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Apple AUSTRALIA Online Store
- Thread starter Alter Ego
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Alter Ego said:
Apple Australia are fine as long as you are buying from them, it's the warranty support you need to worry about.
I buy most of my hardware from Streetwise Software their prices are cheaper than Apples, they have cheaper RAM, and the service is great.
I only ever purchase Apple hardware or software from Apple Australia Online. I made a mistake of purchasing an iBook once from an Apple retailer and when it had issues the hoops I had to jump through were ridiculous. The online store however are always very helpful.
IT BOX
Macmall
Streetwise
They are the top picks.. ItBox sell a lot of stuff on ebay, and have great deals. I have delt with macmall and streetwise and they have great service, prompt shipping and what not..
I've only bought computers from the apple AUS store, and I haven't bought anything from ITbox..
Macmall
Streetwise
They are the top picks.. ItBox sell a lot of stuff on ebay, and have great deals. I have delt with macmall and streetwise and they have great service, prompt shipping and what not..
I've only bought computers from the apple AUS store, and I haven't bought anything from ITbox..
Resellers offer a 'little' saving (mostly on Ram) in dollars and also (Technically - pun intended) provide you with the option of going there first when you have technical problems covered under warranty...but reseller support can vary a lot - and there have been some real horror stories about. I had my own brush with the reseller screwing up my order specs and also trying to charge me for an unnecesary ram upgrade (saying Apple would not be providing a single 512MB rather two 256MB - even in the face of the Apple site saying I was right).
Any BTO will likely come quicker directly from Apple Aus as we strongly suspect that they preference their own orders over resellers. You also get to track it live - not something resell purchases allow (which can be damn frustrating). You also get a clear invoice/bill so there should be no screw ups.
As for the iMac G5, its a nice machine. Last update was May so you "probably" wont see a new model until 06' if the macrumours buyer's guide is anything to go by. Go the gig ram (the single DIMM Gig is only $70 more than the twin 512MBs, and would allow a cheap upgrade later to a 1.5 or 2 gig machine), bump up the HDD if you do any digital video or have a big itunes library ($110 for 160 to 250 is a good deal) and wireless keyboard/mouse deal is a good one even though we dont have a wireless Mighty Mouse yet.
Applecare is a peace of mind for 3 years
Any BTO will likely come quicker directly from Apple Aus as we strongly suspect that they preference their own orders over resellers. You also get to track it live - not something resell purchases allow (which can be damn frustrating). You also get a clear invoice/bill so there should be no screw ups.
As for the iMac G5, its a nice machine. Last update was May so you "probably" wont see a new model until 06' if the macrumours buyer's guide is anything to go by. Go the gig ram (the single DIMM Gig is only $70 more than the twin 512MBs, and would allow a cheap upgrade later to a 1.5 or 2 gig machine), bump up the HDD if you do any digital video or have a big itunes library ($110 for 160 to 250 is a good deal) and wireless keyboard/mouse deal is a good one even though we dont have a wireless Mighty Mouse yet.
Applecare is a peace of mind for 3 years
epepper9 said:
Sorry, but I can't agree with your Macmall recommendation. They're rude and not so tech savvy. One time I was in their store at Chatswood and over heard a salesperson tell a customer the battery life on an iPod is only 2 years and cannot be replaced.
Alter Ego said:
My two main gripes are:
1. The majority of their staff don't quite know what they're talking about. I've never left that place without telling them something new about Macs/OSX/iPods when it really should be the other way around, after all, I'm just a common Apple user.
2. As aswitcher says, they get the lowest possible priority from Apple. I waited about six weeks for my BTO iMac. A friend of mine waited four months (no kidding) for an iPod Photo.
However, having said that, as much as I love to complain about them, I keep going back with the misguided belief that if I spend enough money there, give them enough sales, and recommend them to enough people,
one day they will be more competent.
On the positive side, they're all very nice people. No idea about Apple products, but very nice people.
mad jew said:
I concur. I dont know what it is but when you push them into anything vaguely tricky or off the beaten sales track, I have learnt not to trust their answers and verify later online what they are saying.
I have also seen them take advantage of novice Mac buyers. For example, my old work colleague switched to a Mac but didn;t take me along for the purchase. She wanted an iBook (12") but still wanted to burn DVDs. They sold her a top of the line dual burner Lacie and failed to mentioned that (under Panther/iLife 04) she wouldn't be able to burn DVDs in iDVD - which she expressly asked to do... They would have taken the burner back but she had tossed the packaging and so it was a no can do.
On the other hand another guy at work who is in IT (another switcher
) just put together an iMac package in the store and then said he would take it for $200 less than it was configured for - or walk. They did the deal because he was serious and would have just gotten it from Apple if they had said no. So just treat them like sales staff and do all your research online...
aswitcher said:
Great advice that.
I haven't ever seen them deliberately mislead someone. They seem too ignorant to do it on purpose.
I didn't have any problems when buying my PB from the Aussie online store. I found that my local reseller wasn't all that knowledgable and they didn't seem to have much of a supply of anything, so I went with the online option.
risc said:Apple Australia are fine as long as you are buying from them, it's the warranty support you need to worry about.
I buy most of my hardware from Streetwise Software their prices are cheaper than Apples, they have cheaper RAM, and the service is great.
That store has amazing prices! Thanks
I agree 100% that NextByte are the worst of the Apple Resellers in Australia, especially in Adelaide. Unfriendly and not-knowledgable is how I'd sum them up.
Streetwise seem to have good prices, but I bought my new powerbook (due on monday!!!!) from Darren at zerothree (www.zerothree.com.au) because he got back to me faster and was friendlier. Free shipping too
I have also had dealing with the Apple store (I bought an iPod mini from them) and they were very good, except that it took them a whole 2 weeks to get it to me! I think that was probably a one off, so I wouldn't judge them on that experience alone
Streetwise seem to have good prices, but I bought my new powerbook (due on monday!!!!) from Darren at zerothree (www.zerothree.com.au) because he got back to me faster and was friendlier. Free shipping too
I have also had dealing with the Apple store (I bought an iPod mini from them) and they were very good, except that it took them a whole 2 weeks to get it to me! I think that was probably a one off, so I wouldn't judge them on that experience alone