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Amazon.com vs. Apple Store

A

allisonv7

macrumors 6502
Original poster
I'm going to be getting a Macbook for Christmas and was wondering if it would be best to order it from Amazon to save on the tax as well as for the rebate. I've always bought from the Apple store previously but looking to save money I thought Amazon might be a good option.

What do you guys think? What are the pros/cons of buying from Apple vs. Amazon? Will the customer service be the same (ie. If I buy from Amazon and theres a problem can I take it to the genius bar?)


Thanks for any info,

allison.
 
I would buy it from Apple and put at least 1 GB in there. 512 is not enough. 1 GB should be standard on all of their machines IMO.
 
Buy from Amazon. Much cheaper after rebate and no tax, 5% cash back if you use Discover.

Every new machine I've bought was from Amazon. No problems whatsoever. Apple still services your machine even if you buy from other retailers.
 
Okay this is really really easy:

$ of MacBook at amazon.com - amazon.com Rebate = total Amazon price.
( $ of MacBook at Apple - possible discounts (student?) ) * ( 1.00 + your tax rate ) = total Apple price.

Shipping is incredibly quick with Amazon - it comes out of Ohio for me and is about 2 days from shipping. Processing might take 2 days out of amazon's office. It's comparable to Apple. And if something goes wrong, it's still an Apple product that you can take back to the retail store.

You may not want to buy from Amazon when a model FIRST comes out, as they stock from a warehouse and those are typically a week or two older, as they are fulfilled out of that location, rather than being shipped factory direct. The other reason is if you want to try out a MacBook and return in case you like it - return shipping's annoying in comparison to taking it to the store. Both stores have relatively easy-going return policies.
 
You know, I was wondering about this too. I'm looking at a Mac Pro but want to upgrade to the x1900 as well as add an additional optical drive. Can this be done through Amazon?
 
8thMan said:
You know, I was wondering about this too. I'm looking at a Mac Pro but want to upgrade to the x1900 as well as add an additional optical drive. Can this be done through Amazon?
Click to expand...

No...Amazon only has the stock models.


And in reference to the original post, is this the proper time to bring the fact that you're still supposed to pay sales tax on purchases from Amazon into the discussion? 🙂
 
WildCowboy said:
No...Amazon only has the stock models.


And in reference to the original post, is this the proper time to bring the fact that you're still supposed to pay sales tax on purchases from Amazon into the discussion? 🙂
Click to expand...

Haha, Yeah, I know about that. My parents and me are kind of "joint purchasing" it though. So I figured I'd just deal with that when the time came.

esaleris mentioned that you don't want to buy from amazon when a model first comes out, would this include the new revision of the macbook?

Also, how hard is it to change the ram in a macbook? I did it with my g5 imac but it's probably something I'd want to do with the MB eventually.

allison.
 
Get it where you can get it cheaper - no tax is a boon for sure as any other discount is nulled by the tax - plus they usually have rebates on Amazon. Stock model is the only issue, but if it is just Ram then go for it - more complicated upgrades you may want to forego and spend at the Apple store - or if you are close to Deleware and a student then that is the best case scenario - total discount - no tax and walk away with a Mac...😉
 
If there's a problem with it out of the box will can I still take it to the apple store or would I need to deal with amazon?



allison.
 
So from what I've been reading says theres really no advantage or ordering from the Apple Store, correct?


allison.
 
I'm actually in the same dilemma too. Amazon or Apple? My professor says to purchase it from Apple (he use to work for Apple). Apple now has the 'free printer' promo. So in the end, I'd actually be saving a tad bit more if I bought it from Apple (with student discount) than if I bought it from Amazon. I'm going with Apple.
 
captoats85 said:
I would buy it from Apple and put at least 1 GB in there. 512 is not enough. 1 GB should be standard on all of their machines IMO.
Click to expand...

as long as you don't get the base 1.83 c2d macbook, the other models do come with 1gb standard.

as for my advice, i'd go with amazon. with the rebate (and no tax), it's even cheaper than the educational discounted price. you still get a year's applecare, and, yes, you can take it to a genius bar later.
 
do a search on amazon.com in the forums. I would read those before buying from amazon. Now that maybe just a trickle of mac owners who bought from amazon but one or two of them in particular did not make me feel warm and cozy inside.

gl
 
savanahrose said:
do a search on amazon.com in the forums. I would read those before buying from amazon. Now that maybe just a trickle of mac owners who bought from amazon but one or two of them in particular did not make me feel warm and cozy inside.

gl
Click to expand...

I've had numerous bad experiences with Amazon and will opt to buy my MB from Apple.com. Plus it comes out to the same price after rebate + student discount 😀 .
 
phungy said:
I've had numerous bad experiences with Amazon and will opt to buy my MB from Apple.com. Plus it comes out to the same price after rebate + student discount 😀 .
Click to expand...

What rebate is there at the Apple Store? Plus you pay tax. Not the same price.

Amazon:
$1299 - $75 (rebate) - $65 (Discover cash back) = $1159

Apple
$1299 - $100 (student discount) + $66 (6% tax) = $1265

BTW, you can buy RAM third party and it's about the same price (a little cheaper actually).
 
Well for the white C2D 2.0 Ghz it is:
$1299 - $75 rebate (no Discover CC 🙁 ) = ~$1225

From Apple:
$1299 - $100 rebate (student) - $10 promo - selling the *free printer ($80) + tax = ~$1200
 
allisonv7 said:
If there's a problem with it out of the box will can I still take it to the apple store or would I need to deal with amazon?



allison.
Click to expand...

Well last year (more like end of January '06) I bought my iMac from Amazon. I got a better deal (even though I'm a student as well) and the rebate was in my hands within 6wks. I did have to take it in to the AppleStore to get a new Superdrive but everything went well.
I would buy from Amazon again, after all I went through 4-6 iMacs from that said AppleStore before I went home and ordered from Amazon. When an Apple is bad it really doesn't matter where it's from...as when it's great, you won't here a peep out of me, well other than my Apple iMac is great 😉
Save money and go with Amazon unless you don't mind selling printers or giving them as gifts (the free after rebate ones) and last, shipping overnight is not that $$ and you can have the MB in a day or two the most.
Good luck and enjoy after the sale 😀
 
on the topic of amazon, does anyone know if there is a way to pay with more than one card? You can at apple, but I can't find an option at amazon. It's a real pain because my cc company is being so slow about crediting my account, I don't know if my balance will be healthy before the rebate period ends.

YT
 
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