What About The $1199 iMac???

[youashwag]

I'm planning on buying the iMac that costs $1199 with Leopard in October but I'm not hearing much about it so far. Everyone is either getting the higher end 20" model or the 24" model and not the base model. I want a computer were I can put a lot of digital media on it like music and photos but also do other things simultaneosly (not sure if I spelled that right). Is this computer fast enough do do what I need it for?

[kikobarbada]

Hell yeah!! The low-end iMac is better than most people need.

[KJmoon117]

I'm wondering the same thing if I should get 20" 2.0 or 2.4ghz.

I guess it depends if you are going to expect a lot out of your video card, like if you're going to be playing games. If not then you can just upgrade the RAM to 2GB (from Crucial or OWC) and upgrade the hard drive to 500GB.

Plus Mac OS X isn't a hardware craving monster like Windows Vista. So w/ little hardware (only 1GB RAM etc) you can still run Tiger.

Some one correct me if I'm wrong..

Kjmoon117

[Nick12945]

It's perfectly fine unless you play games.

[flopticalcube]

Its not just the video card. The mid-range iMac has a 20% faster processor and a bigger hard disk.

[Vidd]

Its not just the video card. The mid-range iMac has a 20% faster processor and a bigger hard disk.

Although the hard disk can be increased for around £30 so it shouldn't really be a deciding factor.

[rogersmj]

I got the base iMac. I don't play games and I could care less about the hard drive, because I store everything on my 2 TB file server. I rarely do things that are CPU intensive enough to justify the extra $300 for a slightly faster processor. The base iMac is a great, great value for non-gamers.

I would have liked to get the 24" just for the larger screen, but I couldn't swing that with the wife. I've got a 20" external in addition to the iMac's screen anyway.

[skubish]

Nothing wrong with it but the higher level 20" seems to be better value.
Faster processor, 256MB video, and bigger harddrive.

[KJmoon117]

Nothing wrong with it but the higher level 20" seems to be better value.
Faster processor, 256MB video, and bigger harddrive.

Meh, bigger hard drive can be upgraded and it would still be less than the higher 20"...

Now 400mhz, customized ATI 2600 HD Pro (256mb), and if you go upto 24" you'll be rid of those TN-panels. That is the deciding factor. Those are things that can not be upgraded anytime by the average user. (Is the CPU welded on there?)

If you don't go CPU intensive task or graphic intensive (3d games, video editing etc) then just go for the baseline. It's like a highschooler who only does word processing getting the 2.8ghz extreme or a Mac Pro, sure it will be future-resistant...

[urbanskywalker]

It always helps to keep in mind that computers-even low end imacs that only run at 2ghz:) have been able to edit video, make music and run photoshop for years.

[KJmoon117]

It always helps to keep in mind that computers-even low end imacs that only run at 2ghz:) have been able to edit video, make music and run photoshop for years.

Very true, it's not like you're running Vista...

[DemNoir]

I have had the 2 ghz model for a few days and can say it's very snappy!

The Macworld benchmarks show very little difference between the 2 and 2.4.

http://www.macworld.com/2007/08/firstlooks/imacbenchmarks/index.php

The $300 can be used for memory or Apple Care or whatever.

[Island Roots]

I ordered the base iMac and it should be here in a couple hours. The video card isn't an issue for me because I don't do video-editing and I also don't play games on a Mac. And the hard drive isn't an issue because I don't use nearly enough of my 80GB hard drive at the moment.

If it fits your needs, go for it. Keep in mind the 'base' iMac in this current lineup was one of the top iMacs in the previous lineup (aside from not having a 24" display).

[urbanskywalker]

I ordered the base iMac and it should be here in a couple hours. The video card isn't an issue for me because I don't do video-editing and I also don't play games on a Mac. And the hard drive isn't an issue because I don't use nearly enough of my 80GB hard drive at the moment.


Video editing has very little to do with the graphics card. Memory and processor speed are more important.

[bc008]

i just switched from a year old macbook to a new imac, and the base imac is already better than my macbook. 1.8 GHz to 2.0, 250 GB from 60 GB, and the increase in screensize already did it for me.

im happy with the base imac.

[sarah3585]

Which do people think is best for me?

I mostly use Photoshop Illustrator and Flash, and do use After Effects for the odd assignment, and spend a small amount of time with Final Cut. Not into gaming at all on the mac (console girl)

[KJmoon117]

Which do people think is best for me?

