Don't buy a mac from an apple store, just don't

CubaTBird · Jun 20, 2004

Wow, what a bad experience I just had over the past two days just to get a 12 inch ibook. Yesterday I show up around 5 o'clock at my local apple store and proceed to purchase a 12 inch ibook with a ram upgrade so the ram would come out to be a total of 768. I talk to this guy and he tells me they have the 12 inch in stock and it would be about 45min for him to install the ram upgrade at the store. I say okay, and I leave the store. 45 min later I come back, and that guy is nowhere to be seen! I got his name thankfully, and told this other sales rep who helped me just 45 min ago. She found him after 10 min of waiting and then he comes back to me with the laptop with the memory. I tell him I printed out a copy of a finance loan so I can pay for the ibook that way. He then states I need to contact my bank for "verification". I use their phone, BUT THE BANK IS FREAKIN' CLOSED! I go home ibook less. Today, I go back to the store at 11, and ask for the ibook with the memory. New guy this time, I havn't seen him before, I tell him my ordeal from yesterday and he gets me a new ibook with the added 512 ram chip. I go and finance it, the bank thing was all figured out already, and I notice that the ram online is,LOL!, 100 dollars less than in the store! He says its for some whatever reason, I dunno. I go ahead with the deal and then notice the ram he is using to put in the ibook is PC 2700..... Isn't the ibook PC 2100??!?!? Whatever I say, and don't tell him anything. Now I wait for a freakin' hour and HOPE that when I go back this afternoon EVERYTHING works swell and im NOT turned back for like the 4th time in two days.

jsw · Jun 20, 2004

I've bought two Macs (17" 800MHz iMac and dual-2 G5) from the Apple Store in Rockingham Mall, Salem, NH.

I've been very pleased on both occasions with the service I received, and the one time I had an issue, the folks at the Genius Bar were utterly professional.

However, I've seen lots of reports that not all Apple Stores are alike. Also, the Apple Store in Salem has had its share of, well, the less-than-qualified. The difference is that the management team there seems to get rid of the bad ones pretty quickly.

I'm at the mall a lot (my daughter loves to run around there, and the Apple Store is one of the few places I can be sane and she can be happy playing on the eMacs for a while). I know the "good" and "bad" employees. However, as with any retail outlet, you take your chances going into any of them.

I am sorry to hear of your problems, and I hope they get resolved suitably. Best of luck, and I wish you joy with your new purchase - assuming you actually can make one!

Sun Baked · Jun 20, 2004

Don't buy/finance memory from Apple -- it's always more expensive than 3rd party RAM, and you're making it more expensive with the interest payments.

They gave you FASTER memory than was required, won't cause any problems.

MacDawg · Jun 20, 2004

My experiences with the Apple Store in Georgia at Lenox Square have always been very positive. I bought my 17" iMac there with a Canon Scanner, and an Epson printer along with a Canon digital camera, all at one shot. The sales reps were professional and knowledgeable. Later, I returned and bought an iPod... same experience. In fact, 2 mos later when my iPod went belly up, I went back to the Genius Bar and had a new iPod in about 20 minutes.

I like being able to go and be hands on with the equipment with people that at least have some knowledge. My experiences at CompUSA on Mt. Zion in Morrow, GA were horrible. Half the time the stuff there wasn't working, and nobody knew anything about Macs, and worse, they didn't want to help in anyway.

I've bought online from MacMall and MacWarehouse before, without any problems either. Always supported well. Guess I've been lucky with my experiences.

Guess it all depends on the store, but I'd recommend the one at Lenox.

Hope it all gets straightened out for you.

CubaTBird · Jun 20, 2004

Here I go...

Well im off to the store now... When I get back hopefully I'll be able to make my reply post on my new mac!

ITR 81 · Jun 20, 2004

Just ordered a 2.5 G5 and a 15inch iMac 1.0 G4 and a 17inch display..all with AppleCare.

I get a edu discount so when comparing new Mac prices with MacMall and others I still came out better since they all charge to install the ram.

I got 1GB in the G5 and 512MB in the iMac.

I got a discount on the iMac ram, but paid abit more for the G5's ram. I however am receiving the $300 rebate off the 17inch display.

I don't mind changing ram in my computers but I really don't want to f up my warranty on my new G5 and iMac...so soon into the game.

MacFan26 · Jun 20, 2004

CubaTBird said:
Well im off to the store now... When I get back hopefully I'll be able to make my reply post on my new mac!

Good luck!

My dad got his 17" iMac at the Biltmore store and everything worked great for him. They even wheeled it out to his car for him. The only time I've had a problem at the store was when my mom took her iBook in and the guy at the Genius bar didn't know what to do, so she had to check it in. It ended up just needing the logic board replacement that a lot of the iBooks needed. I would have thought the guy would have known about that by then. Oh well

wide · Jun 20, 2004

the people at the genius bar (in NYC at least) are complete ***holes!! the woman who helped me had a hangover and took about an hour just to print out a receipt for my replacement iPod mini (i got static). unbelievable experience. why should i have to deal with a "genius" who isn't smart enough to be polite to her customers? i plan on ordering every mac product i ever buy online. there is simply no reason to go to the stores unless you need a computer immediately or you want to test out the computers.

it was only the genius bar though, most of the other people were nice. apple also needs to get their in-store support back into shape. there is no reason why someone should have to wait three hours just to get their iPod mini fixed. i had to talk to the manager to get ahead in line--all i need is a mini and a receipt. that would take a lazy person under five minutes, but instead it took a "genius" an hour...

