Educational pricing clarification?

[MacChinoNyc]

Does apple take $200 off the air? On the website it shows as only $50 off? I thought I understood it as $200 off everything?
http://store.apple.com/us-hed/buy-mac/macbook-air


If this is the case I'm better off going here and picking one up?
http://www.microcenter.com/product/416242/MacBook_Air_MD761LL-A_133_Laptop_Computer_-_Silver#

They are an authorized reseller, anyone have bad/good experience buying your apple product from here?

 

[halledise]

the discount used to be a lot more, but I think they've woken up to the fact that a lot of non-EDU people were using the Education Store.

for $50 I'd still buy direct from Apple - any issues and you deal direct with them and not have to go thru a reseller who may have a long wait list to even look at your Mac.

that said, I've rarely had any warranty probs with Macs over the years, so if $50 in important to you, go for it.

sorry to offer 2 opposites - Apple Authorized resellers work hard to get and keep that accreditation, so either way you should be right.

by the way, I just had a look at the Micro Center offer and they list Mountain Lion as the OS X - so it could be pre-Mavericks stock - not that it's a big deal except that you'll need to download Mavericks at around 5.4GB

 

[MacChinoNyc]

the discount used to be a lot more, but I think they've woken up to the fact that a lot of non-EDU people were using the Education Store.

for $50 I'd still buy direct from Apple - any issues and you deal direct with them and not have to go thru a reseller who may have a long wait list to even look at your Mac.

that said, I've rarely had any warranty probs with Macs over the years, so if $50 in important to you, go for it.

sorry to offer 2 opposites - Apple Authorized resellers work hard to get and keep that accreditation, so either way you should be right.

by the way, I just had a look at the Micro Center offer and they list Mountain Lion as the OS X - so it could be pre-Mavericks stock - not that it's a big deal except that you'll need to download Mavericks at around 5.4GB

So any issues I'd have to deal with microcenter directly? Even if I was to buy applecare later on? Maybe the apple store can price match microcenter?

I've noticed alot are advertised with ML outside the apple store. I didnt think of it as a big deal as it would give me a chance to see/compare performance before/after upgrading to Mavericks.

 

[kage207]

The return policy would be through MicroCenter. Any issues are directed towards Apple for 1 year's worth of AppleCare and 3 months of AppleCare phone support (only ONE call).

Standard student discount from Apple on MBA is $50.

So any issues I'd have to deal with microcenter directly? Even if I was to buy applecare later on? Maybe the apple store can price match microcenter?

I've noticed alot are advertised with ML outside the apple store. I didnt think of it as a big deal as it would give me a chance to see/compare performance before/after upgrading to Mavericks.

No. Please read my post. The guy above is wrong.

 

[MacChinoNyc]

The return policy would be through MicroCenter. Any issues are directed towards Apple for 1 year's worth of AppleCare and 3 months of AppleCare phone support (only ONE call).

Standard student discount from Apple on MBA is $50.



No. Please read my post. The guy above is wrong.

Thanks, either way I ended up going to apple last night and they price matched microcenters price which was better than the $50 education discount. I havent even opened it yet as I got home late and probably wont be able to open it until late this evening when I get home after work and gym. This is my secondary laptop for easy carrying around but hopefully it'll convert to my primary laptop. I'm sure I'll have questions once I set it up and get it going

 

[halledise]

No. Please read my post. The guy above is wrong.

in what way?

 

[kage207]

the discount used to be a lot more, but I think they've woken up to the fact that a lot of non-EDU people were using the Education Store.

for $50 I'd still buy direct from Apple - any issues and you deal direct with them and not have to go thru a reseller who may have a long wait list to even look at your Mac.

that said, I've rarely had any warranty probs with Macs over the years, so if $50 in important to you, go for it.

sorry to offer 2 opposites - Apple Authorized resellers work hard to get and keep that accreditation, so either way you should be right.

You are wrong in the above in many ways.

One, the MBA never had more than a $50 discount (base model) from at least 2009 (which is when I started working there, I left in 2011). Unless you went to the higher model which was $100 for awhile but the margins were being cut into as the big changes in some of the special SSD connection. Now it is $50 across the board since 2011.

Now you are also wrong that buying a Mac means you have to deal with the 3rd party resellers. Apple does all warranty claims. You may go to the authorized repair centers (which Microcenter is both, reseller and repair) if you are too far to go to Apple, then they will pay them for you if you are still under warranty. You don't have to go to reseller though.

Also, good job OP. I wasn't sure if Apple was still doing price matching and didn't want to give you false information.

 

[halledise]

You are wrong in the above in many ways.

One, the MBA never had more than a $50 discount (base model) from at least 2009 (which is when I started working there, I left in 2011). Unless you went to the higher model which was $100 for awhile but the margins were being cut into as the big changes in some of the special SSD connection. Now it is $50 across the board since 2011.

Now you are also wrong that buying a Mac means you have to deal with the 3rd party resellers. Apple does all warranty claims. You may go to the authorized repair centers (which Microcenter is both, reseller and repair) if you are too far to go to Apple, then they will pay them for you if you are still under warranty. You don't have to go to reseller though.

Also, good job OP. I wasn't sure if Apple was still doing price matching and didn't want to give you false information.

well, you must have a better repair setup in the US than do we in Australia.
my first Air was purchased in 2008 from the EDU Store at way better than $50 discount, as were 2 subsequent ones.
our local Apple Reseller/Repairer is notoriously slow and complex to deal with.
within a certain time frame, the repairer only needs to verify the issue and then Apple replace direct or require the repairer to meet the customer's level of satisfaction or else they replace, no questions asked.
I've had this just 3 times in the past 5 years - not just with my machines (once) but with family and clients.

 

[kage207]

well, you must have a better repair setup in the US than do we in Australia.
my first Air was purchased in 2008 from the EDU Store at way better than $50 discount, as were 2 subsequent ones.
our local Apple Reseller/Repairer is notoriously slow and complex to deal with.
within a certain time frame, the repairer only needs to verify the issue and then Apple replace direct or require the repairer to meet the customer's level of satisfaction or else they replace, no questions asked.
I've had this just 3 times in the past 5 years - not just with my machines (once) but with family and clients.

Yes, the repair policies differ from country to country. I don't know about outside the US. I apologize for saying you were wrong. I only know how the process works here in the States.

The $50 across the board started in 2010 or 2011 (I think its 2011 cause that's when the 11inch came out). I forget. That's only for the MBA model. The EDU pricing does differ from country to country.

I'm sorry that it is like that in other countries. In the US, we have the option of either going to an authorized repair center or to Apple. The 3rd parties just charge Apple if you are within AppleCare (the standard year or purchased 3 year).

Again, I apologize for not knowing you were outside the US. But to all Apple still does have price matching (at least here in the States) as confirmed by the OP. Thanks!