Best place to buy a rMBP and applecare question...

[greenbean6]

I'm starting graduate school in a little over the month and need to buy a new laptop. My old one wasn't an Apple and for the last 3 years freezes/crashes all the time. My sister has a macbook and has had zero problems with hers so I've pretty much decided I'm going with apple. Since I am a student I get the education discount and I want at least a 15" screen and 8 mb of RAM. The rMBP is only $200 more dollars than the cheapest 15" with the ram upgrade so it makes sense to go with that one.

My questions are...

1. Where do you think I should by the rMBP from? Should I get it from Apple for $1999 and a $100 itunes giftcard (that I really won't use), Best Buy if I can get them to price match and give me a $100 best buy gift card (that i can use to buy a superdrive) or is there someplace else with a better deal I don't know of.

2. I heard somewhere that if you buy applecare with your discover card that it adds another year onto it so you essentially get 4 years instead of 3. I can't seem to find any proof of this though so does anyone know if this is true? Also, what are your thoughts on a squaretrade warranty instead?

thanks.

 

[itsmrjon]

I'm starting graduate school in a little over the month and need to buy a new laptop. My old one wasn't an Apple and for the last 3 years freezes/crashes all the time. My sister has a macbook and has had zero problems with hers so I've pretty much decided I'm going with apple. Since I am a student I get the education discount and I want at least a 15" screen and 8 mb of RAM. The rMBP is only $200 more dollars than the cheapest 15" with the ram upgrade so it makes sense to go with that one.

My questions are...

1. Where do you think I should by the rMBP from? Should I get it from Apple for $1999 and a $100 itunes giftcard (that I really won't use), Best Buy if I can get them to price match and give me a $100 best buy gift card (that i can use to buy a superdrive) or is there someplace else with a better deal I don't know of.

2. I heard somewhere that if you buy applecare with your discover card that it adds another year onto it so you essentially get 4 years instead of 3. I can't seem to find any proof of this though so does anyone know if this is true? Also, what are your thoughts on a squaretrade warranty instead?

thanks.

You should buy it through your university, especially if you are an RA/TA or have any other departmental duties as a grad student. University of Illinois actually has an Apple reseller store on campus (where the deals are typically better than at the actual store). Many universities/colleges/departments have contracts/incentives with companies such as apple.

Look at that route first... If that is not an option, then use the other best deal through this thread.

 

[miles01110]

2. I heard somewhere that if you buy applecare with your discover card that it adds another year onto it so you essentially get 4 years instead of 3. I can't seem to find any proof of this though so does anyone know if this is true? Also, what are your thoughts on a squaretrade warranty instead?

Applecare is 1 year by default and extendable to 3 years only. Whatever Discover card offers is not true Applecare.