CubaTBird · Jun 20, 2004

I got it!

Wow!

What a wonderful machine! I got to the store and some other lady had it all set for me. I am typing this post on my new ibook as we speak. I checked the system profile and it shows the 768 ram as expected, however the 512 chip the technician installed for me was pc 2700.... Thats okay, right? Oh yeah, I have the ibook hooked to my 19 inch crt and the desktop screen is duplicated on it! Sweet! Apple makes truly great machines/software... Their sales staff, ehhh.....

MacFan26 · Jun 20, 2004

CubaTBird said:
I checked the system profile and it shows the 768 ram as expected, however the 512 chip the technician installed for me was pc 2700.... Thats okay, right?

Glad you're enjoying your new machine! There shouldn't be a problem with the ram, happy they were able to install it for you.

solvs · Jun 20, 2004

Glad this turned out good for you. Sometimes you get a good employee, sometimes, not so much... But yeah, the 2700 will work fine, but probably at 2100 speeds. No biggie (and better if you want to upgrade later, but want to keep the RAM).

If you want dual displays instead of just mirroring, there is a hack out there that should work. It's software, so it doesn't void the warranty.

Good luck!

jsw · Jun 20, 2004

solvs said:
If you want dual displays instead of just mirroring, there is a hack out there that should work. It's software, so it doesn't void the warranty.

Here is where you can find that hack. Works quite well with my iMac. Should work fine with your iBook. Enjoy!

CubaTBird · Jun 20, 2004

it is dual display!

You guys, it is dual displays, I don't need a hack. I just have the crt hooked to the ibook. Perhaps my crt can do it without any hack? Which is great... I'll get a pic up later showin ya.

It basically shows a duplicated mac os x desktop on the crt, thats correct right?

mr_mac · Jun 20, 2004

the hack allows you to use 2 different desktops. It "extends" to the other monitor in order to get better resolutions and such.

Hope this helps,

Mrmac

jsw · Jun 20, 2004

mr_mac said:
the hack allows you to use 2 different desktops. It "extends" to the other monitor in order to get better resolutions and such.

It's quite cool as a hack. The dual-desktop (non-mirroring) is very nice. If you decide to install the hack (it's harmless and very useful), be sure to go to [Apple in Upper Left Screen Corner]->System Preferences->Displays and play with the positioning of the two displays (your laptop LCD and your CRT). You can let the Mac know where each is relative to the other, so it'll "know" where to put the mouse when you move it past the display edge.

You can also, in that prefs panel, drag the little menu bar from one display to another and see, on your real displays, that the menu bar moves from one to the other.

Note that the hack just enables this stuff. The display prefs are standard to OS X (and previous Mac OS's) whenever multiple monitors are detected.

CubaTBird · Jun 20, 2004

Battery

I may have asked this before, I don't remember but my battery is fully charged at 100%. To get maximum battery life, should I just leave it in the ibook or take it out when its plugged into the wall? (Which be most of the time)

James L · Jun 20, 2004

CubaTBird said:
You guys, it is dual displays, I don't need a hack. I just have the crt hooked to the ibook. Perhaps my crt can do it without any hack? Which is great... I'll get a pic up later showin ya. It basically shows a duplicated mac os x desktop on the crt, thats correct right?

Mirror image is not dual display... it simply recreates your one display on another.

Dual display is having control of BOTH monitors at the same time, independent of each other. So, if monitor A) was on the left, and monitor B) was on the right, you could have different stuff on each one. So, for example, if you had the mouse on the left screen, and moved it to the right edge, it would then pop over onto the right screen.

A lot of people use this feature when working with large documents in, for example, Photoshop or Flash. You can put your document full screen in one window, and have all of your pallettes and tool boxes open in the other. Pretty cool!

Cheers!

James

OziMac · Jun 20, 2004

CubaTBird said:
Wow, what a bad experience I just had over the past two days just to get a 12 inch ibook. Yesterday I show up around 5 o'clock at my local apple store and proceed to purchase a 12 inch ibook with a ram upgrade so the ram would come out to be a total of 768. I talk to this guy and he tells me they have the 12 inch in stock and it would be about 45min for him to install the ram upgrade at the store. I say okay, and I leave the store. 45 min later I come back, and that guy is nowhere to be seen! I got his name thankfully, and told this other sales rep who helped me just 45 min ago. She found him after 10 min of waiting and then he comes back to me with the laptop with the memory. I tell him I printed out a copy of a finance loan so I can pay for the ibook that way. He then states I need to contact my bank for "verification". I use their phone, BUT THE BANK IS FREAKIN' CLOSED! I go home ibook less. Today, I go back to the store at 11, and ask for the ibook with the memory. New guy this time, I havn't seen him before, I tell him my ordeal from yesterday and he gets me a new ibook with the added 512 ram chip. I go and finance it, the bank thing was all figured out already, and I notice that the ram online is,LOL!, 100 dollars less than in the store! He says its for some whatever reason, I dunno. I go ahead with the deal and then notice the ram he is using to put in the ibook is PC 2700..... Isn't the ibook PC 2100??!?!? Whatever I say, and don't tell him anything. Now I wait for a freakin' hour and HOPE that when I go back this afternoon EVERYTHING works swell and im NOT turned back for like the 4th time in two days.

