I have been reading and lurking for a few months now, but this is my first post so go easy on me. I am eagerly waiting the arrival of the new macbooks so I can make the switch from pc. Also, thinking about an iphone as my HTC is starting to go. I have read a few places that say do not buy from Best Buy and was wondering why. Basically, the 0% interest for 24 months for the macbook is a lot easier on my finances. As for the iphone, I have $150 in gift cards I was going to put towards the iphone when it is time for my upgrade in November. Thanks for the help.
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Buying at Best Buy???
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There is nothing wrong with Best Buy if you know exactly what you want; most Best Buy stores i've been to, only have one associate in the Apple section, and they're often busy, therefore if you don't know what you want, you potentially wound up getting some pretty useless advice from someone who knows nothing about macs. Just stay away from their extended warranty, because it is NOT run by Apple and the claims process is horrid and the extended warranty they offer is overpriced.
I don't think there is anything wrong with buying from Best Buy. I might be biased...
I will say that depending on who you deal with, your experience will vary greatly... but I guess that that can be true for anything in life...
As for the extended warranty, just listen to the person if you are interested in it. I personally have AppleCare and am 100% satisfied, and I am getting a new MacBook Pro because I have had some issues with my computer over the past year...
Hope this helps
I will say that depending on who you deal with, your experience will vary greatly... but I guess that that can be true for anything in life...
As for the extended warranty, just listen to the person if you are interested in it. I personally have AppleCare and am 100% satisfied, and I am getting a new MacBook Pro because I have had some issues with my computer over the past year...
Hope this helps
yeah i dont think theres anything wrong with buying at best buy.
i just bought a 16GB second gen touch and then the screen was faulty so they are replacing it for me no questions asked. although they dont have any in stock so when they get them, they will be sending it to me and plus the lady that handled all of this was pretty hot so i was lucky
i just bought a 16GB second gen touch and then the screen was faulty so they are replacing it for me no questions asked. although they dont have any in stock so when they get them, they will be sending it to me and plus the lady that handled all of this was pretty hot so i was lucky
It's hard to ignore the great deals Best Buy has from time to time. I recently purchased a Dell quad-core (2.4Ghz Core2Quad) with 6GB of ram and a 640GB hard drive for under $700 from Best Buy. It made a great virtualization server for my home lab (running 64-bit linux as the host OS).
Bought an iMac 20" 2 weeks ago and a 24" 1 week ago from Best Buy. I buy a lot of products from Best Buy and rarely have problems.
(The 20" iMac was a gift for my father. I'm not that greedy that I need two iMacs!)
(The 20" iMac was a gift for my father. I'm not that greedy that I need two iMacs!)
I am eligible for the discount but with the extras I would also be getting(office, case, and another case for a gift for my sister) figured my best buy card financing would work out better in the end. Plus, I think they have some sort of compensation for education discount. Also, I had someone who works at an apple store say the BB extended care warranty was better because it covers accidental damage such as drops and drink spills. Any thoughts on that? I seem tp read a lot of posts where people spill. I try not to eat/drink while on the computer, but sometimes I do. Also, while I am not typically clumsy, I have a bad lower back and sometime have a hard time lifting my right leg while walking due to pain. I worry about catching my leg on uneven pavement or a crack or a step and taking a spill. Thanks for all the feedback so far, you guys are great
There's nothing wrong with Best Buy I used to work there (and hated every minute of it). They sell the same apple models as anyone else.
Here's the thing about electronics sales. People who say "The sales people dont know anything!" are usually the ones asking rediculous impossible questions. See that tag underneath the computer model your looking at? That is the only information given to the sales guy. He is there to explain the features and benefits of what is on the tag. Great sales knowledge for the most part always dies when a company does away with commission (*cough* Circuit City)
As for a warranty, its up to you. I know Geeksquad has to send out macs to be fixed (at least that was the way when I worked there). If you are getting a laptop I would suggest getting the best buy accidental warranty. It will look expensive at first but if you break it down year by year its not so bad. I used to see a ton of damaged laptops come in and a lot did not have an accidental warranty which resulted in a customer having to buy a whole new machine.
