Apple or Retail store???

Call the local retail store in question and ask if they accept an education discount. (my guess would be no). Factor in the "discount" they give by paying the sales tax, and write down that amount.

Call the Apple store in Santa Monica and price out the machine(s) you're thinking of getting, and mention you're (actually, your wife) is eligible for an edcuation discount. Write down that amount.

Compare.

Of note: Apple financing, as with all financing, will make one actually pay MORE over the long run, obviously.

retailers will go out of there way to do lots of things for you, you said it yourself with the tax. they will not be able to match the ed price, but it seems like with the their tax deal that that is pretty good. its up to you.

iJon

Most resellers don't give an education discount, but maybe you will get lucky. The Apple Education Discount is 10% to 15%, so unless you are getting some freebies like extra memory or something from the retail store, its probably a little cheaper to get it direct drom Apple (assuming you can't get an education discount from the reseller). Also, you have up to a year to purchase Apple Care (although the basic phone support ends after 90 days), so if possible you might want to forgo the Apple financing, as it is generally a bit of a ripoff.

Originally posted by pinto32
Most resellers don't give an education discount, but maybe you will get lucky. The Apple Education Discount is 10% to 15%, so unless you are getting some freebies like extra memory or something from the retail store, its probably a little cheaper to get it direct drom Apple (assuming you can't get an education discount from the reseller). Also, you have up to a year to purchase Apple Care (although the basic phone support ends after 90 days), so if possible you might want to forgo the Apple financing, as it is generally a bit of a ripoff.

Click to expand...

he wont be lucky, they dont give it cause they cant.

iJon

Originally posted by voicegy
Call the local retail store in question and ask if they accept an education discount. (my guess would be no). Factor in the "discount" they give by paying the sales tax, and write down that amount.

Call the Apple store in Santa Monica and price out the machine(s) you're thinking of getting, and mention you're (actually, your wife) is eligible for an edcuation discount. Write down that amount.

Compare.

Of note: Apple financing, as with all financing, will make one actually pay MORE over the long run, obviously.

Click to expand...

Yep - I guess that is the best way. Just ask both for the price and then compare. Thats the best way.

I would seriously consider buying it online and customizing it (def. go for 60 gb hd and at least the 384 memory-I am looking at the 14" 933mhz- which you can't do at the brick&mortar store) so that she can continue to use it for college and you won't have to add a new computer to the list of "stuff" she needs in two or three years. If you just get the base model, in three years it would be more obsolete and more expensive to upgrade (not to mention confusing and annoying) than souping it up from the get-go. (I've been dealing with the same exact situation.) Another thing is that you do have up to a year after you purchase the computer to purchase applecare-if you want to spread the cost out a little- you can use the edu discount to purchase applecare separately, no matter when you buy it it will only last two years after the original warranty runs out...

Damn good suggestion, gemio17. Yes, by all means absolut_mac (and I'm WAY jealous of your name..well done!) gemio17 spouts major wisdom there. Take that into account while you're price comparing, if you can afford up front the upgrades.

absolut_mac, your daughter is very lucky to have a father willing to buy her an iBook. If you purchase at your local Apple Store, then you will easily be able to get all your questions answered. Our local Apple Store accepts educational discounts. You will just need your wife's ID card. Good luck with your purchase. Your timing is on track because of the Keynote Address by Steve Jobs on Tuesday January 6th. That way if there are any updates, you won't miss out.

Thanks for the compliment voicegy-I speak of experience after making my rookie mistake right out of college-bought a base iMac and really regretted it later when I finally realized what I wanted to do with a computer (I'm a photographer, so imaging and web design, etc.) and only had the basics, there have been so many advances in the last 3 yrs. that my iMac was obsolete before I even realized 128mb of ram and a 10 gb hard drive suck. Thank God I smartened up and started to learn a little something more about computers besides the fact that macs are so aesthetically pleasing..Alas, pb here I come....

Another thing absolut_mac-along with my rookie mistake of buying the base model I too did apple financing (the regular not the edu)- if you have to use it, try pay it off as soon as possible - my apr went from the mid teens up to 24% after a couple months!!! (no reason given by MBNA for that one, tricky tricky ) So I got a new credit card and switched over my balance from MBNA to the CC-I don't know how the edu financing works, but that was my experience with them and my $.02!!