[MacTUG] FYI: Apple's Back to School Promo

[Glenn Anderson]

Apple now has their back to school promo running, if one buys a  
qualifying Mac and iPod one gets up to $259 back (basically free ipod)

Unfortunately they don't include the Mac mini as a qualifying system.  
So also makes the mini vs Macbook/iMac cost/value equation that we  
discussed at the MacTUG more in favour of the Macbook.

The white MacBook is $1,099, the Mac mini starts at $669, when one  
adds keyboard/mouse, 1 GB ram, and ipod you are at $1,0861, that only  
allows $13 for a monitor.

Along the same lines, a fully configured Mac mini system is $2,186 vs  
$1,679 for a iMac system, adjusting for the ipod the iMac system is  
$507 cheaper.

However, in my case I guess the mini is still the way to go, as I am  
upgrading my existing mini and a MacBook wouldn't really fit the  
need, at least at a reasonable cost.
A mini configured at 2.26 Ghz, 4 GB of RAM is $999 and would nicely  
swap out the existing mini ( I already have keyboard, 23" Apple  
monitor, etc ).
I have thought about going with the White MacBook and using it as a  
desktop (  I think it can be run closed ), but it doesn't seem to be  
that good of fit.
The Mini wins out over the MacBook mainly due to it's ports...
The mini has 5 USB ports vs the MacBook's 2 ports.
The mini has a firewire 800 port, which is really useful as I have  
some major external firewire disk space, vs the MacBook's 400  
firewire port.
The mini also has the ability to drive 2 monitors, so I could add a  
cheap 23/24 monitor for a dual monitor system.
Also, it much nicer to have all the cords going out the back of the  
mini, than the side of the MacBook.
Finally, the mini is a much smaller footprint than the MacBook and  
stacks nicely on the external drive case(s).


Glenn Anderson
Client Services, IST
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, On
519-888-4567 x33327
anderson at uwaterloo.ca



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.uwaterloo.ca/pipermail/mactug/attachments/20090527/d5a6f7fe/attachment.html