Where to find the BEST price for a 2011 15" MBP??

The best place for discount...

Sure do.

If you want the best price, work for Apple. Employees get a 25% discount =D

Failing that, prove you're a government worker or a student/teacher and you can get $100 off the base-model 15" MacBook Pro, and as high as $200 on the 17".

phatjoe said:

Hey:

I'm looking to purchase a base model 15" MBP (2.0GHz quad core).

So far, I found that Mac Connection has it listed for $1699.

I know that's a good price, but just curious, does anyone know of a reputable store/website that may have a better price?

Thanks,

PJ

Click to expand...

Check the up to date pricing table on AppleInsider.

I took a quick look & it seems like as of today, MacMall (out of those reputable authorized Apple resellers) has the lowest price for that particular model (MC721LL/A) you're looking for at $1,663.49. Note that to get this price, you need to go through AppleInsider's referrer links.

Good luck.

Does MacMall charge tax?

kobyh15 said:

Does MacMall charge tax?

Click to expand...

In Ca and other states.

http://www.appleinsider.com/mac_price_guide/

If your in CA Macconection would be cheaper with 2% back from ebates and no tax.

Interesting that the 3% off for AI readers offer from MacMall ends on March 31. May have to take advantage. $1401.20 for an i7 13" is pretty solid. Especially if no tax.

B&H also has competitive prices on the stock configurations and no tax unless you live in NY. Free shipping too.

If you can get student pricing and if you're getting AppleCare, your best bet is directly from Apple.

I am a student, but I can get the student price for AppleCare at any time within a year of purchase. I plan to do so as well. The tax is what is killer. On the Apple online store with free shipping and tax, the i7 13" comes out to $1521.41. I can get the same computer on MacMall with free shipping and no tax for $1401.20. So it's quite a bit better.

Cheapest in descending order

1. Apple Employee Discount
2. Student Discount
3. Refurbished

But the make or break is the Tax for many folks. Check out MacMall.com and other online vendors if you absolutely need that deal on a new machine. Else, Student Discount almost always works out well.

phatjoe said:

Hey:

I'm looking to purchase a base model 15" MBP (2.0GHz quad core).

So far, I found that Mac Connection has it listed for $1699.

I know that's a good price, but just curious, does anyone know of a reputable store/website that may have a better price?

Thanks,

PJ

Click to expand...

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8G4 Safari/6533.18.5)

Anyone had any experience with shipping from MacMall? Do they do a pretty decent job? I've heard of horror stories of MBPs being sent in their box only and getting roughed up pretty bad. Does MacMall ship the MBP box within another box to keep this from happening?