I mostly use Photoshop Illustrator and Flash, and do use After Effects for the odd assignment, and spend a small amount of time with Final Cut. Not into gaming at all on the mac (console girl)

Maybe with the programs you use maybe you should go for the 2.4ghz 20"... The CPU power could help you a bit...

But I'm a console guy aswell so that's why I'm getting the baseline.

[shakastange]

For your needs you could even consider the Mac Mini. The reason you don't hear much about the 1199 model is because it has a very weak gfx card and the vocal wannabe gamers are only looking at the performance of the better 2600 Pro card not available in the 1199 model.

If you don't care too much about gaming you can save yourself a wad of cash by purchasing a Mac Mini and decent LCD.

[iSlave]

Would the 1199 model's graphics be up to the task of Maya, or other 3D apps?

[shakastange]

It should be more than adequate for anything that does not require a high end grafx card. Let's not forget its a dual core processor in this machine.

[KJmoon117]

It should be more than adequate for anything that does not require a high end grafx card. Let's not forget its a dual core processor in this machine.

and SMP.
Symmetric Multi-Processing.

[Jimmdean]

The 20" base model is where the real value is here. The other 2 models are just where Apple pads their margins. The upgrades in the next model up aren't worth $300.00 (even for gaming), and it's certainly not worth $600.00 to go to 24" - take that extra money and get a good second monitor for dual-screening if you need that kind of real-estate...

Edit: I just feel incredibly lucky that Apple gave us Firewire 800 even in the base model...

[gaelan]

save even more $$$ and get the old imac

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/08/10/new_imacs_post_modest_gains_over_predecessors_benchmarks.html

not much difference other than looks.

[urbanskywalker]

Just set up my new 20" 2ghz imac. All I can say is wow. This is a thing of beauty. Glare is a non issue unless you have big lights behind you. I applied the colour profile that someone posted on this forum and the colour is great. Yes I can see some range in colourshift if I move my head around, but it's minimal and compared to my ibook...hahaha wow. I have loaded it with 2 gigs of ram and I will try photoshop and Final Cut later. It sucks but I have to goout now...Oh! I love the keyboard. Now more crumbs stuck behind white plastic.

All the FUD about the new iMac is silly. My 2 cents

[OTA]

It´s really interesting save abou 250$ buying the old 2.16 mac instead off new imac 20´ based model ?

I´m not a gamer, but i will editing some lite videos, not hardcore editing.

[rainydays]

The base iMac is plenty fast for most people. In fact, for regular tasks you won't notice the difference of 0.4GHz. It's not like you will get a 15-20% performance boost for everything you do.

[OTA]

I will do audio recording. Pro tools with a firewired audio card.

[rainydays]

I will do audio recording. Pro tools with a firewired audio card.

Well, if you are going to do music production and use software effects you will most likely need as much CPU as you can afford.

[reallybigafro]

So you guys are saying that Final Cut and Photo Shop would be ok on the baseline graphics card?? I know the processor difference will affect the speed ...but I'm like a lot of you in that any money I can save, because I am a college student, is always a plus. I just don't want to cut myself short. I'm a broadcast major who uses a lot of final cut, photo shop, and a little web stuff and i'm still in a mental battle between the base 20", the 2.4 20" and the 2.4 24".

Help....

[rainydays]

So you guys are saying that Final Cut and Photo Shop would be ok on the baseline graphics card?? I know the processor difference will affect the speed ...but I'm like a lot of you in that any money I can save, because I am a college student, is always a plus. I just don't want to cut myself short. I'm a broadcast major who uses a lot of final cut, photo shop, and a little web stuff and i'm still in a mental battle between the base 20", the 2.4 20" and the 2.4 24".


Well a faster CPU will always help, but it won't make a huge difference like with a Mac Pro, adding RAM is certainly more important.
However, for those applications I would certainly go with the 24" since the screen is much better in that one. Too bad there's no 2GHz 24".

[oduinnin]

My thoughts are that when making a decision about personal big ticket items, the first thing one needs to do is take the emotion out of the equation. Then write down what it is you need to accomplish for work or play and what level of product satisfies that need. After that it's just a function of budget. My rule on budget for technical hardware / software is buy as much as you can afford at the moment without spending into the future (credit bad) since technology continues to march into the future unabated. :)

[reallybigafro]

Thanks rainydays for your opinion, and that would be interesting to see how a 2.0 would sell in the 24" display! The thing is that I have enought for the computer itself, that being the 24" 2.4, but i don't have enough to get the "free" ipod and "free" printer. So I was thinking if the 20" could do everything the e24" could then I would just pick that one up so i could get the accessories. It's a tough decision.

