Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Earliest you can buy an MB and still be able to return in case of WWDC

G

Germwise

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 2, 2009
148
15
Ok, so i'll be the first to admit it. This thread borders on the obsessive. No I can't wait to get a Macbook.

I've been a PC guy for many years but lately I've been playing with my leopard netbook and I'm really impressed. I installed leopard to see if I could get used to a different OS.
Actually its running beautifully on the netbook. So good it kind of hurts to have to shell out 1299 for a 2.4 unibody.

I am unwilling to buy until WWDC since I suspect mac will likely drop the plastic MBs and lower unibody prices.

My question is this: How long before WWDC can I buy a refurb mac and still exchange it/get a price match if something changes at the conference?

For example. if there is a change on June 8th, could I have bought it 14 days before? Say May 25th?

Are all the major announcements made at the beginning? Could they announce changes to the macbook line the last day?

Also, do any of you have a hackingtosh? Is the MB still worth it? What if I just bought a copy of leopard?
 
Apple does not do price match when newer models show up. You can return it within I think 14 days for a refund, but may have to pay restocking fee. Even if Apple announces new MB at WWDC it doesn't mean they will be available on that date.
 
I have a hackintosh. It works well, but has some bugs, for example, most can't wake from sleep mode, and bootup takes a while. other than things like that, it works fine, though. check out osx86project.org and it will have a complete compatibility list. what netbook do you have, and what install method did you use? I'm considering an EEE900A, but don't want to part with OS X.
 
I have a 900HA

And I must say I am impressed at how well it handles any OS. I am triple booting windows 7, OSX, and Linux


OSX boot time isn't bad at all though the screen size can cause real issues on windows that can't be resized.

I've had some trouble with programs that have huge windows and put the OK button at the bottom under my dock.


About the restocking fee:

I keep hearing different things from different people. I chatted with a mac rep and she said 10pct but the guy at the mac store told me usually if you are unhappy or something new comes out they give you a 14 day window.


are you telling me I have to wait until the end of WWDC!?!?!?!?

NOOOoooo
 
14 days, but if Apple announces the computer but doesn't ship for a month after you'll be without a computer for weeks. Best to wait for WWDC.
 
Germwise said:
I have a 900HA

And I must say I am impressed at how well it handles any OS. I am triple booting windows 7, OSX, and Linux


OSX boot time isn't bad at all though the screen size can cause real issues on windows that can't be resized.

I've had some trouble with programs that have huge windows and put the OK button at the bottom under my dock...
Click to expand...

Thx. How did you install though? I know iDeneb 10.5.6 has a netbook driver pack, but am unsure about the ee900a. Also, how much space does the install take? it only comes with 4GB but I plan to put a 32GB SD, so can it boot off the SD card?
 
I was told (by an Apple employee) that when happens they will let you exchange it for the newer model with in 14 days without paying the restocking fee.
 
Germwise said:
I have a 900HA

And I must say I am impressed at how well it handles any OS. I am triple booting windows 7, OSX, and Linux


OSX boot time isn't bad at all though the screen size can cause real issues on windows that can't be resized.

I've had some trouble with programs that have huge windows and put the OK button at the bottom under my dock.
Click to expand...

About the resizing issue with your Hackintosh. I have a Dell 9 with OSX running, and I found this program useful:
http://redirectingat.com/?id=258X408&url=http://idisk.mac.com/tonymutti-Public/statusBar.zip

I have it set to run at startup, you just select the amount of shrinkage you want before you open the program. Works great for the windows that are too big to use normally.
 
I'm curious....

Why do people play this "game"?

"Hey, lets screw Apple because I want a new toy quicker! So what if I exchange and they lose $$$ on the deal since they have to re-sell something at a lower price?"

Doesn't this end up raising the price for everyone? Am I missing something here?

China
 
chinarider said:
Why do people play this "game"?

"Hey, lets screw Apple because I want a new toy quicker! So what if I exchange and they lose $$$ on the deal since they have to re-sell something at a lower price?"

