Hi, relative Apple newbie here, and am being very indecisive ...
I really want the 17" MBP, but the first reviews are making me nervous regarding screen inconsistencies. Is everyone having those problems, or just a few? Is it enough to be severely distracting?
As for where to buy, that is severely complicated by a minor issue: I am an American citizen living in Ecuador. I will be going to the States for two weeks next month, and I will want it delivered to where I will spend the first night on June 8. Obviously, if it arrives late, I am *screwed*. I will be in different places, and want it to arrive to where I'll be the first night so that I'll have it the whole trip. It can arrive before me, that's no problem. So I need a *reliable* store that I can trust.
Apple store is out because I don't want to pay sales tax. I know I can trust B&H Photo -- I've ordered camera equipment more expensive than the MBP from them under similar circumstances, no trouble. But they don't discount any from retail. So I'm looking at stores with rebates and (rarely) discounts.
MacMall.com has a $150 discount, but the store's ratings on resellerratings.com are downright *dismal*. Kind of surprised me, because the company I worked for a long time ago used to order from PCMall, and I don't think they ever had trouble. Amazon offers the rebate also, and their reviews are a little better, but surprisingly bad nevertheless. I know they're good for books, but what about computers? How much stock would you put in resellerratings anyway? I suspect that more people would go there to gripe if they had bad service than to say nice things if they had good service, but still, stores like Newegg and B&H Photo *do* have very high ratings, justifiably IMHO.
Now I just found PCConnection, which offers the same $150 rebate and has fairly high ratings. Think they'd be a good bet?
Of course, there are issues with redeeming rebates while overseas.
When the check comes, I will be living in a small town on the edge of the Ecuadorian jungle. If you saw End of the Spear when it was in theaters in January, that's where I'll be -- more specifically, Shell (the communications base), not out in the deep jungle where the killings happened. I will need to have the rebate sent to my billing address, not the shipping address. From there it is sent by weekly courier to Quito. From there, the next person traveling from our office in Quito to Shell will have to take it, and I'll get it and endorse it there. Then the next person who travels from Shell to Quito will take it, then the next person who flies from Quito to our HQ will take it up there, where it will be deposited in my bank account. Uuuugh!!!
All that to say, which store has the rebate checks that last the longest before expiring? This whole process could take as little as a month, but could take 2 months or more if there are few travelers.
Another option is expercom, which has OK ratings (though few of them) and decent package deals with no rebates. 17", 2GB, and AppleCare for just over $3k.
Any other suggestions? Thanks!
I really want the 17" MBP, but the first reviews are making me nervous regarding screen inconsistencies. Is everyone having those problems, or just a few? Is it enough to be severely distracting?
As for where to buy, that is severely complicated by a minor issue: I am an American citizen living in Ecuador. I will be going to the States for two weeks next month, and I will want it delivered to where I will spend the first night on June 8. Obviously, if it arrives late, I am *screwed*. I will be in different places, and want it to arrive to where I'll be the first night so that I'll have it the whole trip. It can arrive before me, that's no problem. So I need a *reliable* store that I can trust.
Apple store is out because I don't want to pay sales tax. I know I can trust B&H Photo -- I've ordered camera equipment more expensive than the MBP from them under similar circumstances, no trouble. But they don't discount any from retail. So I'm looking at stores with rebates and (rarely) discounts.
MacMall.com has a $150 discount, but the store's ratings on resellerratings.com are downright *dismal*. Kind of surprised me, because the company I worked for a long time ago used to order from PCMall, and I don't think they ever had trouble. Amazon offers the rebate also, and their reviews are a little better, but surprisingly bad nevertheless. I know they're good for books, but what about computers? How much stock would you put in resellerratings anyway? I suspect that more people would go there to gripe if they had bad service than to say nice things if they had good service, but still, stores like Newegg and B&H Photo *do* have very high ratings, justifiably IMHO.
Now I just found PCConnection, which offers the same $150 rebate and has fairly high ratings. Think they'd be a good bet?
Of course, there are issues with redeeming rebates while overseas.
When the check comes, I will be living in a small town on the edge of the Ecuadorian jungle. If you saw End of the Spear when it was in theaters in January, that's where I'll be -- more specifically, Shell (the communications base), not out in the deep jungle where the killings happened. I will need to have the rebate sent to my billing address, not the shipping address. From there it is sent by weekly courier to Quito. From there, the next person traveling from our office in Quito to Shell will have to take it, and I'll get it and endorse it there. Then the next person who travels from Shell to Quito will take it, then the next person who flies from Quito to our HQ will take it up there, where it will be deposited in my bank account. Uuuugh!!!All that to say, which store has the rebate checks that last the longest before expiring? This whole process could take as little as a month, but could take 2 months or more if there are few travelers.
Another option is expercom, which has OK ratings (though few of them) and decent package deals with no rebates. 17", 2GB, and AppleCare for just over $3k.
Any other suggestions? Thanks!