AU$99 20GB iPod with PowerBook offer still running?

[oingoboingo]

Hi,

Back in March I noticed quite a few Mac dealers around Sydney offering a 20GB iPod for only $99 with any PowerBook purchase. Do any of the Aussies on the forums here know if this offer is still running anywhere? In hindsight, I would imagine this offer was cooked up by Apple Australia in order to help move stock of the old PowerBooks before the newer revisions were announced, and the offer is probably no longer running.

It's just that I'm thinking of selling off my current 1GHz 12" PowerBook and 'updating' to the new 1.33GHz model...if an iPod was still included for only $99 extra, that could offset the changeover costs quite a bit.

 

[aswitcher]

Hi,

Back in March I noticed quite a few Mac dealers around Sydney offering a 20GB iPod for only $99 with any PowerBook purchase. Do any of the Aussies on the forums here know if this offer is still running anywhere? In hindsight, I would imagine this offer was cooked up by Apple Australia in order to help move stock of the old PowerBooks before the newer revisions were announced, and the offer is probably no longer running.

It's just that I'm thinking of selling off my current 1GHz 12" PowerBook and 'updating' to the new 1.33GHz model...if an iPod was still included for only $99 extra, that could offset the changeover costs quite a bit.

I think the offer was to move old powerbook stock. No where offers it now to my knowledge.

If your in no rush then you might want to hold off pending refreshes of ipods and PBs in the next 2-8 months

Is the 1GHzPB12" too slow?

 

[oingoboingo]

I think the offer was to move old powerbook stock. No where offers it now to my knowledge.

If your in no rush then you might want to hold off pending refreshes of ipods and PBs in the next 2-8 months

Is the 1GHzPB12" too slow?

You're probably right about it just being an offer to move old stock. However, http://www.macmall.com.au (aka: AppleCentre Chatswood) and AppleCentre Taylor Square (http://www.applecentretaylorsquare.com.au) are still advertising the offer on their web pages, with no (obvious) expiry date on the offer. I'll call them both tomorrow to find out if those offers are still current. If they aren't, they should remove the advertisements from the front of their home pages...it's deceptive advertising.

The 1GHz 12" PowerBook is fine...it's not outrageously fast, but it's fine for what I use my notebook for...web, e-mail, MS Word, MS Excel, Keynote and some Perl hacking. The reason I'm looking to upgrade is that after spending about half a day playing around with a calculator balancing a) the eBay re-sale value of my current PowerBook, b) the educational discount I would receive from Apple now that I am a postgraduate university student, and c) tax depreciation benefits, since the PowerBook is used for self-education directly related to my employment, it looks like I could effectively swap over to the new 1.33GHz 12" PowerBook with only a small ($100-$200) net changeover cost. Not only would I get the faster CPU, extra video RAM and 20GB larger hard drive, I would also effectively be extending my warranty by 7 months by virtue of having a new PowerBook, instead of my November 2003 PowerBook.

Almost a free upgrade, really

 

[aswitcher]

You're probably right about it just being an offer to move old stock. However, http://www.macmall.com.au (aka: AppleCentre Chatswood) and AppleCentre Taylor Square (http://www.applecentretaylorsquare.com.au) are still advertising the offer on their web pages, with no (obvious) expiry date on the offer. I'll call them both tomorrow to find out if those offers are still current. If they aren't, they should remove the advertisements from the front of their home pages...it's deceptive advertising.


Almost a free upgrade, really

Let me know how you go with the shops...

I see your issue. I guess if you get the price you want on your PB then its worth it - but dont forget capital gains tax if you are writing off the current version.

 

[Ozi]

As a Melbourne resident, I saw in the Green Guide (the age newspaper) that they were also offering the AUD $99 ipods with any pBook purchased. I agree that it looks like it was to move stock, but if you guys find out that the offer is still going, please let me know, cos I am about to buy both a 1.5GB 15" pBook and a ipod.

I will check the greenguide this thursday and post here if it says the offer is still going.

~ozi

 

[oingoboingo]

As a Melbourne resident, I saw in the Green Guide (the age newspaper) that they were also offering the AUD $99 ipods with any pBook purchased. I agree that it looks like it was to move stock, but if you guys find out that the offer is still going, please let me know, cos I am about to buy both a 1.5GB 15" pBook and a ipod.

I will check the greenguide this thursday and post here if it says the offer is still going.

~ozi

I just called AppleCentre Chatswood (http://www.macmall.com.au), but they said the $99 iPod offer expired a few weeks ago, and the store manager was going to remove the offer from the web site. I thought it was too good to be true now that the new PowerBooks were out So that doesn't bode well, but let us know how what you find in Thursday's Green Guide.