Doesn't this end up raising the price for everyone? Am I missing something here?

China
Click to expand...
No it does not raise the price for everyone, and yes you are missing a lot of things. Apple computers are unreasonably overpriced to begin with. Every Apple user has EVERY RIGHT to do anything they can to get a cheaper Apple computer cause it's so unacceptable how expensive these underpowered computers are. (underpowered compared to price)
 
Germwise said:
About the restocking fee:

I keep hearing different things from different people. I chatted with a mac rep and she said 10pct but the guy at the mac store told me usually if you are unhappy or something new comes out they give you a 14 day window.
Click to expand...
The Apple Store online and Apple Retail Stores both have a 14-day return window, as in "if you're going to return it, you have 14 days to do so".

If you returned an opened Mac, the official policy is that there is a 10% restock fee.

Store managers will sometimes waive that policy depending on the situation, however, that's an exception, so I wouldn't expect it to happen.

If you buy a refurb from the online Apple Store, you can't return it for a refund at a physical Apple Store.

If you buy a new model from either Apple Store online or retail, if an updated model comes out within 14 days of your purchase, they will refund you the difference in price. As soon as the new model is available for purchase, the prior model is given a new, lower price.
 
China,

I don't see this as screwing apple. I'm not suggesting buying a mac for a project and then returning it. All I'm saying is I am excited about a company's product but being a student I can't afford to be paying extra if I don't have to. Many companies and stores have the policy that if within 15-30 days of your purchase there is a price change you get it back.

Its a way of ensuring customer satisfaction so that someone who buys something on a monday gets a comparable deal as someone who makes the same purchase on tuesday.

And you have to remember there is a cutoff. For every 1 person that gets a price adjustment there are hundreds that opted to be early adopters and paid a premium for it.

Frankly if I buy a laptop and they change the price I don't want to send it back, I just want a price adjustment. Much like what was done for the original iphone owners.

So again, I'm not out to "screw apple" I just want to get the best deal I can the earliest I can.
 
If you're going to get a refurb, I'm not sure how they'd handle a price difference if a new model comes out. You might chat someone on the online Apple Store up, as that's the only place you can get a refurb from anyways.
 
armoguy94 said:
No it does not raise the price for everyone, and yes you are missing a lot of things. Apple computers are unreasonably overpriced to begin with. Every Apple user has EVERY RIGHT to do anything they can to get a cheaper Apple computer cause it's so unacceptable how expensive these underpowered computers are. (underpowered compared to price)
Click to expand...

Yeah, no real reason here - Anyone else?

China
 
Germwise said:
China,

I don't see this as screwing apple. I'm not suggesting buying a mac for a project and then returning it. All I'm saying is I am excited about a company's product but being a student I can't afford to be paying extra if I don't have to. Many companies and stores have the policy that if within 15-30 days of your purchase there is a price change you get it back.

Its a way of ensuring customer satisfaction so that someone who buys something on a monday gets a comparable deal as someone who makes the same purchase on tuesday.

And you have to remember there is a cutoff. For every 1 person that gets a price adjustment there are hundreds that opted to be early adopters and paid a premium for it.

Frankly if I buy a laptop and they change the price I don't want to send it back, I just want a price adjustment. Much like what was done for the original iphone owners.

So again, I'm not out to "screw apple" I just want to get the best deal I can the earliest I can.
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks - I wasn't aware of this being Apple's Policy and I appreciate the explanation.

I'm just sick of many folks trying to be selfish "any way they can" that ends up raising the price for everyone.

Good luck with your purchase and I'm sorry if I took your post the wrong way.

China
 
armoguy94 said:
No it does not raise the price for everyone, and yes you are missing a lot of things. Apple computers are unreasonably overpriced to begin with. Every Apple user has EVERY RIGHT to do anything they can to get a cheaper Apple computer cause it's so unacceptable how expensive these underpowered computers are. (underpowered compared to price)
Click to expand...

i agree 100%
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back