My wife is finally at the point where she understands that her Sony Vaio laptop has become a boat anchor and she wants to become a Mac convert. I found a 13.3 MacBook Pro as an open box at Best Buy (Apple® - Open Box - MacBook® Pro - Intel Core i5 - 13.3" Display - 4GB Memory - 500GB Hard Drive). The open box price is $887 - is that good? Also, will I still be able to purchase Apple Care? Thanks in advance!
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Best Buy Open Box - Good Deal?
- Thread starter PTVMan
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Well I bought a open box at Best Buy on Friday so first make sure its geek squad certified Open Box and ask the store how long it sat on the shelf and also ask them if they could cut the price more. Also once you buy it call 1800-my apple ask them to reset the purchase price they will do it they did it for me it takes 2 days for it to be in effect. Also make sure it all works if something is wrong with it or if it was sent to the depo for repair don't buy it.
Well Depends start low and see what they say. On My Retina Macbook Pro I got 800.000 off the retail price but that all includes a 10% off coupon. but it all depends on what the manager is willing to do and how long it sits there.
The non retina macbook pro is at the end of its life and is basically also a boat anchor...just my opinion of course but I wouldn't recommend spending that kind of cash for such outdated tech. If I were in your shoes I would go for a refurbished retina 13 inch or a newer version of the macbook air ...you'll end up spending roughly the same amount of money (maybe a bit more i.e 100-200 dollars) and get a much snappier computer. Plenty of refurbs up on the apple store at the moment its worth a look.
This is my opinion 2, unless your wife needs an optical drive (really needs it) or wants to be able to upgrade stuff, then the AIR or rMBP will be a much better computer for the next few years.
I would strongly recommend NOT to get the old MBP with spinning hdd. Look instead for a MBA 13" - it will be faster, lighter (no boat anchor) and bring her into the 21st century. The only way I'd get anything with a hdd in it, would be if it was a Fusion Drive, where you're getting the speed of ssd, the capacity of hdd and a price somewhere in between, but that's a moot point given they're not offering FD on any laptops (our work iMac has one and I love not having to think about saving anything).
For a similar price, getting an rMBP 13" would be an almost even trade-off, where you get the nicer screen, but performance-wise it will be similar to the MBA. The MBA is fantastic on battery life too - almost like an iPad where you can go 12+ hours on a charge. The '13 rMBP 15" I'm typing on now, running Yosemite, is hitting a little over 8 hours of mixed usage per charge, which is fantastic, but going all day and into the night with the MBA - is hard to beat.\
Check out Apple's refurb store to see what they offer. You can find great deals and you get all the perks of buying new, at generally a significant savings. It might not be the newest model (although you can find them too), but if she's doing work on it, what does it matter if it's a 2013 or 2014.
This all turns out to be sage advise. I went to BB last night and bought my wife a so-called Geek Squad Certified MacBook Air 13.3"/256GB (latest model). Open box price was $1071 and they took another 10% off. I gave it to her tonight and not only is the serial number of the MBA different from the serial number on the box, but it's already reporting that the battery condition is REPLACE NOW. With the battery at 71% the MBA won't even stay powered up unless it's on power supply. They sold me a complete dud! I'm taking it back tomorrow and speaking with the manager about how this can be for something considered Geek Squad Certified. I'll get my money back and go Apple Refurbished unless BB decides to make it right by reducing the price of a new MBA.
Well here's what you do go back and see what inventory they have first and see if they have a another identical model if not then ask for a exchange for a new one as this one is not working. I guess I was lucky on my open box.
I avoid best buy like the plague now for reasons like this. They have little to no accountability and will try to nickel and dime you even if you buy an accidental damage warranty (try to justify it as not being covered or replacing your model with a lesser model). I'd gladly pay an extra 100 bucks to have apples customer service reliability over the headache that best buy usually causes.
But they have good deals. I got my retina MBP for 800.00 less and it was hardly used. It was a great open box.
Best Buy Open Box - Good Deal?
Well I made sure in the store and checked by calling before going to the store. You have to ask how long it sat there and I ask the geek squad people too as they will tell you if it was a return or sent to depo.
Well I made sure in the store and checked by calling before going to the store. You have to ask how long it sat there and I ask the geek squad people too as they will tell you if it was a return or sent to depo.
You guys who are getting additional discounts on top of the already open box price are lucky. In my area I always shop open box @ BB before buying new as far as Macs are concerned, however they are never willing to budge.
My recent purchase was the 13" rMBP i5 2.6 128GB Mid 2014 model for $930 before taxes $1002 out the door. I asked the Manager if he would be willing to knock 10% off and he wouldn't budge. He said I'm already getting a great deal and the listed price is was it is.
Guess I have to start asking how long it has been sitting on the shelf as a leverage tactic
Thanks for the tip guys
My recent purchase was the 13" rMBP i5 2.6 128GB Mid 2014 model for $930 before taxes $1002 out the door. I asked the Manager if he would be willing to knock 10% off and he wouldn't budge. He said I'm already getting a great deal and the listed price is was it is.
Guess I have to start asking how long it has been sitting on the shelf as a leverage tactic
Thanks for the tip guys
Geek Squad certified doesn't mean anything. They slap that stupid sticker on there without even looking at them. I've bought several open box Mac's and the only two that ever had any issues (weren't reset, had someone else's data still on them) were "Geek squad certified." That being said, those were easily fixed with a factory reset. Generally the open box deals are much better than anything else out there. In the case of the dud, take it back and ask for another or for a new one at the same price due to your troubles.
As far as getting managers to take even more off of open box Mac's, that hardly ever happens. I've tried before and they generally won't budge.
As far as getting managers to take even more off of open box Mac's, that hardly ever happens. I've tried before and they generally won't budge.
Well what I did is look up the lowest price for the same model in the same condition and called the reward zone elite and asked if they could price match at the closer store and they put me on hold and said they can't but since I am elite they told me they would do it so I went to the store and talked to the manager and told him what they told me and I showed them my elite reward zone card and they looked what they could do in 2 minutes they told me that they could do it plus on that price I used a 10% off coupon so it made it a great deal.