Thanks everyone for your replies!!! I'm going to go into the store and hopefully they will have the model I want. Too bad, we can't reserve these for in-store pickup.
The corporate discount should be a little more than that and worth it if you can get it 🙂
I received it on the two MBA's we purchased and including the AppleCare saved about 230 all up (that is in USD, I purchased in the US and I work for a US company).
One of those was the 13" Ultimate (so i7 1.8 + 256GB SSD) and in store. They tend to have the normal model combinations and the ultimate in both 11" and 13".
I checked my corporate discount and it's definitely worth it....almost $150 off. I, too work for a US company. I'm going for the Ultimate edition as well but the EPP sales guy tells me they don't have the ultimate in stores.
Thanks a bunch for that tip!!
If you have a Store nearby, why not ?
Instant gratification FTW!!
You're absolutely, right. Now that I found out I can use my EPP discount in-store, I'll probably go to the Apple store tonight.
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For me (I live in Singapore), I might order online to take advantage of the education discount, which is fairly significant for the MBP, but less so for the MBA (~$150 vs $60). So you may want to see if you can get a teacher friend to order on your behalf.
However, as there are many stores selling Apple products around my area, and they typically offer promotions such as discounts on MsOffice, Applecare, free ram upgrade (not anymore though) and freebies thrown in, I would actually prefer to shop at an actual store, where I can at least physically inspect my purchase on the spot and ensure it is free of any flaws or defects before paying for it. 🙂
The downside is that they usually carry only the stock versions, so if I wanted some other configuration (like say an Imac with in-built SSD, MBA baseline model upgraded to 4gb ram or the high-end MBA with i7 processor, they likely won't have it).
The hubby is a professor so I can use his education if I need to, however I found my corporate discount to be more than that. Nice surprise for sure.
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You can get into the website call mrrebates register for the account and search for the online store you might get up to 3% cash back if you purchase though the site. You have to wait for around 3 month before you get the cash back. I purchased my sony 52" HDTV with the site and it worked great!!
I just checked them out online, but see they have alot....ahem..not so good reviews. Some people have gone so far to even call it a scam.
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The way I look at it, the package is so small that I would be afraid of UPS just throwing the individual MacBook Air onto the back of the truck.
At least with the Apple Store, you know tons of these are all shipped on a giant pallet which are all packed together securely.
That's a point I considered as well when I pre-ordered my 4s.....the box is sooo small. My 4s was well padded though when it arrived.
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If you have problems with your machine ( unlikely but it happens ) you get the best service on your machine at the store you purchased it from.
There are some certain advantages of someone asking "did you buy this online or from ... " and being able to answer "no I bought it here".
Good Point. Since Apple is worldwide, I would normally consider this a non-issue but had no idea they ask if you purchased it online or in-store. Just based on my previous non-Apple purchases, buying in-store would be a good idea for this reason.
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When buying online I always recommend consulting AppleInsider's Mac pricing matrix to see if there are any remarkable deals on the model/build you want:
http://www.appleinsider.com/mac_price_guide/
Thanks for that link....doesn't seem to be too many discounts on the Ultimate model right now.
🙁
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my company discount was about $100 but i went refurbished and it was even cheaper than new with the discount, i highly recommend looking online at refurbs, you get the same warranty and mine looked new i looked hard for any scratch or blemish but couldnt
think of it this way, a refurb is just a return maybe not even one that had a problem just someone that changed their mind in the first 15 days, also a refurb is looked over that second time and things can be caught that need fixing before you get it
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great post, i felt the same way ordering it online
Oh - I'm not opposed to refurbs at all. I checked them out for weeks, however the model (Ultimate 13) never comes back in stock.
🙁
I also just found out that I wouldn't be able to use my corporate discount on the refurbs.