Glad to hear that you're enjoying your iBook and have got the Monitor spanning happening. But with the greatest respect, I think that in these particular circumstances you're being a little harsh on the Apple Store people. They have their (many) faults, but here I think they aren't really in the wrong. Finance is not something that can always be arranged at the press of a button - banks like to take their time and keep very short open hours. It's not really the Apple Store's fault that the bank was closed. Secondly, the fact that the RAM was overpriced wasn't the sales reps' fault - one look at these boards will tell you that online RAM is the way to go. As for the actual RAM they put in to the iBook - well, it doesn't sound right but then again, you're buying direct from Apple and they should know - so if anything were wrong with that RAM, you can take it back to them without a problem.

Anyway, I am glad that it's been successful in the end for you. Hopefully your future experiences at the Apple Store will be more soothing - just be well prepared beforehand, and if they tell you something you know is bs, let them know!

puckhead193 · Jun 21, 2004

The apple store near me is ok...They seem to get "pushy" When i had problem with my 30 gig. ipod, they tried to fix it by installing the OS again and then i went home and it didn't work. WHen i went back they gave me a brand new ipod! (can't complain) When at the mall, i seem to always wounder in... And ask when the new g5's are coming out which now i need to think of a new reason to go in....

absolut_mac · Jun 21, 2004

Enjoy your new machine

CubaTBird said:
Their sales staff, ehhh.....

Hey, you're no help to us unless you tell where these useless sales staff are?

For the record, I bought my daughter's 12" iBook at the Apple store on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. Very friendly, helpful and professional sales staff there. We were very happy with the service, and they installed the extra RAM and checked out everything while we waited - about an hour or so on a busy Saturday night

zim · Jun 21, 2004

jsw said:
It's quite cool as a hack. The dual-desktop (non-mirroring) is very nice. If you decide to install the hack (it's harmless and very useful), be sure to go to [Apple in Upper Left Screen Corner]->System Preferences->Displays and play with the positioning of the two displays (your laptop LCD and your CRT). You can let the Mac know where each is relative to the other, so it'll "know" where to put the mouse when you move it past the display edge.

You can also, in that prefs panel, drag the little menu bar from one display to another and see, on your real displays, that the menu bar moves from one to the other.

Note that the hack just enables this stuff. The display prefs are standard to OS X (and previous Mac OS's) whenever multiple monitors are detected.

I have been debating using the monitor hack, recently got the mini DVI adaptor to S-Video and was unhappy to find that it was just mirroring not dual. I guess I let the developers warning scare me off.... I have the 20" iMac, would love to be able to use my TV as an external display when working in FCE.

jsw · Jun 21, 2004

zim said:
I have been debating using the monitor hack....

Just take the leap and install it. It won't hurt your iMac. It didn't hurt my relatively inferior 17" 800 MHz iMac. It won't hurt yours. Enjoy!

jane doe · Jun 21, 2004

solvs said:
Glad this turned out good for you. Sometimes you get a good employee, sometimes, not so much... But yeah, the 2700 will work fine, but probably at 2100 speeds. No biggie (and better if you want to upgrade later, but want to keep the RAM).

If you want dual displays instead of just mirroring, there is a hack out there that should work. It's software, so it doesn't void the warranty.

Good luck!

The hack is a firmware hack, it can void the warranty. But the 2700 ram will be fine, the logic board will cycle it down to 2100.

Enjoy.

OziMac · Jun 21, 2004

jane doe said:
The hack is a firmware hack, it can void the warranty. But the 2700 ram will be fine, the logic board will cycle it down to 2100.

Enjoy.

This would be awesome if it's what actually happens - I read on these forums a while ago that people had kernel panics regularly after using 2700 RAM in machines rated for 2100s, which was a bummer because it's much easier to get 2700 these days than it is 2100. Would be very interested to know - have you (or anyone else) had really good experiences with PC2700 RAM in these machines? Thanks...

solvs · Jun 22, 2004

OziMac said:
This would be awesome if it's what actually happens - I read on these forums a while ago that people had kernel panics regularly after using 2700 RAM in machines rated for 2100s, which was a bummer because it's much easier to get 2700 these days than it is 2100. Would be very interested to know - have you (or anyone else) had really good experiences with PC2700 RAM in these machines? Thanks...

People get kernal panics because of bad RAM. Apple is very picky about good RAM. It has little, if anything, to do with the speed.

And the hack won't void your warranty. It's just a patch that enable a feature that's already there.

Don't buy a mac from an apple store, just don't

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