Has anyone bought the Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Adobe premium package when they bought their computer?? The $300 dollar discount is very very tempting.

[vicki2314]

Has anyone bought the Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Adobe premium package when they bought their computer?? The $300 dollar discount is very very tempting.

I just bought it with a base model imac, 30gb ipod and a canon all in one printer! I already got the ipod and the printer and adobe cs3 is almost here but my imac isn't even ready for shipment yet... :( i'm excited!

[reallybigafro]

Hey vicki2314, Which adobe package did you get? I'm thinking about getting the Adobe Web Premium Package, because I'm taking some web designing class this semester. And you'll have to let us know how the software works on the base model. I know I would like to know.

[vicki2314]

I got the design premium- i mostly do print design but i also use dreamweaver now and then and i'd love to learn flash

whenever my imac ships i'll let you know how it runs! i'm also putting 2GB memory into it so i'll have 3GB total :)

[reallybigafro]

Nice!! I would love to add some ram to mine...if I can ever man up, and fully enter my credit card info to buy it. h ah ah ah a. What kind of ram are you putting in it?

[ucfgrad93]

I made this decision when I got my new iMac. For me, the faster processor, better graphics card and larger hard drive where worth the extra $300. However, the base machine still looks quite good.

[vicki2314]

What kind of ram are you putting in it?

i'm not sure yet, haha, but i've put aside some money for it. i've been reading a lot of the threads about it and looking on newegg and owc and all that but i just haven't made a decision yet!

[reallybigafro]

I believe it's always good to wait and make an educated decision. Just don't be like me and put that decision off and off and off....ect.

[Gunnjack]

I've spent the greater part of the past 2 weeks stressing out over this issue. I wanted to save some money but i wanted a machine to last me long time. I considered maxing out the ram on a low end 2.0 ghz 20 inch iMac later this year but finally I looked at the specs of the graphics cards side by side and buying the 2.0 ghz model was out of the question. So I ordered the 2.4 Ghz 20 inch model.

The way I see it is you only have one chance at buying a system that truly fits your needs so do a lot of research and consider what exactly you need it for.

Also I'm glad I'm purchasing my system prior to the release of Leopard because considering how long 10.5 has taken to develop it'll most likely have a lot of bugs the first few months and having a time tested OS such as Tiger as a fallback is nice.

I prob won't migrate to Leopard until its at 10.5.2 or 10.5.3

[HLdan]

Also I'm glad I'm purchasing my system prior to the release of Leopard because considering how long 10.5 has taken to develop it'll most likely have a lot of bugs the first few months and having a time tested OS such as Tiger as a fallback is nice.

I prob won't migrate to Leopard until its at 10.5.2 or 10.5.3

I hope you are not serious with that statement. :eek: Sounds like you have Vista on the brain (don't mean any harm with that line). Leopard has been in development just over 2 years and it looks pretty good as far as the amount of bugs it has.
Microsoft worked on Vista over 5 years and still has major issues.
Apple's OS releases have been very stable as I have been around since Mac OS 8.5 and I have upgraded on every release and never had anything more than the minor issues we have in Tiger today. You are overreacting but it's your choice.

[HLdan]

The base iMac is plenty fast for most people. In fact, for regular tasks you won't notice the difference of 0.4GHz. It's not like you will get a 15-20% performance boost for everything you do.

Well actually you will see about 15% performance boost. When you put it that way saying it's only .4Ghz (which is correct but sounds small) it's really 400Mhz and that's a large jump in performance. The Intel Macs are plenty fast regardless of the model that you have but don't downplay the 400Mhz difference because there is a big enough difference between 2000 Mhz and 2400 Mhz.

[HLdan]

So you guys are saying that Final Cut and Photo Shop would be ok on the baseline graphics card?? I know the processor difference will affect the speed ...but I'm like a lot of you in that any money I can save, because I am a college student, is always a plus. I just don't want to cut myself short. I'm a broadcast major who uses a lot of final cut, photo shop, and a little web stuff and i'm still in a mental battle between the base 20", the 2.4 20" and the 2.4 24".

Help....

