Over the last week or so the ‘urge’ has started to rise again. You know the one! It is like a whisper in the back of your mind that slowly gets louder, and louder. You start off by telling yourself not to be silly, that what you have is enough, that you don’t really need it. But it is no good – like a tidal wave of irrational emotion it builds until you find yourself comparing prices, considering specifications, creating justifications in your own mind, planning how to fund it, planning how to tell the wife …………. yes, I want a Mac Pro and a second 23″ Apple Cinema Display!
There I have said it. If confession is good for the sole then that it my good deed for the day, but now what? I can’t just sit back and bask in the self satisfaction of confession. No sir, I need positive action, so first off is a trawl around the internet to look at prices and options.
The start point as always is the three Apple Online Stores, in US, UK and Spain as I can purchase from any of them, with a few caveats:
– With the UK and Spain stores I can claim the tax back as a business expense,
– Spain is Free Shipping direct to me in Spain,
– UK and USA require additional shipping charges,
– US is liable for additional customs tax.
At this stage I would only be looking to purchase the entry level Mac Pro as it would be much better than I currently have, would be more than enough for me now (with some extra RAM added of course) and I can upgrade it as and when necessary in the future.
So how do the prices work out:
Mac Pro
UK £1,699 (£1,445.96 net tax)
USA $2,499
Spain 2.429€ (2.093,97€ net tax)
23″ ACD
UK £599 (£509.79 net tax)
USA $899
Spain 899€ (775€ net tax)
Taking todays exchange rate the totals in €’s are:
UK 2.908,61
USA 2.524,33
Spain 2.868,97
Cheaper in Spain than the UK, it is reasonable to assume that shipping from the US to include insurance would be at least 200€ so I would in theory save 144.64€ IF the package cleared customs without incurring any tax which is a lottery to be honest. All things considered, if purchased new, then it makes sense to purchase here in Spain.
eBay
I have bought a ACD off eBay before in the UK and would do so again if the price was right. At the moment I can BuyItNow for £499 (742,12€) but would have to pay shipping so it works out cheaper to buy a new one in Spain. There are a few on eBay.es but they want between 750€ and 820€ so again at the moment a new one would make more sense when you take shipping into consideration.
Funding
This is a tough one! I have spent my IT allowance for the year, and can’t justify using any of our current funds on this purely selfish purchase. I can obviously sell one of the Mac mini’s as there really wont be any need to keep both of them, although I could always find a use for it I am sure, and there is no reason not to sell the Sony Vaio Desktop, although I doubt it would fetch that much. I would be lucky to get 868,97€ but assuming that I do that leaves me needing to raise 2,000€.
I am reluctant to start doing paid reviews on the site, but I can try and get some more sponsors, and I am more than willing to write reviews for other blogs and sites, and will push harder for the blog hosting, design and support that I already offer.
I am going to see this as a totally separate project from anything else that I do – raising the funds for this has to be from outside of my normal means of income, which is actually going to be pretty exciting and fun.
Timescales
Even if I had the money now I wouldn’t buy now – or so I like to think! I want to see if Apple bring out new cinema displays in which case I will hopefully be able to pick up a current model to match my existing model cheaper.
I also want to wait until Leopard is out and see if they do anything with the Mac Pro’s around that time, or even bring out a cheaper tower system.
Your Support
There are a number of ways in which you could help:
– if you know anyone that wants a Sony Vaio Desktop PCV-RS704 let me know
– if you know anyone that wants a Mac mini (either a 1.66Ghz basic or a 1.83GHz with 2GB RAM) let me know
– if you know anyone that wants any writing, reviewing, hosting or design done, again ……… let me know
– if you win the lottery or just feel really generous then a PayPal donation is always appreciated.
So now I am off to dig out all the old technical stuff that I have been hoarding to see what I can sell, oh yes – I better clean the house and stock the fridge up for when Sands returns for when she reads this post!
