Is Buying a Mac from Amazon a good idea?

[i-Want-Apples]

I'm getting really close to making the switch to Mac. I've been wanting to for about two years now, but I keep talking myself out it. But, I'm now ready to make the switch and probably will purchase my Mac desktop in the beginning of May. I'd really like to get it now, but I will be moving at the beginning of May and I don't really want to have to move anything else, that I don't need to, and also don't want to risk the Mac getting damaged, so I must wait :-(

Anyhow, I'm in the process now of trying to decide what I'm going to get and where I'm going to get it from. Since this will mostly be a test to see how the Mac works for me, if I can do everything I need on it, if it is worth it, etc. I don't want to go with one of the top of the line models and I would like to save money if I can, so I was thinking about getting it from Amazon. I don't really save any money on it, but I would save the tax, it only would be about $90, so I'm not even sure if it would be worth it, but I was just curious on thoughts.

I have to order the Mac no matter what because I need a numeric keypad and since it doesn't come as the default choice now, I guess I have to order it. I plan to get the extended Applecare, but I don't know if I will get it right off the bat, so I assume I can still get it even if I buy from Amazon. The only thing I intend to upgrade is the mouse, to get a wireless one and I plan to get iWork, because I would like to go without Windows if I can, but I have to have an Office type program. I plan to upgrade my memory, but will do that on my own.

Has anyone ordered to the new Macs from Amazon? According to the site it looks like you get the keyboard with the numeric keypad and the remote, but it looks like from Apple you get the keyboard without the keypad and no remote.

The only thing I wouldn't be getting is the rebate off of a printer, which I don't need anyway, so not a big deal.

I'm thinking I will probably be better off just going straight through Apple, since I would have to pay full price to upgrade the mouse to wireless. Unless I try the mouse and don't like it, or Amazon lowers the price, but I just wanted to check and see thoughts on buying from Amazon. I'm planning to get my iPod Touch from Amazon as well.

Thanks

 

[savanahrose]

Are the warranties any different? I would look at the warranties first before I decide. I haven't bought electronics from Amazon so I don't know how it goes. Sorry I can't help you too much.

 

[techound1]

Have you been to the refurb store at apple's online store? Save a couple of hundred bucks and the refurbs even qualify for the free printer deal.

 

[techound1]

Are the warranties any different? I would look at the warranties first before I decide. I haven't bought electronics from Amazon so I don't know how it goes. Sorry I can't help you too much.

New and refurb macs come with a one year warranty. Any time during that one year you can purchase applecare for an extension of two years.

 

[i-Want-Apples]

Are the warranties any different? I would look at the warranties first before I decide. I haven't bought electronics from Amazon so I don't know how it goes. Sorry I can't help you too much.

The way it looks they are the same, and Amazon is an authorized reseller, but that is a good point. The more I think about it, the more I think I should just stick with Apple. Less than $90 isn't really worth the headache it may cause.

Thanks!

 

[waiwai]

when in doubt always buy from the source... The Apple Store...

 

[i-Want-Apples]

Have you been to the refurb store at apple's online store? Save a couple of hundred bucks and the refurbs even qualify for the free printer deal.

I don't really want to buy a refurb. I prefer to get things new, especially something like a computer, but thanks for the idea.

New and refurb macs come with a one year warranty. Any time during that one year you can purchase applecare for an extension of two years.

That's what I was thinking, but I wasn't able to confirm that fast, thanks!

when in doubt always buy from the source... The Apple Store...

Agreed!

 

[Just1BadApple]

My wife did - no problems

My wife got her Macbook Pro last summer from Amazon. Saved $150 plus on the price at that time, no sales tax.

We had a small issue with it and took it to the "local" (1.5 hrs) away Apple store. We were NOT treated like a second class citizen, and got our issue resolved just like any one else would.

We've bought a lot of electronics from Amazon, Laptops, Flat screen TVs, Blu-Ray, etc. Never a problem! We also have an Amazon Visa, and get Amazon rebate checks for purchases. When you factor that in, we saved an additional $50 on the purchase of her laptop.

 

[miles01110]

One of my good friends got his Macbook Pro off of Amazon. He's had no trouble with it, and Applecare is Applecare so he's covered if anything goes wrong with it.

 

[Peace]

As long as you buy a Mac from an authorized reseller like Amazon or MacMall the warranty is Apple's warranty. It makes no difference. When you register your Mac through the O/S it goes to Apple not the reseller.

 

[i-Want-Apples]

My wife got her Macbook Pro last summer from Amazon. Saved $150 plus on the price at that time, no sales tax.

We had a small issue with it and took it to the "local" (1.5 hrs) away Apple store. We were NOT treated like a second class citizen, and got our issue resolved just like any one else would.

We've bought a lot of electronics from Amazon, Laptops, Flat screen TVs, Blu-Ray, etc. Never a problem! We also have an Amazon Visa, and get Amazon rebate checks for purchases. When you factor that in, we saved an additional $50 on the purchase of her laptop.

