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Apple buying experiences in Australia

D

deanops

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 16, 2007
178
0
Melbourne, Australia
Hi, i am looking to buy my first mac soon, and i just wanted to find out if any Australians out there have had any good or bad experineces buying from apple or a store or a reseller.... i am mainly looking for any bonuses or extras that the system may come with, and if any would or could match a edu discount??? Any where to stay well away from???

thanks in advance
 
Resellers get a crap deal from Apple. If you're in a hurry, get it directly from the online store because a customised Mac from a reseller will take ages unless they happen to have it ion stock, which is unlikely. Having said that, resellers are good for being able to see it in the flesh and you know you've got someone to yell at in person if it all goes pear-shaped. I've had up-and-down luck with NextByte, but now I'll almost always use the online store exclusively. :)
 
I see you're in Melbourne, so I would highly recommend going to Streetwise. Service, prices, everything is awesome. The guys there will treat you really well :)

I haven't had a lot of great experiences with AppleCentres here. They seem to want to get money off you, and if they can't they don't want you in their shop. Kinda sad, because thats where most people go...
 
I haven't had very much experience with centres/resellers as I've usually bought online. When my parents bought an iMac, they got it from Next Byte in Geelong. Service was reasonable, but they didn't throw anything extra in.

I live near the Moonee Ponds Apple Centre so I've stopped by there a few times, again pretty helpful, but as soon as I enquired about buying an iPod they started "highly recommending" all sort of accessories.

My uncle bought an iMac on Saturday (I'm slowly converting the family :p ) at Dicksmith Powerhouse, of all places, and the special Apple guy there was particularly helpful. They had a special offer running - buy Applecare with your product and get either MS Office or a 2GB Nano for free. He also took $40 off a Wireless modem router, which I was quite impressed with.

I've also stopped by the centre on Elizabeth street from time to time. The service staff seem a little useless to be honest. I hear them telling customer that if they want to run Windows they'll need 2GB of RAM and other such nonsense.

So the moral of the story is, it probably doesn't really matter where you buy it as they're pretty tight across the board (well except for Dick Smith). The good thing is, even if you order online you can still take it in anywhere and AppleCare will cover it.
 
max_altitude said:
I haven't had very much experience with centres/resellers as I've usually bought online. When my parents bought an iMac, they got it from Next Byte in Geelong. Service was reasonable, but they didn't throw anything extra in.

I live near the Moonee Ponds Apple Centre so I've stopped by there a few times, again pretty helpful, but as soon as I enquired about buying an iPod they started "highly recommending" all sort of accessories.

My uncle bought an iMac on Saturday (I'm slowly converting the family :p ) at Dicksmith Powerhouse, of all places, and the special Apple guy there was particularly helpful. They had a special offer running - buy Applecare with your product and get either MS Office or a 2GB Nano for free. He also took $40 off a Wireless modem router, which I was quite impressed with.

I've also stopped by the centre on Elizabeth street from time to time. The service staff seem a little useless to be honest. I hear them telling customer that if they want to run Windows they'll need 2GB of RAM and other such nonsense.

So the moral of the story is, it probably doesn't really matter where you buy it as they're pretty tight across the board (well except for Dick Smith). The good thing is, even if you order online you can still take it in anywhere and AppleCare will cover it.
Click to expand...

i too live near the monne ponds store and i find they are ball breakers when it comes to the iPod.. .they wouldn't help me with a small problem with my iPod and attempted to convince me that i was seeing thing and was wrong... Dick smith is where i bought my pc from and i've had good and bad experinces with them... i saw that offer your talking about... do you find that they are either clinging on to you like flies soem days and others its like the store is empty?? i dunno... maybe i have to go thru apple to get the edu discount... it may be worth it enough...
 
apple ozzie also have a ipod and mac deal going now. you would need to be a uni, tafe student to get it though.
 
Lot of you guys live in Melbourne eh? I'm in the process of trying to get my Skilled Independent Visa and am thinking of Melbourne. You like it there I take it?

Any opinions on the place?
 
AndyR said:
Lot of you guys live in Melbourne eh? I'm in the process of trying to get my Skilled Independent Visa and am thinking of Melbourne. You like it there I take it?

Any opinions on the place?
Click to expand...

melbourne is GREAT... that is once you experience our weather... it was 40 degrees last week and yesterday it was raining like crazy!!! its an odd place id rather prefer to live in europe for the great weathwer and the lifestyle...melbourne is greqat for jobs and education tho..not dsaying anywhere else isnt tho ;)
 
deanops said:
melbourne is GREAT... that is once you experience our weather... it was 40 degrees last week and yesterday it was raining like crazy!!! its an odd place id rather prefer to live in europe for the great weathwer and the lifestyle...melbourne is greqat for jobs and education tho..not dsaying anywhere else isnt tho ;)
Click to expand...

i live in the heart of the city.. its great!!
 
Or the right for me.


Picture 1.png
 
I only ever buy from Apple online and never had any issues. I did buy from a reseller once and it was torturous.
 
Scarlet Fever said:
i've been to brisbane and hobart, and if i had a choice i'd stay in melbourne. I love the place. i'm going to go into the city again tomorrow; if you want i can take some pics of the place
Click to expand...

That'd be cool thanks. At the minute Melbourne / Brisbane / Perth are the ones we are looking at. Syndey is too expensive from the looks of things.
 
There was a very, very nice deal on a 15" 2.33Ghz C2D MBP, WITH 120GB HDD and 2GB RAM in the Australian refurb store this morning. At AU$3,049, it was the best deal they've had in there in the last month. Gone now, but definitely worth keeping an eye on if you're in the market.

Edit: Oh yeah and Sydney is pretty damn expensive from what I've experienced so far. In terms of rent, a decent place in a decent location is about AU$550-600 a week (for two bedrooms). Nice weather though, and I'm looking forward to Australia Day :)
 
Wow - just spotted this blooper on the refurb site too: a 2.3Ghz Quad core G5? I don't think so... (Link)
 

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