Macbook/iTunes question

[arw]

I'm going to get a Macbook within the next few weeks. I went to the Apple store today to discuss a few options. One of the things brought up by the employee helping me was that older music purchased from iTunes might not transfer over to my new computer. I told him I had the complete U2 that I bought about 3 years ago and would that be considered "old" music by iTunes. He must not have had a clue what I meant because he said to just burn it onto a CD. I said that I thought it was close to 400 songs so that wouldn't work. It was pretty clear by then he didn't know what I was talking about so we moved on.

Has anyone heard of this or experienced such a problem? Basically the complete U2 is the only thing I care about on my iTunes because it was so expensive. Although it would suck to have to repurchase songs, anything else I have would be easy to replace.


Also......what about the refurbished option? Has anyone purchased a refurbished item from Apple? I can't decide if that's something worth doing to save money or not.

 

[u2popmofo]

Hi Arw. I have never heard of music purchased on iTunes not working on newer model computers. I can't even begin to imagine how or why that would happen. You should be fine. When/if you get your new computer, just remember to "de-authorize" the old computer from playing your purchased items, and then "authorize" your new computer. It should prompt you to authorize the new one the moment you try to play something that was purchased from iTunes. De-authorizing the old one isn't completely necessary, but it's still generally a good idea as you will have more options for computers you can play your purchased music from in the future. It's actually really simple to do, just click on the "store" menu up top in iTunes and the 'authorize" and "de-authorize" functions are both there.

In regards to refurbished items, general refurbished electronics often work better than actual new models, as they've fixed or replaced any faulty or discontinued parts. Granted, I have no experience with refurbished computers, so I'm not sure if it's the same case with them. I'd make sure you can actually examine it beforehand to make sure there are no visible scratches or imperfections on the screen, case, etc. I believe you only save around $200 on refurbished computers through Apple, so a lot of people just go with something brand new.

 

[Liesje]

I looked into refurbed Apples before. If I remember correctly, the price seemed way high considering it was refurbed and I think there's a shorter limit on Apple care for refurbs. Meh.

 

[onebloodonelife]

If you get the education discount, refurbished isn't really worth it. But, if not, refurbished laptops, especially from Apple are great. Apple's standards are very high for their refurbished electronics, and actually a lot of people consider them to be in better shape than a new one, because they are checked over more thoroughly for defects before being sold.

Also, Applecare extends for the exact same amount of time as a new laptop, and you can purchase the extended warranty if you choose within a year.

 

[RedRocksU2]

A new MacBook is coming out in June...so I hear. I'm waiting.

 

[kramwest1]

Two things:

Older versions of iTunes can have compatibility issues with newer versions. I have an older iMac that I stopped updating because it was slowing the computer down too much. Now, CDs that I burn on it do not copy over the song/track info on the newer Macs I use. I can get around this by using iTunes to burn DVDs of music instead, if I'm looking to transfer music. So, as long as you've kept your iTunes version up-to-date, I can't imagine any problems.

Second, some of the MacBooks produced from Summer to Winter 2007 have had superdrive issues. A refurbished one might not be a bad idea. Although, the Apple store I took my MacBook to was able to replace my drive the same day. On the one hand, they were quick with the repair, but on the other hand, they have plenty of parts in stock anticipating the repair.

Mark---I love my Macs, but I always buy the extended warranty. I've needed it on about half of the Macs I've had over the last 10 years.

 

[RedRocksU2]

From Appleinsider.com

An unusual .Mac website believed to belong to an Apple employee has been revealed to include promotional images depicting an all aluminum 13-inch MacBook design in addition to a MacBook Pro that takes design cues from the company's existing line of all-in-one iMac computers.

The images, which were passed on to MacRumors by an eagle-eyed viewer, largely match descriptions of new MacBook and MacBook Pro designs recently detailed by AppleInsider in a report on notebook makeovers due out from the Cupertino-based company a little later this year.

The people ar macrumours.com are flipping out because of the black keys going along with the aluminum case

I like them.

 

[onebloodonelife]

From Appleinsider.com

An unusual .Mac website believed to belong to an Apple employee has been revealed to include promotional images depicting an all aluminum 13-inch MacBook design in addition to a MacBook Pro that takes design cues from the company's existing line of all-in-one iMac computers.

The images, which were passed on to MacRumors by an eagle-eyed viewer, largely match descriptions of new MacBook and MacBook Pro designs recently detailed by AppleInsider in a report on notebook makeovers due out from the Cupertino-based company a little later this year.

The people ar macrumours.com are flipping out because of the black keys going along with the aluminum case

I like them.

People at MacRumors freak out about everything.

I'm actually not as big a fan of the Macbook moving to an aluminum case. The casing is notorious for poor wireless reception and overheating.

 

[RedRocksU2]

But didn't the current casing have problems with cracking?

 

[onebloodonelife]

In the beginning, yeah. It's since been resolved.