Best/Cheapest place to buy 15" Macbook Pro (2011)

[TheSandman2236]

Hey everyone -- I'm finally in the market for a new Macbook Pro. Where's the best/cheapest place to get one? I still have my student discount through Apple -- but I think I can do better. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[adnoh]

The student deal from apple is solid. Only other places I would try are amazon and best buy.

 

[AFPoster]

Military discount @ Apple is even better than the Educational one!

 

[DarwinOSX]

Check here;

http://www.appleinsider.com/mac_price_guide/

Counting tax you can do a little better than the student discount. The student discount was 40% when I went to school in the early 90's...

 

[kobyh15]

If your looking for a 13", or you don't care about the high-res or antiglare on the 15" then Amazon is a really solid choice. Usually no tax and I've had excellent luck ordering a lot of electronics from Amazon. They do some great boxing and shipping; everything is padded and secured. They usually place the box within another box as well so your item is protected from bashing around by FedEx or UPS.

 

[Ktm.Moto]

Military discount @ Apple is even better than the Educational one!

How much is the military discount?

 

[propower]

Check here;

http://www.appleinsider.com/mac_price_guide/

Thank you...... for a 15.4 base 2011 with tax savings and discounts.... a $300 delta vs buying retail!!

After reading another similar idea I will be buying a new 15.4 base model every year after refreshes are announced and selling the 1 year old. Probably lose 2 to 3 hundred each year but will always have applecare for no additional cost and always get the thrill of a new machine........ cheers...... hi-ho thunderbolt......

 

[Miss Terri]

Amazon ... do some great boxing and shipping; everything is padded and secured. They usually place the box within another box as well so your item is protected from bashing around by FedEx or UPS.

That seems to be variable. When I received my 2008 Macbook from Amazon, the Apple box was in a larger Amazon cardboard box along with just one sheet of packing paper, which was simply placed in the box. In other words, no padding at all and the Apple box was free to careen around inside the larger box.

I just ordered a Speck hard case, Moshi Palm Guard, and some batteries from them about a month ago. Again, items just "loose" inside a much larger box. Granted, these were not as fragile as a computer, but still it was sloppy.

I'm not challenging your experience at all; just saying that it does not seem to be consistent.

MT

 

[kobyh15]

That seems to be variable. When I received my 2008 Macbook from Amazon, the Apple box was in a larger Amazon cardboard box along with just one sheet of packing paper, which was simply placed in the box. In other words, no padding at all and the Apple box was free to careen around inside the larger box.

I just ordered a Speck hard case, Moshi Palm Guard, and some batteries from them about a month ago. Again, items just "loose" inside a much larger box. Granted, these were not as fragile as a computer, but still it was sloppy.

I'm not challenging your experience at all; just saying that it does not seem to be consistent.

MT

I'm sorry to hear that! Like I said, I think I have just had good luck with Amazon. I bought a Seagate Ultraportable GoFlex 500 GB external drive about a week ago and it came inside another box with bubble wrap inside so the drive didn't flop around. I guess it does vary from person to person!