So do it.

My impression is you are a responsible adult.

Something to consider. As you are becoming an adult, major purchasing decisions can be clarified by looking at each one as a business decision. What's the ROI? Will it help you to make money or free up time that you can use in other areas. Do you have a realistic plan to make the payments? What could go wrong in that plan?

Do have personal rules for purchases like this? I separate hobbies (cycling, cooking) from passions (911 restoration). I won't over-extend myself to get a new bike or uber-expensive knives when what I have will do. But I will figure out how to afford totally unnecessary things like a perfect 901 shift knob and an excellent, rare 3-bar grill for the S even though it won't be on the street for years. of course something has to go if these are out of my normal budget.

It sounds like video editing is just something that's kind of fun, but could be a passing fancy for you. To me, seems hard to justify the purchase of new Mac on credit on those grounds.

One point in your purchasing favor: amortization. I got 6 heavy-duty, constant use years out of my old Mac laptop. Bought a new one this past summer. I'm sure it will last a minimum of 4. A little piece of mind knowing you won't have to buy another computer next year if you buy something that will last now.

If you were financing a Dell I would say no, but Mac laptops last a long time, it's probably not a bad idea. We used to figure on a five year cycle with PC laptops, it's down to three now, and often two.

Macs we look at a solid three years in our corporate environment, and we have some workstations that we purchase with five year warranties now from Apple. Some of Apples policies on replacing expensive items like screens can't be beat.

I've bought a number of things "interest-free" washer, dryer, camera, desk top puter, BUT I could afford to have paid cash for each of them. I paid everyone off within the time limit. IF you can really, truly pay it off before the time limit, then give consideration to the length of the warranty. It would suck to be paying off the lap top over the next year and it only had a 90 day warranty and failed. At 22+% DO NOT CARRY A BALANCE, AND MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND THE GRACE PERIOD BETWEEN USING THE CARD AND WHEN THE BILL IS DUE.

This is the best advice in the entire thread. You don't need an apple - get what you can afford and what you need for school. If you want the apple, wait until you saved up for it. You think it will be no problem to pay it off on schedule, but what if there is something coming up (lose your job, big car repair, speeding ticket etc.)? You'll be thrown off and pay through the nose.

Good Luck

(typing from my $500 dell)

George

I do see your point George, but I am fortunate in that if I were to lose the job I have currently I have a standing offer at another store, and my dad always needs help at his shop. My DD is a nearly new Corolla that is paid for, if something were to break, it would not be paid out my pocket. Realistically I can have this paid off in 3-4mos. In that same time frame last year I saved up a considerable amount of cash for 944 upgrades.


I know some of you guys think I am just flat out ignoring you, trust me I am not. I was wanting to see if anyone else could come up with a major reason to not do this that I had not come across. I have discussed this with my folks in depth and will most likely be ordering a mac soon. I know I can use a $500 dell again, it would just be nice to not be dealing with wear issues in a few years. The mac will last much longer, plus I will gain some added use that I have not had with my dell.

Well, a final tip then is that if you discussed this with your folks and they are okay with it, see if they can lend you the money. Not ideal but still will beat owing to a CC company. Worst comes to worse, you can work it off with them.

I still do believe that you are on the wrong path. You will always sign away your future and financial freedom financing a depreciating asset like a computer or car. Once you get in the habit, you will barely have one paid off to go get the next. It is like you are just a few months behind - always - always strapped for cash and making payments. That lifestyle sucks, IMHO. I know a lot of people that are on this schedule. Car paid off? Ok! Time to get a new one! Don't get started on it.

George

My folks could pay for it no problem, but that does nothing for my credit rating. We did that with several of my motorcycles, both of which were paid off. I am fortunate to have been raised by parents that are responsible with credit. They owe on very little and don't swap cars just bc the payments are over. I would just pay them back, bit I am tired of them covering me. I need to get out and start cutting my own path so to speak. This is a small step away from the days when they paid for everything.