Sorry for the hard love but the poor college student stuff doesn't set you apart from the rest, many of us would like to spend as little as possible because there are other financial obligations.:)

You said that you don't want to cut yourself short. You are if you need to keep a meezly $300.00 (which can be easily thrown away over the weekend) in your pocket instead of putting it towards your computer which is actually helping you with your WORK.
After a couple of months go by you will feel the normal regret as many would and say, "It was only $300 difference and I could have had a 400Mhz more powerful iMac"! At that point it's too late. Remember it's an AIO and you can't upgrade the processor.

[powerbook911]

I don't think everyone necessarily regrets getting something cheaper. After all ,there really is no limit, if we always thought like that. Next would be a 24-inch, then an extreme, then a Mac Pro, then a Mac Pro with this or that.

You just have to look at everything, and see what is right for yourself.

[Gunnjack]

I hope you are not serious with that statement. :eek: Sounds like you have Vista on the brain (don't mean any harm with that line). Leopard has been in development just over 2 years and it looks pretty good as far as the amount of bugs it has.
Microsoft worked on Vista over 5 years and still has major issues.
Apple's OS releases have been very stable as I have been around since Mac OS 8.5 and I have upgraded on every release and never had anything more than the minor issues we have in Tiger today. You are overreacting but it's your choice.

Yes I am dead serious, they've been reworking major elements of the OS and its most used Applications like Safari, iChat, iCal, Mail etc.... Of course it'll have bugs when it comes out, be it minor or major (like when Panther would erase certain Firewire drives contents when it would mount them) Just because they've been working on it for 2 years doesn't mean it'll be perfect.

[HLdan]

Yes I am dead serious, they've been reworking major elements of the OS and its most used Applications like Safari, iChat, iCal, Mail etc.... Of course it'll have bugs when it comes out, be it minor or major (like when Panther would erase certain Firewire drives contents when it would mount them) Just because they've been working on it for 2 years doesn't mean it'll be perfect.


I see your point but you can't decide that the new OS will have issues just because of others in the past and there will never be an OS version (seasoned or not) that doesn't have issues. Tiger as seasoned as it is has issues.
You were not getting my point. I was saying that Leopard has been in development for 2 years meaning it's not very long. You were saying it had been in development a long time and I'm saying 2 years isn't very long.

Don't worry, I'll tell you all about Leopard on the release day. My new iMac will be graced with it that evening. :D

[Gunnjack]

Don't worry, I'll tell you all about Leopard on the release day. My new iMac will be graced with it that evening. :D

I'll remind myself to be excited for you :rolleyes:

*writes on a sticky... "don't forget to acknowledge congrats to HLdan for using Leopard on the release day, throw big party, and make sure to remind him that he paid 3 grand for a ****ing iMac"

[HLdan]

I'll remind myself to be excited for you :rolleyes:

*writes on a sticky... "don't forget to acknowledge congrats to HLdan for using Leopard on the release day, throw big party, and make sure to remind him that he paid 3 grand for a ****ing iMac"

LOL, you're a funny guy, but the jokes on you. My cousin works for Apple so I got the top of the line 24" iMac 2.8 for only $1450.00 including Applecare. Leopard will not cost me a thing either for the same reasons, I got the family hookup. :D

[reallybigafro]

Man, I wish I had the family hook up at the apple store! Hey HLdan, are you or your family looking to adopt?? Ha h aha haha, just playin. Hook ups are always nice, especially in the electronics industry since they are always being up graded!!

[Shimshuta]

LOL, you're a funny guy, but the jokes on you. My cousin works for Apple so I got the top of the line 24" iMac 2.8 for only $1450.00 including Applecare. Leopard will not cost me a thing either for the same reasons, I got the family hookup. :D

So you got a $3000 iMac for 1450, with applecare huh? Well, according to my calculations, that is around 50% off, give or take a few %. According to some information I found out on the internets, the BEST discount that a Apple employee can get is the once-a-year 25% system discount, according to this page (http://www.ifoapplestore.com/), which tracks information on Apples retail locations(The specific information on employee discounts can be found here (http://www.ifoapplestore.com/stores/hiring.html)). Now, since you got a 2.8GHz iMac with a 500GB HDD and 4GB of RAM for under 1500, what kind of discount dose your cousin have, the "I am Steve Job's Bitch" discount? And given that, your cousin was ACTUALLY supposed to use the 15% discount for family members. So, if Apple finds out what happened, your cousin could be fired! Well, lets all hope for the best, now, shall we!?! :p:p

