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Apple Store Trickery

L

lem0nayde

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 26, 2002
171
0
NYC
I went down to the Soho Apple store today to check out the new G4s. They are quite attractive in person, although I thought they looked nice in photos too. The detailing is much more subtle, and the metal plate is more integrated than you might think.

Strangely though, I went over to the 1.25ghz G4 (as marked by the sign sitting on top of it) and started playing around with it. It seemed the same as the 1ghz, so I looked at the "about this mac" and the system profiler - both said the same thing "Dual 1ghz G4"

So, is Apple - for some strange reason - showing people a slower machine and claiming that it is the upcoming 1.25ghz? Wouldn't that be counter-productive, or do they assume most people would not notice the speed difference.

Myself, I am coming from a 350mhz G3 upgraded Power Computing PowerCenter. So I know all about SLOW computers. I must say - the 1ghz is a serious disappointment - even to me. It just seems so sluggish - despite the much touted performance of Jaguar. The iApps all resize so slowly, Photoshop (while much faster than on my hunk of junk) seems bogged down. And app startup still seems way too slow.

I hope Apple is putting out these junkers to fill the gap until they have something revolutionary for us. As for me, I'll hang on to my sh*tMac a little longer.
 
Re: Apple Store Trickery

Originally posted by lem0nayde
I went down to the Soho Apple store today to check out the new G4s. They are quite attractive in person, although I thought they looked nice in photos too. The detailing is much more subtle, and the metal plate is more integrated than you might think.

Strangely though, I went over to the 1.25ghz G4 (as marked by the sign sitting on top of it) and started playing around with it. It seemed the same as the 1ghz, so I looked at the "about this mac" and the system profiler - both said the same thing "Dual 1ghz G4"

So, is Apple - for some strange reason - showing people a slower machine and claiming that it is the upcoming 1.25ghz? Wouldn't that be counter-productive, or do they assume most people would not notice the speed difference.

Myself, I am coming from a 350mhz G3 upgraded Power Computing PowerCenter. So I know all about SLOW computers. I must say - the 1ghz is a serious disappointment - even to me. It just seems so sluggish - despite the much touted performance of Jaguar. The iApps all resize so slowly, Photoshop (while much faster than on my hunk of junk) seems bogged down. And app startup still seems way too slow.

I hope Apple is putting out these junkers to fill the gap until they have something revolutionary for us. As for me, I'll hang on to my sh*tMac a little longer.
Click to expand...

haha.. and with all these rumors of overclocking going around... :rolleyes: :p

are you chure it reall said 1.25 ghz..? they arent to te be released for another month or so...

maybe you could take a digital photo of the computer with the sign in the apple store and show us.. heh, you could even send it from there.. :D
 
I'm 100% sure. In fact, another gentleman was standing behind me when I opened it and after I moved away he asked, " Why did it say 1.0 ghz?" and he opened it again to see it for himself. I made a sarcastic remark about overclocking and left the store disappointed.

I would go back with a camera - but Soho is a hike for me, and I'm not down there for any other reason.

Joe
 
Re: Apple Store Trickery

Originally posted by lem0nayde
Strangely though, I went over to the 1.25ghz G4 (as marked by the sign sitting on top of it) and started playing around with it. It seemed the same as the 1ghz, so I looked at the "about this mac" and the system profiler - both said the same thing "Dual 1ghz G4"

So, is Apple - for some strange reason - showing people a slower machine and claiming that it is the upcoming 1.25ghz? Wouldn't that be counter-productive, or do they assume most people would not notice the speed difference.
Click to expand...
It sounds to me like Apple is just putting a dual gig and advertising the 1.25GHz to let buyers know that will be available and they can take orders. The computers will look the same. As to your question "do they assume most people would not notice the speed difference?" I think that is correct. When you stand in front of a store display, opening iTunes and playing a little ditty, you're not going to notice a difference between dual 1.25 vs. dual 1.0 GHz.
 
hmmm make me wonder, thats sounds screwy but you wouldn't be able to tell the difference
 
Was there a price tag that had the Dual 1Ghz price...if so you can give a hizzy fit to the manager that you want the 1.25's for the Ghz price....
 