I am in no rush, but if I see a good price for a ACD then I will buy it as soon as I can, as I can always use it with the Mac Book for now.
Deary me Chris if only there was a nicotine patch for Apple products :p Its ok ignore me Im only jealous!
That is funny ………… but true!!!
Hello my name is Chris I am an Apple addict 🙂
That’s a great first step! First step to recovery, admitting it.
Just curious as to why the Mac Pro? I just remember asking the question between getting the iMac and Mac Pro and someone offering the advice for the iMac. (You know, because the Mac Pro would be over the top and useless really, unless you where doing pro stuff… 😉 )
Me? I’d use all 8 cores via Xgrid and get some serious re–encoding done! Think of it, 8 cores churning away, videos streaming by. Of course, the only reason to re–encode would be the AppleTV, which I’d have to get. Oh, and no reason to get one of those unless I had an HDTV… So, there’s that. I’m thinking of selling my body as a male escort. Think there’s a market? I’d be tough, I know, but well, got to make sacrifices! Some reason I don’t think Kristine would go for it…
I knew your would be tempted to make your dream a reality in the near future. Good luck with the savings Chris!
@ Glenn – and don’t think I don’t blame you!!!
@ Wayne – if I was only buying one Mac and dual screen not a requirement I would still go with the iMac, not least because as things move on i think it will always be a great ‘stand alone’ option for audio/photography etc
As for why the Mac Pro – well I want a tower that runs dual screen as is more more powerful than the current Mac mini. If they brought out the iMac power as a tower I would be happy enough!
The Mac Pro will be too much for me, hence the entry level 🙂
Male escort? You got the patience to earn and count all the 5c 🙂
Dual screens? I know the attraction well. I’ve been running my 17″ cinema display along with a secondary 15″ CRT I had available – both hanging off my PowerMac G4 ever since I got the PowerMac. I’ve got the same at work too, except my machine at work is a recent 17″ Intel iMac.
It’s only recently that the iMac range has had this ability added, but it’s there now. Look for Take in more pixels near the bottom of the page. Just think of not having to accommodate the tower…
As far as RAM prices are concerned, I was recently pricing up a high-end iMac system – just, you know, to see? 🙂 – and compared the prices for maximum Apple RAM with the RAM upgrade bought from Crucial. Well, the saving in purchasing the RAM from Crucial was going to pay for the processor upgrade and still have saved money left over!
Of course, I’m not going to buy a current iMac – I’m waiting for the new 34″ model when the range is revamped some time in the next few weeks… But – shhh – don’t tell anyone! 😉
First step – have added Text Link Ads to the site, although haven’t a clue how they work 🙂
Second step – not a good idea to wake up thinking it would be fun to own a Wii
Every time i go to the apple store I want something! It’s like a giant toy store for me. My next apple purchase will be a 80g ipod…I currently use a pink mini. well that won’t be any time soon..people need to start BUYING my photos and presets before i BUY anything new
Well stage 1 has been succesfully negotiated – telling Sands of the plan!!! I think it was pretty smart of me to wait until she had unpacked and shown me the 14 books she brought back, trousers, sandles, tops, and various other ‘treats’. Oh I also waited until she had seen her new Nike + running shoes and training gear before asking her permission 🙂
See – am not as dumb as I look. After 14 years of marriage I have learnt somethinmg at least!
Funny how wives are… after all that time and we still have to negotiate. On the lighter note, step 1 is behind you now…. but sorry Chris I’m not planning any upgrades any time soon.
[quote comment=”6767″]…. but sorry Chris I’m not planning any upgrades any time soon.[/quote]
Give it time Mac, my money is still on you for later in the year!
Just done some measuring – my desk is 100cm wide, 2 23″ ACD’s take up 108cm so they will fit. At the moment I am assuming that I would have them flush to each other and in a line but as I type this I am thinking that on a slight angle (sort of a small V) may work.
Talk about getting ahead of yourself – just because I ‘sold’ some hosting space on my server today!
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