[Nabooly]

So you got a $3000 iMac for 1450, with applecare huh? Well, according to my calculations, that is around 50% off, give or take a few %. According to some information I found out on the internets, the BEST discount that a Apple employee can get is the once-a-year 25% system discount, according to this page (http://www.ifoapplestore.com/), which tracks information on Apples retail locations(The specific information on employee discounts can be found here (http://www.ifoapplestore.com/stores/hiring.html)). Now, since you got a 2.8GHz iMac with a 500GB HDD and 4GB of RAM for under 1500, what kind of discount dose your cousin have, the "I am Steve Job's Bitch" discount? And given that, your cousin was ACTUALLY supposed to use the 15% discount for family members. So, if Apple finds out what happened, your cousin could be fired! Well, lets all hope for the best, now, shall we!?! :p:p

Maybe his cousin is steve himself http://i.slickdeals.net/images/smilies2/dontknow.gif

[HLdan]

So you got a $3000 iMac for 1450, with applecare huh? Well, according to my calculations, that is around 50% off, give or take a few %. According to some information I found out on the internets, the BEST discount that a Apple employee can get is the once-a-year 25% system discount, according to this page (http://www.ifoapplestore.com/), which tracks information on Apples retail locations(The specific information on employee discounts can be found here (http://www.ifoapplestore.com/stores/hiring.html)). Now, since you got a 2.8GHz iMac with a 500GB HDD and 4GB of RAM for under 1500, what kind of discount dose your cousin have, the "I am Steve Job's Bitch" discount? And given that, your cousin was ACTUALLY supposed to use the 15% discount for family members. So, if Apple finds out what happened, your cousin could be fired! Well, lets all hope for the best, now, shall we!?! :p:p


Wow you are taking this really too serioiusly, I mean, really! First off the 4GB ram was not purchased through Apple, not even an employee discount is worth buying it from Apple. Secondly, Apple gave many of their employees and execs a free iPhone 8GB, the company does take care of their staff.
Lastly you don't know what level my family works at Apple and I don't need to explain that.
Gunjack was basically calling me an idiot for paying $3k for an iMac when I never said anything derogatory towards him. For you to go line by line what my family discount deserves to be sounds like you are actually jealous. :p

[Shimshuta]

Wow you are taking this really too serioiusly, I mean, really! First off the 4GB ram was not purchased through Apple, not even an employee discount is worth buying it from Apple. Secondly, Apple gave many of their employees and execs a free iPhone 8GB, the company does take care of their staff.
Lastly you don't know what level my family works at Apple and I don't need to explain that.
Gunjack was basically calling me an idiot for paying $3k for an iMac when I never said anything derogatory towards him. For you to go line by line what my family discount deserves to be sounds like you are actually jealous. :p


I will do this with a list that has numbers, so you can understand.

1. So you bought the iMac w/o the 4GB of RAM. With a 25% discount, that still clocks in at $1724.25 with no apple care, and $1893.25 with apple care, still a good deal more than you claim. Then you have to take into account the cost of the memory at a outside retailer, which adds a unknown amount onto the cost of the machine.

2. This discussion is not about the iPhone. Don't change the subject.

3. I could care less what level of Apple your cousin works at. Any person on this forum could have spent the 5 seconds I did on Google to find the info on Apples discount system, and thats the only one published. Any "Super Special Me Me Me Only Discount" that you claim to have is hearsay only, and your word counts for jack.

4. How can I possibly be jealous when I am running a XP rig with a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, an 8800GTX and 2GB of RAM, for all that time that I need with Bioshock, and any other game that comes my way for the next year or so. But wait you say, he uses Windows! For games, sure. I have been a Mac user since my parents first purchased the first Mac in 1984, and my Core 2 Duo Macbook Pro is really looking forward to 10.5 in a few months(Which I will BUY, as all users should).

5. And lastly, if you had looked into the specs for that iMac at all, you MIGHT have seen that Apple throttled the bus speed on the new iMacs, running it at 800MHz. The current consumer standard bus for the Core 2 Duo/Quad platform is 1066(soon to be 1333, which has been the server standard for about a year, aka the Mac Pro). Even on the standard bus speed, the Core 2 Duo Extreme is beyond the cost benefit curve(meaning your paying for WAY more than your getting), and on the crippled iMac bus, its even worse.