That's a good deal. Right now the Macs are only $6 or so less than Apple directly, so the only real savings is not having to pay the tax. I've heard pretty good things about Apple taking care of the products if there is a problem, so that would be a big plus. Right now my nearest Apple store is over 2 hours away, which was a big factor in why I didn't want to get a Mac yet. So, in May I will actually get to go to the Apple store for the first time, I'm very much looking forward to it.

My biggest concern is that I read from a few people that they got the Mac and when they had a problem Apple had the compute as used and they were unable to get it repaired. Some other people had the same problem but seemed to be able to get it corrected by registering it or something, so I just wanted to double check.

Hopefully by the time I actually move Amazon will have the price lowered a little more to make it more worth while. I want the wireless mouse, but I don't think I want to pay $70 for it, it just doesn't seem to be worth that much, but then I've really not used it, so I will have to see. I don't buy a bunch of things from Amazon, but I bought a couple of things last Christmas and had one very minor issue with something and they were really great with taking care of it. Before that point, I don't know if I would have trusted buying something like a computer from them, but I think it will be just fine, I just need to narrow down my choices a little and see what I'm actually planning to do and it will make things a lot easier.

One of my good friends got his Macbook Pro off of Amazon. He's had no trouble with it, and Applecare is Applecare so he's covered if anything goes wrong with it.

Good to hear, thanks!

 

[AdamN]

Wireless Mouse

I personally find the Apple wireless mouse to be too heavy. Logitech mouses work great if you're interested.

 

[i-Want-Apples]

I personally find the Apple wireless mouse to be too heavy. Logitech mouses work great if you're interested.

I've not persoanlly used Apple's mouse yet. I'm hoping to find a Best Buy or something so I don't have to go all the way to the Apple store to try it. If I don't like the mouse I will just get a Logitech. I only use Logitech mouses now because I've not had good experience with Microsofts (2 $80 ones died within a year of buying them, both different models) I've been using Logitech for sometime and been very happy. The only reason I was planning to stay with the mighty mouse was because of the look, but I'm sure there are plenty of others out there that would look good.

Thanks for the headsup!

 

[dfs]

Buying from Amazon

No matter where you buy a new Mac, it comes with an equally good Apple warrantee, so this is not an issue. One consideraiton is whether or not you are a California resident. If you are, and if you buy from the Apple Store (even over the internet) you are going to be whacked with sales tax, and if you are buying an expensive Mac this can get hefty. Another is shipping cost (UPS and other shippers raised their rates to reflect last year's huge gas costs, but haven't lowered them to reflect the fact that gas has gone down dramatically). I'd check out the prices at Amazon and large mail order jobbers such as Mac Mall, and, figuring in both sales tax and shipping, go with the cheapest you can find. If you want to purchase extra memory or some similar upgrade, the amount mail order jobbers charge to install them is exorbitant. Better to buy the components from some such source as OWC and install them yourself, if that's feasible, or pay a local tech to do it for you.

 

[i-Want-Apples]

No matter where you buy a new Mac, it comes with an equally good Apple warrantee, so this is not an issue. One consideraiton is whether or not you are a California resident. If you are, and if you buy from the Apple Store (even over the internet) you are going to be whacked with sales tax, and if you are buying an expensive Mac this can get hefty. Another is shipping cost (UPS and other shippers raised their rates to reflect last year's huge gas costs, but haven't lowered them to reflect the fact that gas has gone down dramatically). I'd check out the prices at Amazon and large mail order jobbers such as Mac Mall, and, figuring in both sales tax and shipping, go with the cheapest you can find. If you want to purchase extra memory or some similar upgrade, the amount mail order jobbers charge to install them is exorbitant. Better to buy the components from some such source as OWC and install them yourself, if that's feasible, or pay a local tech to do it for you.

I don't live in California. I live in Ohio and soon to be Florida, when I add the Mac to my cart on Apple's website it adds tax for both zipcodes. That was the reason I was going with Amazon, was to avoid the sales tax.

I plan to get the memory from Crutchfield, it was less than $60 to 4gb of memory, so I think that is a pretty good deal, especially considering how much Apple has the upgrades at. I plan to just install it myself, I've only added memory to a PC and it wasn't a problem, I looked it up online and it seems to be really simple to add memory to the Mac as well, unless something changed with the upgrade. I was hoping Apple could just install it, but I guess there is a charge to do that and I figure why pay for something so simple. Since Apple upgraded the memory I'm not even sure if I'm going to upgrade the memory, I will have to see how it works.

 

[jpk32092]

I plan to get the extended Applecare, but I don't know if I will get it right off the bat, so I assume I can still get it even if I buy from Amazon.

If you order AppleCare from Amazon, the AppleCare purchase date is (from what I've heard) based on when Amazon purchased from Apple, not from when you purchased from Amazon.