Oh and after reading some of the other posts people wrote about best buy warranty I can easily say the people who posted them are very misinformed. I used to work at Circuit City too and Best Buy has the best warranty by far of the two companies. I used to work in Geek Squad and we'd either fix a computer on the spot, or if it was something like a burned out backlight it would get sent out to the service center, and sent back within two weeks repaired. I was really impressed with the system when I was there and never saw a computer not come back or not get repaired. I've used the service myself with no problems (burned out backlight). Maybe these posters milage varied but I can assure you its not the norm.
Here's the thing about electronics sales. People who say "The sales people dont know anything!" are usually the ones asking rediculous impossible questions. See that tag underneath the computer model your looking at? That is the only information given to the sales guy. He is there to explain the features and benefits of what is on the tag. Great sales knowledge for the most part always dies when a company does away with commission (*cough* Circuit City)
As for a warranty, its up to you. I know Geeksquad has to send out macs to be fixed (at least that was the way when I worked there). If you are getting a laptop I would suggest getting the best buy accidental warranty. It will look expensive at first but if you break it down year by year its not so bad. I used to see a ton of damaged laptops come in and a lot did not have an accidental warranty which resulted in a customer having to buy a whole new machine.
Oh and after reading some of the other posts people wrote about best buy warranty I can easily say the people who posted them are very misinformed. I used to work at Circuit City too and Best Buy has the best warranty by far of the two companies. I used to work in Geek Squad and we'd either fix a computer on the spot, or if it was something like a burned out backlight it would get sent out to the service center, and sent back within two weeks repaired. I was really impressed with the system when I was there and never saw a computer not come back or not get repaired. I've used the service myself with no problems (burned out backlight). Maybe these posters milage varied but I can assure you its not the norm.
amazon has 0% for 24 months too and they don't charge tax so you'd save about $65-$90 there. Plus they will ship 5 days free or 2 day for about $20 depending how far you are from Ohio(mne shipped from there)
I just got a blackbook 2 weeks ago from them.
I just got a blackbook 2 weeks ago from them.
Thanks for the insight Chrono1081. Chris, not real big on Amazon, had a sorta bad experience with them. Plus, if I buy a macbook, I wanna walk out of the store with it in my hands. Rubber city is Akron BTW.
I could be biased but it depends on what is important to you.
Best Buy usually has better financing options, rewards, and is the only company that offers Accidental protection on macs which is something everyone wishes they had.
Best Buy usually has better financing options, rewards, and is the only company that offers Accidental protection on macs which is something everyone wishes they had.
You can get an educational discount at Best Buy but it sounds like only if you have an apple store in your city. They will not price match online offers or stores in different cities, only offers available in the same district that the store is located in.
The Best Buy warranty can be great or horrible. If they try to repair it themselves then its one of the worst things that can happen, you wont see your computer for weeks, maybe months. If the wait wasnt bad enough a lot of people report that theyre computers dont even get fixed, they get them back after a few weeks with the same problems. But sometimes theyll just give you a new one, and if your old model was replaced theyll give you a new faster model. Theyre incompetent repair service also has its benefits though, I think they still have a "no lemon" policy where if you get the computer repaired 3 times theyll give you a new one.
Its really hit or miss. Applecare is much better and much more consistent.
The Best Buy warranty can be great or horrible. If they try to repair it themselves then its one of the worst things that can happen, you wont see your computer for weeks, maybe months. If the wait wasnt bad enough a lot of people report that theyre computers dont even get fixed, they get them back after a few weeks with the same problems. But sometimes theyll just give you a new one, and if your old model was replaced theyll give you a new faster model. Theyre incompetent repair service also has its benefits though, I think they still have a "no lemon" policy where if you get the computer repaired 3 times theyll give you a new one.
Its really hit or miss. Applecare is much better and much more consistent.
Yes Best Buy's extended warranty does cover accidental damage. However they're warranty costs significantly more, and it has its own restrictions too. The fine print is very specific, for example, if they determined that you dropped your computer and if it has more than say, three points of impact, that is not covered. I used to work at an apple service center and had customers come to us and pay us to do repair work, on computers that had been accidentally damaged, because Best Buy had refused to cover it under their warranty, because the accidental damage fell outside its set restrictions. I've also heard stories about Best Buy sending off a customers computer for months at a time, and accidentally erasing all of the customers data for repairs that are simply cosmetic. I have nothing against buying from Best Buy, just like you, I do so quite often to take care of their financing options. just make sure you do your research and stay away from their extended warranty and other extra instore services they offer.