Talking myself down from an upgrade?

Hardware
23

It is fixed now. Took forever. It was Ad Guard, which I love, maybe interfering with Apple’s privacy stuff. That’s just a guess.

It has been a bit finicky but is running fine now. Thanks so much!

24

Thanks Katie. That’s great advice! Unfortunately, I do not have any friends or family members that are interested in a powerful laptop. I wish they were… I’ll give Ebay a try and see if I can offload it. Thanks again.

25

I abandoned Ad Guard for NextDNS, which I really like. I have it installed on all of my and my family’s Macs and i-devices. I also do not use any antivirus software on my Macs.

26

Have you ever sold on Ebay? Have you ever bought anything?

I have. I sold Nancy Drew books for about 10 years. It has been a while since I sold but if you need any help just holler, ok?

1 Like
27

Thanks Katie. Will do.

28

If you go to Craigslist you can sell it in person for cash - what’s the risk there?

29

Robbery?

2 Likes
30

Meet at Starbucks to do the transfer

31

Banks or police stations are also a great option for in-person sales.

32

You need to have at least an account with feedback from people from whom you have bought something, saying you are a good customer. If not, no one will buy a big ticket item like that.

33

Yes, meet at your bank if you’re selling a laptop for significant cash, so you can immediately deposit it. My opinion is that Craigslist is lower risk than eBay.

34

Agreed - with Ebay there is a risk of buyer complaint and a chargeback against you.

35

Back to my OP…
I’ve settled on a 2020 MB Air M1 - but, I want 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD
In the refurb store they have either 8GB RAM w/ 512GB SSD – OR – 16GB RAM w/ 1TB SSD

So I either wait or go low on the RAM.

In my use case I think the highest RAM usage will be video editing, but nothing crazy. No graphics or sound tracks, just trimming and occasionally combining. Mostly stuff shot on an iPhone 8 or SE.

Question: will I regret not waiting for a 16GB RAM model that matches my specs?

36

There’s some interesting discussion on this week’s ATP about how more RAM is one of the better investments you can make to ensure a machine has a longer useful life.

37

Don’t know if you are a Costco member, but I have purchased a MBP M1 8GB/512 GB SSD for $1,250. They also had a MBP M1 8GB/256 GB SSD for $1,1100. I think 8GB RAM is OK for me as my needs are minimal. I will only use this machine for 1 year or less. In general, Costco Macs are $50 less than Apple prices, but they always have sales. Check on their prices for a MBA.

38

But is this still true w/ ARM-based M1 chips vs Intel? Specifically re: video processing, won’t all the extra GPU cores offload a lot of this?

39

Don’t know if this still applies to an SSD, but weren’t bigger drives usually faster at one point in time?

40

I succumbed…

Here in Australia some of the retailers are having a 10% off sale, including the new MBPs. I am now the proud owner off the base 14" model. Retail was $2999, which was possible financially for sure but $2699 sounds so much better.

I had to return the 16GB/1TB Air but for an extra $250, I am getting way more value. Plus I can sell my 2018 for (hopefully) $800-ish?

2 Likes
41

See if you know someone you can trust that has an Ebay account OR set up one for yourself. Buy a few small items so you can get some feedback and then list it.

Sounds like a terrific computer!

42

Terrific, Bill!!! Just so long as you get what you want!

What are the specifications?

1 Like