So, I'm dreading everyday having to start up my wind-tunnel of a PC and very much looking forward to having a nice quiet ultra powerful G5. Unfortunatly, It's not as easy as just taking a road trip to the nearest Apple Store and picking my poison.
I just moved to Saipan (It's near Guam) a few months ago, and am having difficulty deciding how to go about getting my machine. Saipan, is a US protectorate, so we have American Currency, the US Postal Service, and Telephone service comperable to Hawaii. Because our island is small (and we have lots of useless politicians) there are very few street signs, and no addresses, only P.O. Boxes. I'm not planning the purchase until Christmas or so, but it's good to plan ahead.
We have one store on island who is an Authorized Apple Reseller (Marianas Electronics) who does a very good job of raking people over the coals, charges a premium for getting the machine shipped, and doesn't offer an educational discount to anyone (not even teachers). ME does not carry any of the modern Apple Equipment, they have it all shipped over after customers pay for it.
I know that they are overcharging for shipping. The most reliable method of transportation between us and the mainland is USPS Priority Mail. I know that if I purchased the Mac online, pretending to still live at my parents house they would be able to re-ship it to me and I'd still save a couple hundred bucks.
So ultimatly, it comes down to how tight Apple is on thier warranty and AppleCare. ME loves to tell people that the Apple warranty is not a global warranty so they HAVE to buy thier computer from them if they want service under the warranty. I know that if you buy an iMac in Bloomington, MN and have problems with it, you can bring it to the Edina Store and nobody would give you any flak. But what if you bought a computer in Bloomington, and had is serviced in Saipan? Technically it's still in the same country of origin. Never had to go through customs. Can an Authorized Apple Retailer deny warranty/AppleCare service to a Person because they purchased it in a different part of the country?
I have tried to find out if anyother company would actually ship a G5 to Saipan, and with no luck. Because most people won't ship a computer to a P.O. Box, and most people won't use USPS, for whatever reason I have not been able to find any reputable dealers who would ship to Saipan, either because they can't, or they won't.
Wow, that ended up to be alot longer than I ever imagined it could be. Any words of Wisdom?
I just moved to Saipan (It's near Guam) a few months ago, and am having difficulty deciding how to go about getting my machine. Saipan, is a US protectorate, so we have American Currency, the US Postal Service, and Telephone service comperable to Hawaii. Because our island is small (and we have lots of useless politicians) there are very few street signs, and no addresses, only P.O. Boxes. I'm not planning the purchase until Christmas or so, but it's good to plan ahead.
We have one store on island who is an Authorized Apple Reseller (Marianas Electronics) who does a very good job of raking people over the coals, charges a premium for getting the machine shipped, and doesn't offer an educational discount to anyone (not even teachers). ME does not carry any of the modern Apple Equipment, they have it all shipped over after customers pay for it.
I know that they are overcharging for shipping. The most reliable method of transportation between us and the mainland is USPS Priority Mail. I know that if I purchased the Mac online, pretending to still live at my parents house they would be able to re-ship it to me and I'd still save a couple hundred bucks.
So ultimatly, it comes down to how tight Apple is on thier warranty and AppleCare. ME loves to tell people that the Apple warranty is not a global warranty so they HAVE to buy thier computer from them if they want service under the warranty. I know that if you buy an iMac in Bloomington, MN and have problems with it, you can bring it to the Edina Store and nobody would give you any flak. But what if you bought a computer in Bloomington, and had is serviced in Saipan? Technically it's still in the same country of origin. Never had to go through customs. Can an Authorized Apple Retailer deny warranty/AppleCare service to a Person because they purchased it in a different part of the country?
I have tried to find out if anyother company would actually ship a G5 to Saipan, and with no luck. Because most people won't ship a computer to a P.O. Box, and most people won't use USPS, for whatever reason I have not been able to find any reputable dealers who would ship to Saipan, either because they can't, or they won't.
Wow, that ended up to be alot longer than I ever imagined it could be. Any words of Wisdom?