Built-in eMac upgrades?

[fanofdool]

If there isn't an iMac upgrade at WWDC, I'm considering buying an eMac. I refuse to pay Apple's atrocious tax, and would much rather pay reasonable shipping at a reseller. But here''s the problem: The resellers I've looked at do NOT offer the same upgrade options. They don't offer 1GB of ram like the Apple Store does. They don't offer a 160GB HD upgrade. Yes, I'm aware I could buy these things and install them myself, but that's not what I'm asking.

Do any Apple resellers offer eMacs with the option to upgrade to professionally-installed 1GB ram and 160GB HD?

 

[netytan]

I had some major problems ordering my Ibook (soon to arive) though Apple so in the end i went with macmall.com.au which offered all the same upgrades as Apple did though with a little extra waiting time. Proof that they do exist, though this one cant help u if your not in Oz.

Mark.

 

[ChrisFromCanada]

You will have to hunt down a reseller that will do this for you or probably buy it online because as you said. Now I know you said you don't want to do it your self but for the memory it is so easy on the emac. Apple has a guide on how to do it yourself in about 5-10 minutes. But you should stay away from the hard drive and get that BTO. I looked for a store online but I can only find 80 Gb as a BTO option. I would recommend going with an external HD.

-Just my $0.02

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

If there isn't an iMac upgrade at WWDC, I'm considering buying an eMac. I refuse to pay Apple's atrocious tax, and would much rather pay reasonable shipping at a reseller. But here''s the problem: The resellers I've looked at do NOT offer the same upgrade options. They don't offer 1GB of ram like the Apple Store does. They don't offer a 160GB HD upgrade. Yes, I'm aware I could buy these things and install them myself, but that's not what I'm asking.

Do any Apple resellers offer eMacs with the option to upgrade to professionally-installed 1GB ram and 160GB HD?

First it is not Apple tax, but the local government for your area.

As someone point out upgrading memory is pretty easy. And OWC and Crucial offer some decent pricing. It may save you some money even if you have to "throw away" the 256mb that comes with eMac.

AFAIK if you want the larger drive at the time of purchase you will have to use Apple's BTO.

 

[Sun Baked]

First it is not Apple tax, but the local government for your area.

As someone point out upgrading memory is pretty easy. And OWC and Crucial offer some decent pricing. It may save you some money even if you have to "throw away" the 256mb that comes with eMac.

AFAIK if you want the larger drive at the time of purchase you will have to use Apple's BTO.

More like the state, and you probably still owe the "use tax" at the end of your year when you do your taxes.

Though many people don't pay it, and states are getting smart and starting to cull credit card databases to go after those that don't.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

More like the state, and you probably still owe the "use tax" at the end of your year when you do your taxes.

Though many people don't pay it, and states are getting smart and starting to cull credit card databases to go after those that don't.

Not too mention shipping records like UPS and FedEx. Though it is more likely that they would look for addresses that have items shipped to them regularly, than for addresses from particular vendors.

As they say the only sure things in life are death and taxes...

 

[Sun Baked]

Not too mention shipping records like UPS and FedEx. Though it is more likely that they would look for addresses that have items shipped to them regularly, than for addresses from particular vendors.

As they say the only sure things in life are death and taxes...

FedEx and UPS would probably require a court order, since the lists are not public record.

That is why credit card databases are so easy for the news organizations and the govt., they're in the public record and don't require a court order -- even for detailed searches.

Debit cards are cleared through the credit card system, don't know whether they are public record -- but most likely are if they are cleared through MC and Visa.

Checks were the loophole around letting people know what you bought, but they are increasingly cleared electronically as they are easily converted to a debit card transaction, and the checks destroyed.

Expect more businesses to start converting them to electronic debits as they shave pennies off transactions, by not having to send them to banks or wait for them to clear.

So yes it's getting harder to hide where and what you spend your money on.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Expect more businesses to start converting them to electronic debits as they shave pennies off transactions, by not having to send them to banks or wait for them to clear.

So yes it's getting harder to hide where and what you spend your money on.

Good other points.

As to businesses converting to debit cards. The savings they see is not in "pure"processing charges. Depending on the volume of business they are paying the bank about 2 to 5% for the "Visa" style cards. Regular debit cards are in the range of fifty cents to $2 per a transaction depending on volume of use and amount of purchase. the savings for merchants is in not having to pay "Tele-check" type services. (These services of course have loop holes that they look for to deny payment of a bad check. "Credit Card" companies have fewer loop holes to deny a charge.)

The big advantage for electronic "clearing" is that the money is available in short order. A better balance sheet and better investment of excess funds then gets factored in. So in the end you are right about being about "pennies".

 

[vga4life]

My advice is to buy a cheap refurb from store.apple.com. I just got a 1.25 GHz superdrive equipped for $849. With (High NYC) tax, a mini-VGA adapter, and the tilt-swivel stand it came to $1006, shipped to my door.

It was specced with 256 Megs of RAM, but arrived with a single 512 MB dimm installed! This is another bonus of refurbs - sometimes you get freebies like that.

It works like a champ and was super-duper cheap. Came with all the software and a warranty just like a new one.

-vga4life

 

[fanofdool]

But refurbs aren't likely to have 1GB ram and 160GB HD.

And yes, I know it's state tax but I'd much rather go with a store who charges $40 shipping and possibly have to pay for it down the road, than just pay the tax. I live in California, our tax is awful (8.25%).

By the way, I saw the iMac vs Mac thread.. how big a different is the videocard?

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

But refurbs aren't likely to have 1GB ram and 160GB HD.

And yes, I know it's state tax but I'd much rather go with a store who charges $40 shipping and possibly have to pay for it down the road, than just pay the tax. I live in California, our tax is awful (8.25%).

Sorry, but you opened the can of worms.

You are talking about $60 difference between a BTO through Apple and if you were to get the same exact deal through a reseller.

$60. Do you take classes at a college in CA? Or maybe a class at a community center? Do you travel the highways, or take public transportation in CA? Do you use the beaches or parks that are state run in Ca? Do you vote in CA? While some of these may require a users fee, much of it funded in most other states by the tax dollars that are collected.

In the end $60 is not a bad "premium" to get a system just the way you want it. You could even save a small bit by going with third party RAM from OWC or Crucial.