Go ahead Sidney...might I suggest setting the CC limit to cover the Mac but no more, then see how you do. You'll learn a valuable lesson either way, and that's what college and being young is all about :). It's simply "instant gratification" verses "fiscal responsibility" that we are attempting to point out, and everyone has to find a balance that works for them.

I will garauntee you that a Mac will out last any PC you purchase by years. Having said that, get the credit card, buy the Mac, pay it off in a couple of months and tell everyone here to jam it.

It is important to have some sort of credit rating. When I bought my first house in 1979 it was a handshake deal with owner financing. It was a great deal for me because his loan rate was several points lower than the banks, only 12.5%!

I went to an appliance store to buy a washer & dryer. When they heard I just bought a house they said no problem and had the washer & dryer delivered & installed that afternoon. They had a zero down 12 easy payments deal so I signed up for a 400 dollar washer & dryer.

The next day after I had done a lot of laundry they called and said they could not find anyplace that wanted the loan. I did not have any credit, none at all.

I know Sid is responsible & diciplined enough to pay it off.

Then use the credit card to buy something every month and pay it off every month.

There's never been any doubt about "that" from my perspective. I do know one thing for sure...most of us "old farts" (Sid's parents' age or older) never had to deal with this temptation. We may have done a LOT of stupid crap and survived, but "easy credit" was simply not an option for a college student 30 years ago. I saw recently that consumer debt (loans of all types) had gone from 4 Trillion to 14 Trillion over the past decade...it IS a lifestyle choice to make or avoid imo.

ps: I TOTALLY respect the opinions of Seahawk, Nostatic and others...Sidney asked for PPOT feedback, and he recieved multiple perspectives.

+1

Spot on.

The goal of developing mad debt skillz (by demonstrating skillz of emotional purchasing) is rather twisted.

that is, now that money is getting tighter (again) those with money to lend want to see smart use of the their money. Finance should not be used for piddly little purchases like a Mac. ...or a BigMac.

imo, financing 1600 for a cmptr is very close to financing groceries. (does that really make you look like a smart debtor?)

otoh, I suspect that pwd is right - you're likely more interested in having your peers seeing how smart you are, to be sporting the glowing, bitten-fruit logo.

@Tom, yeah, I'm doing fine. :)

Is a MacBook THREE TIMES as reliable as a HP, Compaq, Dell, Acer, Sony, etc?? Because it is three times as expensive.

They should paraphrase Jeep's slogan: "It's an Apple thing, you wouldn't understand"

It will "last longer" until he decides he "has" to get a new MacBook because of some other feature or trinket that came out.

FWIW the resale value of the Pro line of Macbooks 3 years down the road will still be 50%.

I've sold 4-5 year old broken ones for $5-600.

I've got several HP / Compaq laptops, and I've never paid more than $800 (years ago) and recently bought a few Compaqs for under $300. We've worn batteries out, that's for sure. Never had an issue otherwise that wasn't self-inflicted (a screen, a couple keys).

We still have a HP that's 5 years old and works flawlessly (we usually sell them, but we gave this one to our son). But it's an old operating system, and technologies have passed by (processor speed, RAM size/gen, hard drive capacity, graphics processor, screen quality, wi-fi protocols, etc). If it were to break, we'd just get another new one for $300.

Are Macs good looking? Yes. Are they made from high quality materials? Yes. Might they outlive their useful technological age? Sure. Does that make them worth significantly more money? Not to me.

I'd rather replace a $300 laptop once a year for six years than buy a $1800 laptop just once and have to keep[ it six years. Am I starting to sound like Paul?

Is this not true of most all laptops?

I am 54 and could not agree more, Keith.

I remember the first ATM's...wow.

So, money management has been and will always be the key. I am so Old School when money folks speak of Old School it is the New School...

My recommendation for Sid is learn money and value management. Now is the right time.