook Pro Retina that I handed over to my mother to use. Maybe I can sell it to you, however my middle hinge is broken. The laptop uses 3 hinges and sadly I have learned that if you use a Harcase Shell on these laptops, the weight distribution can break your laptop hinges