Buying a MacBook - is waiting advisable?

Hi everyone,

I've been contemplating buying a new computer for some time now. After a lot of research, I've concluded that my needs will best be served by purchasing a MacBook (correct me if I'm wrong) instead of an iMac/MacBookPro/non-apple product. I will be using my computer primarily for writing and recording my music tracks on, as well as photo-managing, plus the standard email/websurfing/etc. I forsee probably getting the 2GHz Proc, 1GB RAM, 80GB HD version - will that be appropriate? Or should I step up/down from that?

Although I WANT a new computer now, I don't necessarily NEED one now. And given the fact that I still have a bit more of my car to pay off, it would seem wise to wait until that is done (hopefully Feb/Mar/Apr).

My questions boil down to this: will there be an advantage to waiting a while? How is Apple's pricing? Will it come down at all post-Christmas? And are there new upgrades on the horizon?

Thanks!
Spencer

No, there is no advantage to waiting. Just buy the computer when you are ready and can afford it.

The only reason one would have for waiting is to see what Macworld presents. There might be a small speed bump that you could take advantage of by waiting 3 weeks.

Waiting till March or April will earn you the upcoming Mac OS 10.5 Leopard. It's also possible that Macbooks might get a speed increase in the way of a planned FSB increase by Intel.

If you really want to get one now, then there's really no use in putting it off as prices are highly unlikely to go down after Christmas. However, at this point, it sort of makes sense just to wait till at least January 8 for Jobs' keynote speech. If it's nothing spectacular, then go ahead and purchase the Macbook. At least that way you'll get one more car payment in :yinyang:

Remember, whatever you buy, it is out of date! If you keep waiting for the latest improvements, you'll never get one.

I just got a new Macbook. Between the time I ordered it, and it arrived, Apple announced several new improvements. Don't matter - I'm happy! I can keep upgrading it as long as possible.

Just to show you how long I waited, this replaces a 1996 PowerBook 1400, which was maxed out with a G3 processor, 4gig drive, 64meg memory (yes, that all it would take) and a Wi-Fi PCMCIA card. Worked great, but there's a limit.