It's a common misconception that retailers are obliged to sell products for the price on the price tag - they aren't, at least not in the UK. They are considered to be "guides" only.

Some of the big retailers have sold a few TVs and things for 99 pence in stead of 99 Pounds when the price tags have a mistake on them but that is just for customer goodwill and to get £1,000,000 of primetime advertising for free on the news that night. I don't think you'd have much luck getting the 1.25 for the 1 price but it's worth a try, hehe :)
 
Originally posted by macwannabe
It's a common misconception that retailers are obliged to sell products for the price on the price tag - they aren't, at least not in the UK. They are considered to be "guides" only.

Some of the big retailers have sold a few TVs and things for 99 pence in stead of 99 Pounds when the price tags have a mistake on them but that is just for customer goodwill and to get £1,000,000 of primetime advertising for free on the news that night. I don't think you'd have much luck getting the 1.25 for the 1 price but it's worth a try, hehe :)
Click to expand...

Well here in the US, yes they HAVE to sell it for the price marked. If not, they can get slapped for false advertising. Sucks for you in the UK.
 
Lots of things suck over here, like the fact that our Macs are generally 33% more expensive than yours just for someone to change the power supply (which is the same for all 300 million people in Europe). :(

Your "ultimate" Powermac is $4999. Ours is £4189 = $6325. Hmm maybe I should be in the computer hardware business. Power supply anyone? Only $1300!!!!!!

Have a look:

http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObj...5HEr95/0.3.0.3.34.37.1.0.1.3.1.3.1.1.0?156,28

Just remember to multiply Pounds by 1.51 to get US Dollars!
 
Originally posted by macwannabe
Lots of things suck over here, like the fact that our Macs are generally 33% more expensive than yours just for someone to change the power supply (which is the same for all 300 million people in Europe). :(

Your "ultimate" Powermac is $4999. Ours is £4189 = $6325. Hmm maybe I should be in the computer hardware business. Power supply anyone? Only $1300!!!!!!

Have a look:

http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObj...5HEr95/0.3.0.3.34.37.1.0.1.3.1.3.1.1.0?156,28

Just remember to multiply Pounds by 1.51 to get US Dollars!
Click to expand...

Well,

The Power Supplies in modern hardware can handle from about 90-260 volts, so you prolly have the same power supply.

Bear in mind that our prices do not include sales taxes (ranging from 3%-11% depending on state), so the delivered price is higher by that amount.

Your listed prices include VAT (17.5%??).

So, if you subtract 17.5% from your dollars price, you get $5,218.13, but if you add 8.5% (my local sales tax) to $4,999 you get $5423.

Your premium is $219 before accounting for taxes (about retail for an Apple PS), and our post tax cost eats a chunk of the perceived differences.

Then again, you can always order from a no sales tax state...

If it bugs you that much, fly to New York for a weekend, enjoy yourself, buy a machine here, and get a 'free' mini-holiday!
 
Originally posted by macwannabe
Lots of things suck over here, like the fact that our Macs are generally 33% more expensive than yours just for someone to change the power supply (which is the same for all 300 million people in Europe). :(
Click to expand...

Well, even the power supply is the same (it can take 110-260V, 50-60Hz), just the power cable is different...

groovebuster
 
Originally posted by Nipsy


Well,

The Power Supplies in modern hardware can handle from about 90-260 volts, so you prolly have the same power supply.

Bear in mind that our prices do not include sales taxes (ranging from 3%-11% depending on state), so the delivered price is higher by that amount.

Your listed prices include VAT (17.5%??).

So, if you subtract 17.5% from your dollars price, you get $5,218.13, but if you add 8.5% (my local sales tax) to $4,999 you get $5423.

Your premium is $219 before accounting for taxes (about retail for an Apple PS), and our post tax cost eats a chunk of the perceived differences.

Then again, you can always order from a no sales tax state...

If it bugs you that much, fly to New York for a weekend, enjoy yourself, buy a machine here, and get a 'free' mini-holiday!
Click to expand...

