Best way to buy a mac? (Online Apple Store Vs. Retail (Best Buy, Fry's, etc))

[Synthy08]

I was debating on which was best...i originally wanted to get it from the online store with applecare and add an extra stick of ram. But a friend was saying I could just get it from best buy and get their warranty so i dont have to ship the mac in case of malfunctioning......Any thoughts or advise?

[MonkeyAdam]

If you order online you probably won't pay state sales tax. On 2 or 3 grand, that can be considerable chunk of change. Get Applecare. Their service is overwhelmingly outstanding. Look into refurb. You could save a lot of money, and every unit is thoroughly tested; whereas, off the assembly line only 1 in 5 are tested.

[tnjazz]

Originally Posted by MonkeyAdam

If you order online you probably won't pay state sales tax. On 2 or 3 grand, that can be considerable chunk of change. Get Applecare. Their service is overwhelmingly outstanding. Look into refurb. You could save a lot of money, and every unit is thoroughly tested; whereas, off the assembly line only 1 in 5 are tested.

Yes you will. Apple does business in every state, so you will pay your state's sales tax rate on any purchase you make.

I do agree about the suggestion about going with a refurb though. There are excellent deals to be had and all warranties apply just like a "new" machine.

[stevelindsay]

+1 for refurbs from the Apple Store. I picked up a current nehalem 8-core mac pro recently as a refurb and saved $900....

[Synthy08]

Originally Posted by stevelindsay

+1 for refurbs from the Apple Store. I picked up a current nehalem 8-core mac pro recently as a refurb and saved $900....

Ok cool....I just looked at the page and they didnt have the paticular one i wanted. is there another good official apple refub sit that offers protection

[MonkeyAdam]

Originally Posted by tnjazz

Yes you will. Apple does business in every state, so you will pay your state's sales tax rate on any purchase you make.

I do agree about the suggestion about going with a refurb though. There are excellent deals to be had and all warranties apply just like a "new" machine.

I guess my friend that ordered online didn't buy from apple.

Nevertheless, you get a year warranty from apple, and then you can go through them to extend the warranty for 3 years. You can do this at any time before that year is up. Highly recommended. Every time I've brought a laptop to them, they give it back to you like new. No matter what was be fixed, they would put new feet on it and give me a brand new battery. Not because they needed a battery (one of them kind of did), but because if they didn't, the computer wouldn't be like new. I've always gotten my moneys worth out of Apple Care.

[jcschild]

correct there are Apple resellers whom you can order from and not pay sales tax
and pay less that the Apple store says as well

Scott
ADK

[Dubster]

If you are using your Apple for your business and can wait it out a bit, the absolute best deal you can get is to do the following:

Wait until there's an announcement of a refresh of the model you want. Go into you're local Apple store and tell them you are interested in getting the now-previous-generation Mac of your choice and that you are interested in the Apple Business Partners program and you were wondering what kind of discount you could get on said machine if you sign up. Prepare to be very happy. The price (assuming they continue this program) will be drastically discounted (beyond the discount already applied once the new generation is released), sometimes to the same or lower than a refurb, plus it's not a refurb but a brand new computer. It is seriously the best deal you can get, but you have to be patient. Good luck.

[Synthy08]

Thanks guys! I just got one from the store today!!!!!!! THIS IS MY FIRST MAC EVER WWOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Solar]

Originally Posted by Dubnick

If you are using your Apple for your business and can wait it out a bit, the absolute best deal you can get is to do the following:

Wait until there's an announcement of a refresh of the model you want. Go into you're local Apple store and tell them you are interested in getting the now-previous-generation Mac of your choice and that you are interested in the Apple Business Partners program and you were wondering what kind of discount you could get on said machine if you sign up. Prepare to be very happy. The price (assuming they continue this program) will be drastically discounted (beyond the discount already applied once the new generation is released), sometimes to the same or lower than a refurb, plus it's not a refurb but a brand new computer. It is seriously the best deal you can get, but you have to be patient. Good luck.

hey Dubnick!

INteresting reading what you wrote here, but can you be more precise about the Business thing with Apple Product rebates? How does this work? What are the requirements etc...?

Kinda interesting cuz I myself think will be getting my first Mac by this week and i need to make the right choice and pay the right price as well.

Thanx a lot for any clarifications on this subject! By the way i located in Canada

Cheeeeeeeeeeers!

[Dubster]

Don't know if they have the same program for Apple Canada, but I would assume so. You basically just sign up, supplying your general info (name, name/nature of business, email, etc.) and that's it - you don't need to do any kind of financing, although I think they might offer it if you want. I initially went in just looking for the discount they were going to offer on the end-of-life Mac I was looking into, and the person kept asking me if I was using it for business, and I, thinking it was some sort of financing come on, almost blew it off, kind of annoyed. Glad the person was persistent enough to explain the additional discount to me. I believe they actually upped the discount in this last refresh round in part to be more environmentally friendly (the more of the end-of-life product they sell in-store, the fewer have to be shipped). There's info on the Apple Business Partners program on the Apple site, but they don't advertise the specific discounts.

[stormchaser]

+lots on the refurb option from the online store...

i bought a UK one online - macbookpro 17" 4 gig ram 320 gig HD for a very good price...

[bwanamatt]

I always buy online from Apple resellers. Usually no sales tax, same warranty, same option to buy AppleCare, but the prices are much lower. Using one of those sites that compares the lowest prices from across the web works best - I like Apple Sliced.

http://applesliced.com