Best place to buy Macs in Sydney Australia???

[aswitcher]

Well on the eve (that should be morn) of the 20th Anniversary I am praying Apple Australia will do something about their prices. I've harped on about this before but I know I want to switch in the next two weeks and I suspect that Apple Australia will only review their prices IF a hardware revamp appears (as we all hope).

To harp on again, presently I calculate at $1 Aussie buying 76cents US that (at a straight exchange - no consideration for GST(10%) or shipping - which would indeed make part of this "markup") I am being charged the following amounts above what it would cost if I bought these in the US with this exchange rate:

iMacs are 35% above US
- iMac 20" costs me $1004 Aussie more than in US (or $750 US more)

PowerMacs are 34% above US
- PM G5 1.6 costs me $831 more
- PM G5 1.8 Dual costs me $1379 more

PowerBooks are 41% above US
- 12" PB with Super costs me $1031 more (thats 43.59%!)
- 15" PB with super costs me $1379 more

Even if you knock of 10% for GST, we are still looking at 24%-33.5% which I assume they claim is shipping costs... eg 15" PB with super has a shiping cost of over a $1000 AUD (760 US) ?!
I find that very hard to believe.

So given theres not much I can do about this and given the prices may not drop until new models come out (and I am waiting till after the Superbowl) I wanted to know what places people can recommend for good service and prices for Macs in Sydney. Any recommendations from experience???

[Nemesis]

... eg 15" PB with super has a shiping cost of over a $1000 AUD (760 US) ?!
I find that very hard to believe.

Machines are being shipped from Singapore to USA, and to Australia. So, there are NO ADDITIONAL costs -- in fact, it costs them more to ship machines to USA.

In other words, they're scre*ing us big time, ripping us off, or just simply -- making idiots of all non-US customers.

To hell with them. I'm switching to Dell -- they have adjusted their prices according to exchange ratio and are actually favouring their customers. Nice move Dell boys!

So let us all sing:

Long live Michael Dell !!!
Stupid Apple, go to Hell !!!

[takao]

Originally posted by Nemesis
... eg 15" PB with super has a shiping cost of over a $1000 AUD (760 US) ?!
I find that very hard to believe.

-- making idiots of all non-US customers.


i agree on that ....
but i don't wanna be stuck with a x86 for another 3-4 years after 2005 (when i buy new computers)
i'll keep my current x86 thou

[aswitcher]

Originally posted by Nemesis
... eg 15" PB with super has a shiping cost of over a $1000 AUD (760 US) ?!
I find that very hard to believe.

Machines are being shipped from Singapore to USA, and to Australia. So, there are NO ADDITIONAL costs -- in fact, it costs them more to ship machines to USA.

In other words, they're scre*ing us big time, ripping us off, or just simply -- making idiots of all non-US customers.

To hell with them. I'm switching to Dell -- they have adjusted their prices according to exchange ratio and are actually favouring their customers. Nice move Dell boys!

So let us all sing:

Long live Michael Dell !!!
Stupid Apple, go to Hell !!!

I heard that economies of scale meant US got cheaper Macs than Oz even with the shipping distance and that's why Oz is so much more expensive. What I don't understand is why the difference is so great that if Apple resellers were allowed to source wholesale from the USA they could probably drop the price by $500-$1000 for high end machines! Thats what sux in my mind, Apple Australias artificial inflation on the cost of Macs. I wonder if the new free trade agreement could shake this up...

[aswitcher]

disregard this post :( my bad