 

[aswitcher]

I just called AppleCentre Chatswood (http://www.macmall.com.au), but they said the $99 iPod offer expired a few weeks ago, and the store manager was going to remove the offer from the web site. I thought it was too good to be true now that the new PowerBooks were out So that doesn't bode well, but let us know how what you find in Thursday's Green Guide.

I thought all along the iPod deal was Apple Australia's way of managing all the criticism about PBs being grossly overpriced without having to drop the price until the new models came out.

At least the new machines are reasonably priced...although Applecare and a few other bits bother me like Airport Extreme Hubs and Office prices

 

[oingoboingo]

I thought all along the iPod deal was Apple Australia's way of managing all the criticism about PBs being grossly overpriced without having to drop the price until the new models came out.

At least the new machines are reasonably priced...although Applecare and a few other bits bother me like Airport Extreme Hubs and Office prices

AirPort Extreme hubs are just insanely priced. Maybe if they included a broadband (ie: cable or ADSL) modem in that price they would just be 'expensive', but as they are, they're waaaaay out into utterly ridiculous pricing territory. Apple wants AU$399 for the base model AirPort station. You can get a Netgear 802.11g access point/router/firewall (with stateful packet inspection) with external antenna, 4-port 10/100 ethernet switch AND an ADSL modem for AU$258!

Yeah, AppleCare is quite steep...it doesn't even include on-site repair does it? I used to think .Mac was also so expensive that I couldn't imagine anyone buying it, but the Apple Australia dropped the price down to about $150, which averages out at just about $10/month. Not great value, but not too outrageous considering how well .Mac works with OS X and iLife in general.

Nevermind...Apple Australia is finally addressing the worst of the pricing disparities. The recent PowerBook price cuts were manna from heaven. It seems like they're finally trying, which they should be commended for.

 

[aswitcher]

AirPort Extreme hubs are just insanely priced. Maybe if they included a broadband (ie: cable or ADSL) modem in that price they would just be 'expensive', but as they are, they're waaaaay out into utterly ridiculous pricing territory. Apple wants AU$399 for the base model AirPort station. You can get a Netgear 802.11g access point/router/firewall (with stateful packet inspection) with external antenna, 4-port 10/100 ethernet switch AND an ADSL modem for AU$258!

I actually want to go wireless when my PB arrives. I have a netcomm adsl modem/hub already but am open to replacing it if as I suspect the price difference between a combo device and a G wireless point is not much difference. Is the Netgear anygood with Macs or would you recommend something else?

 

[oingoboingo]

I actually want to go wireless when my PB arrives. I have a netcomm adsl modem/hub already but am open to replacing it if as I suspect the price difference between a combo device and a G wireless point is not much difference. Is the Netgear anygood with Macs or would you recommend something else?

I am actually using a NetGear 802.11g access point at work with my 12" PowerBook and it works great. We're running it in WPA encryption (rather than WEP) for some added security, and OS X copes without a problem. I'll find out what the exact model number is tomorrow (it's just an 802.11g access point/router/4-port 10/100 switch...no ADSL modem), and it has twin antennas, and is in the sexy-looking slimline silver finish.

At home I have a Billion BIPAC-743, which is a combined 802.11b access point/router/4-port ethernet switch/ADSL modem. I also have never had any problems connecting to that with my PowerBook.

 

[Reuven]

Well I just bought a Netgear WGR614 v4 so I can go wireless when I get my new PB.

Have heard some really good reports about it.

At 1st I wanted to get an apple Base Station but heard they had problems with bigpond cable due to the heartbeat.

I just hope its easy to go wireless and its pretty straight forward procedure to connect.

May have some complcations as I will be sharing the internet connection with a PC.

 

[aswitcher]

Well I just bought a Netgear WGR614 v4 so I can go wireless when I get my new PB.

May have some complcations as I will be sharing the internet connection with a PC.

Please let us know how you go. I also have this ancient PC which I want to keep on the network...

 

[Reuven]

Please let us know how you go. I also have this ancient PC which I want to keep on the network...

I,ll keep you posted!

 

[aswitcher]

With ADSL modems is there really a need to go faster than "b"?
11 Mbits is far greater than 512kbits...

Thoughts?

 

[Reuven]

With ADSL modems is there really a need to go faster than "b"?
11 Mbits is far greater than 512kbits...

Thoughts?

That is a very good point that you raised.

But for the extra 20-50 bucks or so you might as well go for the "g" 54 Mbits, also for the future you have that added speed if needed.

 

[oingoboingo]

With ADSL modems is there really a need to go faster than "b"?
11 Mbits is far greater than 512kbits...

Thoughts?

No, if all you want to do is share a broadband connection with a collection of household PCs and Macs, then 802.11b will do the job no worries. However, if you want to be doing any serious file sharing between the machines in your household, 802.11b may not be enough. 95% of the time my 802.11b wireless network is perfect for surfing from the couch with the 12" PowerBook, or working on an Excel spreadsheet on a network mounted filesystem from my G5 (which is directly connected into the back of the 10/100 ethernet switch on the access point).

