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Best place to buy a Retina?

J

JesseW6889

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 12, 2010
317
0
Like, cheapest without having to worry about not actually getting what you ordered. I'm looking between Amazon, Apple, Best Buy... where is the cheapest place to buy a mac from?!
 
The Cheapest place (for civilians) is usually in MacMall/PCMall, followed by Amazon, and if you are a Reward Zone member, Best Buy (as a last resort).


TEG
 
It's also worth checking to see if you can get credit card cashback with any of your cards. For example, ShopDiscover gives 5% cash back with the Apple Store online.
 
brentsg said:
It's also worth checking to see if you can get credit card cashback with any of your cards. For example, ShopDiscover gives 5% cash back with the Apple Store online.
Click to expand...

Is this for any discover card? (or ShopDiscover?) and do you know of any good offers available?

My intent was to get a card that came with some kind of 90 day insurance / cash-back / points program...

Also, I'm a student, and based on Apple Insider's chart, Apple's Education discount can't be beat...
 
JesseW6889 said:
Like, cheapest without having to worry about not actually getting what you ordered. I'm looking between Amazon, Apple, Best Buy... where is the cheapest place to buy a mac from?!
Click to expand...

Online Apple Store for Education. They don't verify if you're still a student. Plus, each CTO upgrade option is also discounted, so for instance, a higher-capacity SSD will be cheaper than if ordered regularly as will the obligatory 16GB RAM upgrade. AppleCare will also be significantly cheaper, being a good $100 off if memory serves.
 
anyone know if you can get the 5% cashback from Discover in the Apple Education store?
 
JesseW6889 said:
Is this for any discover card? (or ShopDiscover?) and do you know of any good offers available?
Click to expand...

Yes, ShopDiscover is a setup where you log into your Discover Card account and link to the Apple Store (or other retailers) to make the purchase.
 
Well I heard that Best Buy is offering a $110 discount on Apple's new 15.4-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display with 256GB flash storage as the July shopping deals keep rolling in.
So try it there is you think its reasonable.
Thanks
 
Yebubbleman said:
Online Apple Store for Education. They don't verify if you're still a student. Plus, each CTO upgrade option is also discounted, so for instance, a higher-capacity SSD will be cheaper than if ordered regularly as will the obligatory 16GB RAM upgrade. AppleCare will also be significantly cheaper, being a good $100 off if memory serves.
Click to expand...

MacMall matches the Edu discount and they don't charge tax.
 
brentsg said:
Yes, ShopDiscover is a setup where you log into your Discover Card account and link to the Apple Store (or other retailers) to make the purchase.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up! I'm signing up for one soon ($200 cash back after $1500 in 3 months)

Do all discover cards come with the 90 day accident coverage?

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rockyroad55 said:
MacMall matches the Edu discount and they don't charge tax.
Click to expand...

Where is that at? I can't find anything about it?

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Anna stacy said:
Well I heard that Best Buy is offering a $110 discount on Apple's new 15.4-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display with 256GB flash storage as the July shopping deals keep rolling in.
So try it there is you think its reasonable.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Can't find anything about this either... link?
 
rockyroad55 said:
MacMall matches the Edu discount and they don't charge tax.
Click to expand...

DWA?! Do they ask for and check to see if I have a student ID? Because Apple DOESN'T do that and thusly remains a better buy.

Do they do CTOs? That's another thing keeping me from buying my new Macs from anyone other than Apple.
 
Yebubbleman said:
DWA?! Do they ask for and check to see if I have a student ID? Because Apple DOESN'T do that and thusly remains a better buy.

Do they do CTOs? That's another thing keeping me from buying my new Macs from anyone other than Apple.
Click to expand...

How is it a better buy if apple doesn't check? I bet you're not even a student if you have to ask that.
 
rockyroad55 said:
How is it a better buy if apple doesn't check? I bet you're not even a student if you have to ask that.
Click to expand...

It's a better buy because I spend less money. Plain and simple.

And you are correct, I'm not currently a student. Unlike a lot of you, I had to save three years to buy the machine that I'll be buying this week; if that means faking an academic discount, then so be it.
 
golf1410 said:
Don't buy it yet. You will get loop of buying and returning. Welcome to the club if you do. LG display is so bad. Image retention will show up.
Click to expand...

I've already had one and thought it was fine... returned it because... well its complicated!

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musayms25 said:
If you're a student, you should consider the Apple Store. You can save as much as $200 on the Retinas with the Apple education discount. That deal ends in mid-September.
Image
Click to expand...

The $200 off never 'ends.'

The deal that ends on September 21 is the $100 back to school itunes gift card.
 
mohsy90 said:
http://www.macmall.com/n/Mac-Back-To-School/macCustomPages-5793

You get tons of extras, same Apple discount, free shipping and no tax if outside of CA
Click to expand...

Dude... YES!

I'm not sure why I never saw this link (until someone else reposted it) but MacMall is for sure the best deal... Education discount + No sales tax + Shoprunner free 2 day shipping + all that other crap they give you!!!

I'm buying it with a $200 cash back (w/ $1,500 spent in 3 months) discover card... final price (after $200 back) will be $1,800!

... now that It's only $1,800, it makes me want to add upgrades!

Thanks again, so much!!!
 
I suggest to not buy it now. Highly chance to get bad display. I am warning you. It is almost over 200 pages on Apple community forum. Take a look before you decide.
 
dont buy retina

i have one. thousands of retinas are faulty. its not worth the risk. mine is faulty too, ghosting issues are killing me. apple refuses to do anything about it it seems.
 
TEG said:
The Cheapest place (for civilians) is usually in MacMall/PCMall, followed by Amazon, and if you are a Reward Zone member, Best Buy (as a last resort).


TEG
Click to expand...

Why Best Buy as a last resort?

They price match Amazon and MacMall; sure you have to pay taxes, but you know what you're getting right away. If there are issues you can return it immediately.
 
alphaod said:
Why Best Buy as a last resort?

They price match Amazon and MacMall; sure you have to pay taxes, but you know what you're getting right away. If there are issues you can return it immediately.
Click to expand...

Taxes were my primary consideration with saying Best Buy was the last resort, not to mention that some stores won't price match online deals.

TEG

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anikgol said:
i have one. thousands of retinas are faulty. its not worth the risk. mine is faulty too, ghosting issues are killing me. apple refuses to do anything about it it seems.
Click to expand...

I had some ghosting issues when working on OpenStreet Maps, but about 2 minutes of full-screen video cleared it right up.
 
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