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Best Way to buy MBPR or other Macbook for Students

D

drew077

macrumors member
Original poster
May 22, 2008
51
0
Hello, like many I was trying to find the best deal possible for the Macbook Pro and I think I did. I ended up getting my Macbook Pro Retina base model for $1,999 and no sales tax. Included with this order is a free set of goodies which are a USB power adapter, 16GB USB flash drive, skull candy in ear headphone, and 2 $100 gift cards to restaurants.com. But since I also wanted an external hard drive I order a 3TB LaCie Porsche Design USB 3.0 Hard drive for $200. The total of my order, including the external hard drive, came to $2,198.99. To me, this seems like a steal. Their is no sales tax but you also get a $200 education discount (depending on the model). I ordered from Macmall, but they do not advertise their students discounts at all. I search their site and found a little bit of information. The first time I called, the sales rep had no idea what I was talking about until I showed him the link. I will post the link below incase their are any other students in my situations. Best of all, they have many retina models in stock ready to ship! They do ask for your student I.D. number and the university you attend. The ordered has to be place over the phone too, but definitely worth it.

http://www.macmall.com/n/Mac-Back-To-School/macCustomPages-5793

I can promise you guys I have no affiliation with macmall, but I am simply trying to inform others of a great deal I found, that IMO, is probably the best one out there.
 
drew077 said:
Hello, like many I was trying to find the best deal possible for the Macbook Pro and I think I did. I ended up getting my Macbook Pro Retina base model for $1,999 and no sales tax. Included with this order is a free set of goodies which are a USB power adapter, 16GB USB flash drive, skull candy in ear headphone, and 2 $100 gift cards to restaurants.com. But since I also wanted an external hard drive I order a 3TB LaCie Porsche Design USB 3.0 Hard drive for $200. The total of my order, including the external hard drive, came to $2,198.99. To me, this seems like a steal. Their is no sales tax but you also get a $200 education discount (depending on the model). I ordered from Macmall, but they do not advertise their students discounts at all. I search their site and found a little bit of information. The first time I called, the sales rep had no idea what I was talking about until I showed him the link. I will post the link below incase their are any other students in my situations. Best of all, they have many retina models in stock ready to ship! They do ask for your student I.D. number and the university you attend. The ordered has to be place over the phone too, but definitely worth it.

http://www.macmall.com/n/Mac-Back-To-School/macCustomPages-5793

I can promise you guys I have no affiliation with macmall, but I am simply trying to inform others of a great deal I found, that IMO, is probably the best one out there.
Click to expand...

Too bad they don't have the 16GB models...
 
They seem to charge sales tax everywhere.. how did you skip the sales tax?
 
Malig said:
They seem to charge sales tax everywhere.. how did you skip the sales tax?
Click to expand...

Pretty sure if the retailer you're buying at doesn't have any affiliation with your state you don't have to pay sales tax. Like if MacMall HQ was in California and I bought in Texas I wouldn't pay sales tax but if I bought online at Apple.com in Texas I'd be charged tax because there is a retail affiliation inside Texas.

----------
drew077 said:
Hello, like many I was trying to find the best deal possible for the Macbook Pro and I think I did. I ended up getting my Macbook Pro Retina base model for $1,999 and no sales tax. Included with this order is a free set of goodies which are a USB power adapter, 16GB USB flash drive, skull candy in ear headphone, and 2 $100 gift cards to restaurants.com. But since I also wanted an external hard drive I order a 3TB LaCie Porsche Design USB 3.0 Hard drive for $200. The total of my order, including the external hard drive, came to $2,198.99. To me, this seems like a steal. Their is no sales tax but you also get a $200 education discount (depending on the model). I ordered from Macmall, but they do not advertise their students discounts at all. I search their site and found a little bit of information. The first time I called, the sales rep had no idea what I was talking about until I showed him the link. I will post the link below incase their are any other students in my situations. Best of all, they have many retina models in stock ready to ship! They do ask for your student I.D. number and the university you attend. The ordered has to be place over the phone too, but definitely worth it.

http://www.macmall.com/n/Mac-Back-To-School/macCustomPages-5793

I can promise you guys I have no affiliation with macmall, but I am simply trying to inform others of a great deal I found, that IMO, is probably the best one out there.
Click to expand...


You did get a pretty sweet deal...the restaurant.com gift cards are pretty random but definitely nice to have. You basically got all the extras as a bonus from what you would've gotten from Apple.
 
drew077 said:
Hello, like many I was trying to find the best deal possible for the Macbook Pro and I think I did. I ended up getting my Macbook Pro Retina base model for $1,999 and no sales tax. ...
Click to expand...

Not bad if you need the "free" stuff they bundle with it. But my campus bookstore sells it for about $100 less. Example prices are the entry level 11" "Air" for $849 or the MBP for $999. I'd rather have the $100 off than the bundled stuff.

I imagine most campus bookstores would have the same deals
 
ChrisA said:
Not bad if you need the "free" stuff they bundle with it. But my campus bookstore sells it for about $100 less. Example prices are the entry level 11" "Air" for $849 or the MBP for $999. I'd rather have the $100 off than the bundled stuff.

I imagine most campus bookstores would have the same deals
Click to expand...

Neither my undergrad or grad institutions sell computers at the campus bookstore and let's just say my current school sits next to the Charles ;)

Not all campuses have Apple Stores in the bookstore.

edit: Forgot to mention, you'll pay sales tax when you buy it from your bookstore. So that $100 break is kind of a wash.
 
ChrisA said:
Not bad if you need the "free" stuff they bundle with it. But my campus bookstore sells it for about $100 less. Example prices are the entry level 11" "Air" for $849 or the MBP for $999. I'd rather have the $100 off than the bundled stuff.

I imagine most campus bookstores would have the same deals
Click to expand...

FUUUUUUUUU...

My book store doesn't do this... :(

So, your bookstore gives you the education discount, the iTunes gift card, AND knocks off ANOTHER $100? Lucky...

Does anyone know if you get your MBPR pick-up at a state w/o sales tax, you can not pay sales tax (even if you don't live there)? Or will they still charge you when you order online?
 
Slivortal said:
FUUUUUUUUU...

My book store doesn't do this... :(

So, your bookstore gives you the education discount, the iTunes gift card, AND knocks off ANOTHER $100? Lucky...

Does anyone know if you get your MBPR pick-up at a state w/o sales tax, you can not pay sales tax (even if you don't live there)? Or will they still charge you when you order online?
Click to expand...

I think if you order the computer and have it shipped/pick it up in a state w/o sales tax then they won't charge you sales tax.

I'm not sure if thats true during a tax holiday though. If you order the computer shipped to a state on a tax holiday, will Apple skip the tax if you order during the holiday?
 
how good is the warranty? is the warranty applied through apple like a regular MBP? and how good is the return policy?
 
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