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Best location to buy

I

istuvok

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 1, 2007
8
0
Hi all, I'm a short time lurker, first time poster. I'm in the market for a laptop and I have been looking at the MacBook as an option. It seems better constructed than some of the lower price point machines by Acer and HP that I have looked at at Futureshop and BestBuy.

The problem seems to be (from reading around) that the overall reliability of the MacBook and stability of OS X seems to vary widely. There are enough "shiny" features on the MacBook that are leading me to choose it over the competition, however, my main concern is that I don't get stuck with a dud machine.

With the above in mind I was wondering what the best purchase avenue is for a Canadian customer. Is it 1) buy direct from Apple online (there is no apple store nearby); or 2) buy from an Apple reseller with a local brick and mortar presence such as Futureshop.

From what I have seen it would probably be easier to return a instantly recognizable lemon to Futureshop (or, really, just to ruturn it if it turns out I just don't like the machine).

Are there any advantages from buying online from Apple? What would you all recommend as the best place to purchase.

Thanks.
 
i prefer buying direct from Apple, but i have several stores near me, which makes it easier. i'd only buy from a reseller if their return policy was better than Apple's or they had a warranty on top of AppleCare.

if it's easiest for you to buy from a reseller, go that route. many have done it and many will in the future.

i don't think you'll need to return the machine. you only hear about problems with computers on these forums because nobody would rightly post "my computer works great, how 'bout you?" people come here when they need help. the MBs are great machines, OSX is a great operating system, and i don't think you'll be disappointed.
 
umm...i have bought them from a reseller: Fry's. only b/c there warranty gives me a loaner and was cheaer than apple care....STUPID..the nxt time i buy a computer im buying both warranties, but ya...all my computers have been fine... i dropped mine and took it to the reseller cuz the hard drive broke, they ended up breaking the video board and reinstalling the wrong OS...

my other two have been purfect....and all my loaners have been great as well....obviously apple didnt design computers to be dropped from 8ft.
 
I've always purchased directly from Apple by phone.

You get the latest tweaks if any directly from the factory.

Delivery via Fed Ex was amazingly fast. My last Mac Book left China
late Wednesday night and arrived here in Northern VA Friday morning.

It was also BTO with 2 GB RAM and came with 10.4.8 pre-installed.

Also, most re-sellers are not able to compete with Apple on Education prices or government sales discounts.
 
if u want to customize something, then u need to order from apple, otherwise, i don't really care, they got warranty anyway.
 
don't worry about quality issues. Trust me if you went to a forum for HP or any other windows type of laptop, there would be way way way more complaints then what you hear here. And plus you gotta realize that for every complaint you hear on these boards, there are probably 30 that have perfect machines and aren't posting becaue they have no reason. ANd in a worse case scenario, you always have apple care. They'll make sure you get a proper working machine.
 
i personally buy direct from Apple beacuse when i'm making such a large purchase i want to be 100% sure that everything is fine and legit. Not to take anything away from resellers but its just more peace of mind. I know lots of ppl on this forum like amazon or macmall
 
Thanks all. The comments and advice are very much appreciated.
 
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