Best Buy Selling New Entry-Level iMac for $830 With EDU Discount

MacSince1990 said:

Um. My point was, despite your unconvincing bleats to the contrary, there is a market for it.

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It's good to know that decorum is still a part of this forum. As a bleating goat, I take offense to your misrepresentation of my quote. I posted several times on this topic and nowhere did I say, hint at, or even imply there was no market for the entry level iMac. I'm not sure what you thought you read, but it clearly wasn't what I wrote. Unless you can show otherwise, I stand by that.

Normally this would be the point in forum talk where some might go tit for tat with you by hurling a return insult. I'm just going to assume you misread my quote and the "bleat" comment was the result of something else going on in your life since I've never once said anything derogatory towards you.

69Mustang said:

You seem to be hung up on my inclusion of the Fusion Drive as an example. It was just that, an example. You are sort of missing the forest (my opinion of this iMac's value) for the trees (Fusion Drive). Again, the benchmark was posted as a comparison of Apples offerings. And yes, I do believe that this config is over priced. I even stated that I think it's worth no more than $800. Best Buy selling it in that range makes sense to me. I also said someone else may see value at $1100 and it's perfectly fine if they do.

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You seem to have misread my quote. I stated, "Apple's objective to hit a low price is of little consequence to most consumers. Forum people? Maybe."

That means most consumers don't care what Apple's objective was. Most care about what they're buying, not the company objective. People in forums care about the meaning behind Apples (or any other company for that matter) actions.
My quote has nothing to do with consumers not caring about low price.

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It would be easier to understand your points if you didn't state them as apparent contradictions. I'm still not sure I follow what you are arguing.

For the record, the only point I am attempting to make here myself is that Apple is not releasing this iMac as a value proposition vs. a Windows PC, or even vs. their own laptops. I am still not sure that this point is being understood.

IJ Reilly said:

It would be easier to understand your points if you didn't state them as apparent contradictions. I'm still not sure I follow what you are arguing.

For the record, the only point I am attempting to make here myself is that Apple is not releasing this iMac as a value proposition vs. a Windows PC, or even vs. their own laptops. I am still not sure that this point is being understood.

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Strip away all the extraneous wording we've used.

You're stating Apple didn't release it as a value prop. Plain and simple. I got it before and I get now.

I am stating I think it's priced too high for what it is. In my opinion it's worth about $800. Plain and simple.

As an aside, I would like to thank you. We've gone back and forth on this topic without one negative comment about each other. Faith restored.

Naimfan said:

Well, that's getting close to what the thing should have been priced at in the first place.

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Yeah, if it was $800 to begin with definitely. Still with the coupon that's not bad.

AxiomaticRubric said:

You would still need a Thunderbolt to HDMI adapter, but yeah, that's an option.

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True. I'd hit up Monoprice for that (~$10).

69Mustang said:

Strip away all the extraneous wording we've used.

You're stating Apple didn't release it as a value prop. Plain and simple. I got it before and I get now.

I am stating I think it's priced too high for what it is. In my opinion it's worth about $800. Plain and simple.

As an aside, I would like to thank you. We've gone back and forth on this topic without one negative comment about each other. Faith restored.

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I am of the mind that something is worth precisely what someone is willing to pay for it. They may have buyer's remorse afterwards, if the product proves to be disappointing, but at the time of purchase, the value proposition is proven by definition. This model may not be worth more than $800 to you, but I believe Apple is wagering that it will be to a great number of other people. These would likely be the people who desire to own an iMac, but for whom the extra $200 is a hardship. Almost by definition, they are not bang-for-buck buyers.

Okay, thanks to lingering .edu address that never got shut off, I went and tried to use this on a new MacBook Air for my wife. Asked if they had any open box refurb. They did. The edu discount didn't apply. Also tried adding the US Post Office "change of address kit" Best Buy 10% coupon - apparently USPS just swapped kits, and the new coupons don't START until July 1.

So no purchase today, I'll have to head back on Tuesday.

octothorpe8 said:

True. I'd hit up Monoprice for that (~$10).

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And you don't really need a Thunderbolt to HDMI adatper - a Mini DisplayPort adapter works just fine. (Which, IIRC, Monoprice labels them as "Thunderbolt/Mini DisplayPort" nicely, but don't fall for more expensive companies that charge more for a "Thunderbolt" enabled adapter.


Also, to chime in again on the value proposition on the new low-end iMac model.

If $1099 was too much, and the $1299 was a much more reasonable model for the price - that value proposition continues to hold. If the low-end model is a good value at $830, then the quad-core model is an even better value at $1030. (Cheaper than the low-end model's non-edu price.)

Also, Best Buy seems to be messing with people, I checked right now, and each model of iMac has a different discount to it. The $1099 model has *NO* discount right now, while the $1299 has a $100 discount. So right NOW, the quad-core model is a downright STEAL, at only $100 more than the dual-core model.

Anonymous Freak said:

And you don't really need a Thunderbolt to HDMI adatper - a Mini DisplayPort adapter works just fine. (Which, IIRC, Monoprice labels them as "Thunderbolt/Mini DisplayPort" nicely, but don't fall for more expensive companies that charge more for a "Thunderbolt" enabled adapter.

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Yep, good call there.

peglegjack said:

$830 makes far more sense for those specs.

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I was thinking it should be more like 650.00 and have a student discount on it. For it to be what it is and in a few years I have to toss it out the window or use it as a paper weight, it costs too much.

pastimage said:

I was thinking it should be more like 650.00 and have a student discount on it. For it to be what it is and in a few years I have to toss it out the window or use it as a paper weight, it costs too much.

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Use it as a second monitor, albeit a power-hungry second monitor.