However, when I want to drag a 650MB DivX movie off the G5 onto the PowerBook so I can hook the PowerBook up to the TV, 802.11b is just not practical. I basically have to go over to my desk, fish around in the rat's nest of cables behind the desk to find a spare ethernet cable, and transfer the file at full speed over wired ethernet. 802.11g at 54Mbit/sec would be practical for this application.

So my advice would be that if there is only a smallish price difference between an 802.11b access point and an 802.11g access point, go for G. You don't know when you'll want to start streaming movies across your wireless network, or start doing big file transfers (like wirelessly backing up your PowerBook). But if all you can truly foresee is web surfing and some low-volume file transfer, save some money and get 802.11b. It's enough for those uses.

 

[mateybob]

Please let us know how you go. I also have this ancient PC which I want to keep on the network...

i have netcomm wireless router and i share net between pcs and macs no problems... why would their be a problem? just a standard protocal...

 

[aswitcher]

So my advice would be that if there is only a smallish price difference between an 802.11b access point and an 802.11g access point, go for G. You don't know when you'll want to start streaming movies across your wireless network, or start doing big file transfers (like wirelessly backing up your PowerBook). But if all you can truly foresee is web surfing and some low-volume file transfer, save some money and get 802.11b. It's enough for those uses.

Ok, I see your point.

Well to go up to G and still use a modem recognised by my isp I need to go to this Netcomm 5880W, which looks great but also is not cheap...
http://www.ht.com.au/Scripts/xworks.exe?PART:L8433#Tof

I guess I could fiddle with a cheaper WAP hooked to my Netcomm 1300+, but I am having enough problems with the upline Noise to Signal ratio to deter me from even playing with it at the moment...every time I disconnect/turn off my modem it can be 1-4 hours to get a stable up S/N ratio, which then remains stable for weeks. Weird.

 

[oingoboingo]

Ok, I see your point.

Well to go up to G and still use a modem recognised by my isp I need to go to this Netcomm 5880W, which looks great but also is not cheap...
http://www.ht.com.au/Scripts/xworks.exe?PART:L8433#Tof

I guess I could fiddle with a cheaper WAP hooked to my Netcomm 1300+, but I am having enough problems with the upline Noise to Signal ratio to deter me from even playing with it at the moment...every time I disconnect/turn off my modem it can be 1-4 hours to get a stable up S/N ratio, which then remains stable for weeks. Weird.

Who is your ADSL ISP? Have you checked out http://www.whirlpool.net.au? They have plenty of reviews of various broadband hardware, and plenty of people to ask if it will work properly with almost any broadband ISP in Australia.

I don't think that just adding a WAP to your existing LAN setup will cause any disruption to your ADSL modem, but if you're already having troubles, then I understand your reluctance to change setup to something unsupported or a little 'funky'.

I don't know if your ISP supports Netgear stuff, but for $258 you can get a pretty decent 802.11g access point/firewall/router/switch/ADSL modem, which is about $100 cheaper than the Netcomm you linked to at Harris Tech:

http://www.eyo.com.au/details_M-DG834G.html

By the way, when is your new PowerBook due? You've been waiting a looooong time to buy that one

 

[aswitcher]

Who is your ADSL ISP? Have you checked out http://www.whirlpool.net.au? They have plenty of reviews of various broadband hardware, and plenty of people to ask if it will work properly with almost any broadband ISP in Australia.

Yeah was on the site tonight.

I don't know if your ISP supports Netgear stuff, but for $258 you can get a pretty decent 802.11g access point/firewall/router/switch/ADSL modem, which is about $100 cheaper than the Netcomm you linked to at Harris Tech:

http://www.eyo.com.au/details_M-DG834G.html

Yeah, I have read tonight that people are using this one ok with my isp. But its not technically supported by my isp so some reluctance to buy something that ends up not working and getting no support from my isp in that respect.

By the way, when is your new PowerBook due? You've been waiting a looooong time to buy that one

Dont know. End of next week at the latest I hope. Can't understand why USA buyers have like a week and we are looking at at least 2...

 

[aussie_geek]

Well I just bought a Netgear WGR614 v4 so I can go wireless when I get my new PB.

Hey all,

I am going down the wireless road as well. I am inclined to purchase the AEBS for its simplicity in setting it up. I am not too happy about the price and the hassles that Apple has had with firmware etc.

For the same $$$ I could get the netgear WGR614 router and a WGE101 bridge to make sure I have optimal signal upstairs as well. It really just depends on what software is included with the Netgear stuff. Will it be as easy as the AEBS because I am totally new to this wireless technology?

I also read in one of the apple discussions forums that you can set the AEBS into 802.11b mode for increased range. Do you know if the netgear has this function?

aussie_geek