 

[Just1BadApple]

Second the Logitech mouse idea.

Both my wife and I use the Logitech V470 Bluetooth laser mouse. Works great and is comfortable to use.

 

[i-Want-Apples]

If you order AppleCare from Amazon, the AppleCare purchase date is (from what I've heard) based on when Amazon purchased from Apple, not from when you purchased from Amazon.

Oh, thanks for letting me know, I'm going to need to look into that. I definitely don't want to buy it and have a few months less than what I thought.

Both my wife and I use the Logitech V470 Bluetooth laser mouse. Works great and is comfortable to use.

Thanks, I will look into. I just have regular wireless ones now and they work great, I've not used a Bluetooth mouse yet. It would be nice to not have to have the receiver. Thanks again!

 

[dfs]

Memory

You don't say what kind of Mac you plan to buy. If a Mac Pro, then, sure, you can add your own memory, it's dead easy. If a Mini or an iMac, don't even dream of doing it.

 

[i-Want-Apples]

You don't say what kind of Mac you plan to buy. If a Mac Pro, then, sure, you can add your own memory, it's dead easy. If a Mini or an iMac, don't even dream of doing it.

I was just going to get an iMac to start with. I was going on the support page ( http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1760 ) and it seems fairly simple to add memory, is it not as easy at it looks?

Can you just take it into the Apple Store to add the memory and if so, anyone know how much it would run?

Thanks!

 

[jpk32092]

You don't say what kind of Mac you plan to buy. If a Mac Pro, then, sure, you can add your own memory, it's dead easy. If a Mini or an iMac, don't even dream of doing it.

They're both pretty doable...

 

[Winni]

It doesn't matter where your buy your Mac. Whether you buy it from Amazon, Apple or your local grocery store, they all come with the same world-wide warranty/guarantee and they are eligible to be upgraded to three years of AppleCare. (The same applies to machines from Dell, HP, Toshiba or Lenovo.)

 

[IJ Reilly]

I've purchased nearly all of my Macs and Apple products over the last five years from Amazon with almost 100% satisfaction. The only problem I encountered was buying a (just) discontinued Mac model and having the sale roll over to one of Amazon's associate sellers, even though it was listed as "in stock ships and sold by Amazon." The problem occurred when the associate didn't honor the free shipping option I'd selected. I complained about that and they credited it back (And they complained to me that this was their entire profit on the sale. Sorry Charlie!).

So you might want to watch for that potential pitfall. Otherwise, buying a Mac from Amazon is no problem. You can also save money when they offer rebates, which happens quite frequently on Apple products that have been available for awhile.

 

[i-Want-Apples]

They're both pretty doable...

Do you think someone that has only upgraded memory once, on a PC, could do it?

It doesn't matter where your buy your Mac. Whether you buy it from Amazon, Apple or your local grocery store, they all come with the same world-wide warranty/guarantee and they are eligible to be upgraded to three years of AppleCare. (The same applies to machines from Dell, HP, Toshiba or Lenovo.)

I've never bought anything except straight from the manufacturer, so I don't really know how it works going other ways... Do you know if it true that the warranty starts when Amazon purchased the product and not when I do?

I've purchased nearly all of my Macs and Apple products over the last five years from Amazon with almost 100% satisfaction. The only problem I encountered was buying a (just) discontinued Mac model and having the sale roll over to one of Amazon's associate sellers, even though it was listed as "in stock ships and sold by Amazon." The problem occurred when the associate didn't honor the free shipping option I'd selected. I complained about that and they credited it back (And they complained to me that this was their entire profit on the sale. Sorry Charlie!).

So you might want to watch for that potential pitfall. Otherwise, buying a Mac from Amazon is no problem. You can also save money when they offer rebates, which happens quite frequently on Apple products that have been available for awhile.

Thanks for the headsup. I plan to get the new iMac model, so hopefully that won't be an issue. I would not be too happy about that though, if you buy from Amazon and they say it is available, then you would think they would be the one that actually sends out the product.

The only rebate they have going right now is $30 off iWorks, which is the same as what Apple is offering. The only savings I'm getting right now is basically the tax, but you can't get the $100 rebate on a printer, but since I don't need it, that doesn't matter. Now, I just need to contact Amazon to see if these actually ship with the full size keyboard, or the one with the keypad, because I have to have the keypad, which is really unfortunate because I would much prefer wireless.

 

[Full of Win]

Bought a 30GB 5th generation iPod from them three years ago, and the wheel stopped working after 8 days. Apple told me it would be a while due ton it being just released (Nov 05). Called Amazon, and they told me it would replaced with a new unit w/ next day shipping. Moreover, since I had the unit for a few days, I regretted getting the smaller size, because it offered less RAM and a lower battery life. Anyhow, Amazon let me bump it up to the 60 GB model for the price difference.

Just make sure you get if from Amazon.com, not one of their 'partners'