MacMall orders
I've heard bad stories about Macmall. I once received a defective Mac Mini from them. Always a pain to deal with them and there slow. They even wanted me to email them pictures. Buy from Apple even for the extra $30 it's worth it for their customer service.
Sorry to hear about your Mini. After at least ten years and roughly ten different items purchased from them, I haven't had any experience with hassles on defective items since no defects yet (knock on wood). I have chosen to include Applecare in my order so I can drive 20 miles to the local Apple store and get a new 27" if necessary. This is the first instance of my use of Applecare in 28 years of Apple systems usage, due only to the substantial static about the neat new display possibly having some slight basis for concern.
I have spoken with several very polite sales folks at MacMall in the last few days and been told Apple's delivery estimates are historically quite reliable and in this instance consistent for configurations like mine. We'll see and I will report back.
My taxes would have been $159.29 from Apple based on my state's 5.5%.
With that I have purchased a Superdrive from Amazon for $10 under Apple's price, to replace the one Apple apparently decided no one wanted anymore to allow them to reduce the edge of their machine to an impressive if meaningless 5mm. That left $82.30 with which I purchased a copy of Parallels for $49.99 to get around the 3TB/Bootcamp situation creating so much forum traffic, leaving me with $32.31 left over, reducing the net cost to me for Applecare of $136.31.
That's also partly a political statement to deprive the state of a few bucks to waste on supporting people that choose not to work for a living.
Enjoy whatever Apple goodies you may have. I've enjoyed their products since my Little Mac in 1984 both professionally in my engineering career and now privately in retirement. I have no complaints about any of the many items they have provided for my livelihood and amusement, which I guess makes me wonder why I participate in these forums of whiners