The previous posters who have talked about getting one of the iMacs, I would get the 20 inch 2.4GHz model with the 2600Pro that has 256MB of VRAM. That iMac hits the sweet spot in how much your paying to what kind of performance you are getting. Plus, with a max resolution of 1680x1050, if you choose to run Mac native games or XP on it(Vista is evil), your gaming experience should be decent(though I would recommend bumping the RAM up to 2GB at least).

[reallybigafro]

Thank you for your input Shimshuta! And thanks for getting to the original subject matter of the thread. It's all good when these guys are commenting on side stuff, but when it gets out of hand and people get offended is when it goes a little to far.

By the way I went to the apple store today and the apple employee who helped me really didn't know to much about the new imacs and was making stuff up. It was really sad cause I knew he had no idea, but it was really really sad cause I realized I have reasearched this decision WAY TO MUCH.

[mbcracken]

Bragging about discounted pricing usually results in the lack of said discounts for future purchases. Companies usually frown upon letting the general public in on what employee. Plus look at the ruckus you have caused in bragging. I hope your cousin keeps their job.

OK back on topic...

So, I am upgrading some very aging equipment. I have been interested in the iMac mostly because I can't justify a MacPro. My current lineup is a G4 -350 Yikes and a iBook 1.2 G4. I know that any of the iMacs will prove to be a huge improvement from my current line-up. I too have been struggling with the 2.0-2.4-2.8 CPU debate. I mostly do photo editing as the only "intense" software. I am looking at using Lightroom or Aperture. I am leaning towards the 20" mostly because of a space issue on the small desk I have for our computer. Right now I have a 20 Samsung LCD that I am using. Any suggestions for which CPU/Screen combo would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Mike

[HLdan]

Bragging about discounted pricing usually results in the lack of said discounts for future purchases. Companies usually frown upon letting the general public in on what employee. Plus look at the ruckus you have caused in bragging. I hope your cousin keeps their job.




People on this forum brag all day about their brand new shiny wonder they just picked up at the Apple store. I am always happy for them because I know how exciting it is to get a new Mac and it's a feeling of enjoyment that cannot be understood by a Windows user. I have paid full price for nearly all of my Macs while watching people on the forums "brag" about their student or company discounts and I never feel malice or annoyance of what they said they paid.

Whatever I got my iMac for shouldn't be that much of a concern of anyone so much that they have to write extreme postings about it.
One of the things I like about the Mac forums is people come here for help as well as express enjoyment for what they have.

I never once "bragged" (not that it matters) about what I paid, instead it was in defense of someone thinking I overpaid and they were basically calling me an idiot.
Funny how people make fun of you if you paid too much and at the same time get annoyed if they think you paid too little.

To all who took so much time to write a blog about me, learn to be a little bit nicer and be happy for someone else, don't analyze everything. :)

[mbcracken]

People on this forum brag all day about their brand new shiny wonder they just picked up at the Apple store. I am always happy for them because I know how exciting it is to get a new Mac and it's a feeling of enjoyment that cannot be understood by a Windows user. I have paid full price for nearly all of my Macs while watching people on the forums "brag" about their student or company discounts and I never feel malice or annoyance of what they said they paid.

Whatever I got my iMac for shouldn't be that much of a concern of anyone so much that they have to write extreme postings about it.
One of the things I like about the Mac forums is people come here for help as well as express enjoyment for what they have.

I never once "bragged" (not that it matters) about what I paid, instead it was in defense of someone thinking I overpaid and they were basically calling me an idiot.
Funny how people make fun of you if you paid too much and at the same time get annoyed if they think you paid too little.

To all who took so much time to write a blog about me, learn to be a little bit nicer and be happy for someone else, don't analyze everything. :)

The original poster was discussing "real world" pricing. Not what some family member pricing you received. Your comparing walnuts to cashews. Does that make sense? So, your telling people to spend extra money because of the discount pricing you receive is really not an accurate solution to the rest of us that have to buy Apple products at MSRP.

BTW, the reason I called it bragging is because the rest of us spending our hard earned dollars to pay MSRP is helping you get your discount.

Don't get me wrong. I too have been able to play the NPR (Never Pay Retail) games on a rare occasion with other products but never do I brag (discuss) the special pricing with others. I completely respect the effort it takes to earn moneys & to spend wisely.

Cheers,
Mike

PS: Just because someone else has bragged makes it OK to do the same?

I wonder if the moderator can close this thread since it will never go back to its original post.