Sorry, but before tax is before tax. And a price difference of 219$ is still a lot, no matter what. And also the tax is higher in the UK, on top of the the +219$. So where do you wonna get us? Then the difference is not 33%, it is "just" about 25%. Wow!!! That sounds fair...

And who told you the fairy-tale that you legally can buy a computer in New York and import it "free" to europe as hand-luggage? You have to pay customs for it. With a PowerBook it maybe would work, but with a Desktop it is pretty hard to not declare anything. If they find out you are screwed.
On top of that I don't believe that a weekend alone in New York is very inspiring and for the price difference you can just get the flight, that's all.

Fact is that Apple is charging the europeans more for no appearant reason. And your statements don't help us at all to get rid of that problem. It is almost a little bit ignorant.

groovebuster
 
This is a very simple thing. The Dual 1.25's are not released yet. They had a Dual 1GHZ there to let you know that their will be a 1.25 coming. If you would have asked a rep there they would have told you that the system that you were looking at was a Dual 1GHZ.

;)
 
As Backdawg said....The computers are not ready which is why they're not in the stores...

However, the thing that you were looking at (I went too) has the prices/details for all the systems....with 1.25 in the front.

That's just so that you know that the 1.25 WILL BE available....not everybody knows about it you know ;)
 
Errors in pricing

Originally posted by macsurfer


Well here in the US, yes they HAVE to sell it for the price marked. If not, they can get slapped for false advertising. Sucks for you in the UK.
Click to expand...

That is not true. A price, whether a sticker on the product or a sign on the rack is the stores recommended selling price. Let's say you want to buy a 20oz bottle of pop and the sign says $1.00.

When you take that pop up the cashier, you are entering into a contract that says you would offer $1.00 in exchange for the bottle of pop. When the cashier rings it up, they are agreeing to your contract offer.

Othe other hand, let's say MicroCenter is offering an iMac for $15.99. Thats fifteen dollars, nintey nine cents. You take it to the cashier and offer to pay that sum. The cashier does not agree to the price and there is no contract.

These examples are honest mistakes. Don't forget if a store is doing this on purpose and misleading customers on prices, that is fraud. A mistake is not fraud.
 
Actually here in the US, there is a thing called MAP with regard to Apple. You are regulated by the amount that you can sell your Mac's for. That is a fact. Want to loose a reseller license. Advertise a new 17 inch iMac for say 1599 and see what happens.
 
Well,

The Power Supplies in modern hardware can handle from about 90-260 volts, so you prolly have the same power supply.

Bear in mind that our prices do not include sales taxes (ranging from 3%-11% depending on state), so the delivered price is higher by that amount.

Your listed prices include VAT (17.5%??).

So, if you subtract 17.5% from your dollars price, you get $5,218.13, but if you add 8.5% (my local sales tax) to $4,999 you get $5423.

Your premium is $219 before accounting for taxes (about retail for an Apple PS), and our post tax cost eats a chunk of the perceived differences.

Then again, you can always order from a no sales tax state...

If it bugs you that much, fly to New York for a weekend, enjoy yourself, buy a machine here, and get a 'free' mini-holiday!
Click to expand...

Sorry Nipsy but you've done the maths wrong! You can't just take off 17.5% to get the pre tax amount, you need to divide by 1.175. The true pre tax amount is $5382, ie 5382 * 1.175 = 6325.

That makes our pre tax amount $5382 and yours $4999, so the difference is closer to $400.

As for flying to New York that is not an option. The flight would easily cost more than the difference and as Groovebuster says customs would be on you in no time. I dont know about US customs but over here they have more power than the police. ie They can impound your car just cos they dont like the look of you with no explanation at all and there's nothing you can do about it.

I can see it now:

"You had that fully boxed brand new computer BEFORE you left for your holiday, Sir?"
"Yes I did Officer"
"Yeah right, pass me the KY Jelly, this one needs a full body cavity..." :)

Oh (and sorry for the long post) yes we pay 17.5% on everything overhere except childrens clothing and food, but not luxury food.

Apparantly:

Plain biscuits = food
Chocolate biscuits = luxury food, damn them!!!!!
 
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