So where is the best place to buy a new PowerMac?

[ibglowin]

I will more than likely pull the trigger in the next couple of days on a new PowerMac G5! My 3 purchase places at the moment seem to be (1) Apple Store (educational discount), Amazon.com ($200 rebate until 9/27) or MacMall ($100 rebate)

Am I missing anybody else that has a cheaper price?

Amazon seems to have the best price due to the $200 rebate (even cheaper than Apple's educational discount due to the fact that they want to charge $150 tax!)

 

[dberg]

I will more than likely pull the trigger in the next couple of days on a new PowerMac G5! My 3 purchase places at the moment seem to be (1) Apple Store (educational discount), Amazon.com ($200 rebate until 9/27) or MacMall ($100 rebate)

Am I missing anybody else that has a cheaper price?

Amazon seems to have the best price due to the $200 rebate (even cheaper than Apple's educational discount due to the fact that they want to charge $150 tax!)

amazon is $200 cheaper and NO tax ? What about shipping? Apple store offers free shipping i believe, which may counter balance the no tax thing.

 

[javiercr]

amazon is $200 cheaper and NO tax ? What about shipping? Apple store offers free shipping i believe, which may counter balance the no tax thing.

shipping should be free with Amazon for an item of that value...at least in the UK anything above 19 pounds (35 dolars) is free shipping.

Why does the apple store charge tax when they ship to another state? nobody else does it.

 

[iDM]

If i find that a price is very close to a resellers price i always stick with the company selling the product, so in this case I'd go with Apple. I bought my Shuffle from a reseller(authorized) because they had the 1gig for 99.99 which was at the least 30 bucks cheaper then the Apple Store nad I got to have it that day! On the other hand I bought a Sony digital camera which was 450 on their website but 300 on Newegg, therefore i opted for the Egg's price.

My .02

 

[ibglowin]

Here is my breakdown of the 3 stores. This for a "stock" Dual 2.3 Ghz machine.

Amazon.com $2494.99+$45.69 (shipping) - $200 rebate = $2340.68

Apple store with EDU Discount $2299 (free shipping) + 150.86 Tax = $2449.86

MacMall $2494.00 +$24.58 (shipping) -$100 rebate = $2418.58

As you can see Apple is actually the highest price!

 

[Chrispy]

Macmall does give you a free all-in-one printer and a free 1GB additional RAM. You also don't pay tax and shipping is pretty cheap for ground with macmall. I would say that is your best bet.

 

[ibglowin]

I was tempted by the MacMall "free" 1GB RAM offer until you read the fine print. You have to fill out yet another rebate form and then they charge you a $39 "install fee" on top of everything. Its not bad but the install fee is a total joke.

Macmall does give you a free all-in-one printer and a free 1GB additional RAM. You also don't pay tax and shipping is pretty cheap for ground with macmall. I would say that is your best bet.

 

[Chrispy]

I was tempted by the MacMall "free" 1GB RAM offer until you read the fine print. You have to fill out yet another rebate form and then they charge you a $39 "install fee" on top of everything. Its not bad but the install fee is a total joke.

Yeah you do have to pay the install fee and do a rebate which sucks, however, when all is done you still save a lot vs. buying one after you purchase the computer.

 

[Sca1pel]

Apple charges the tax because they are required to for any state in which they have a retail store...same goes with dell....

 

[FFTT]

If you purchase your Mac through a reseller and it needs major service
for some reason, Apple won't replace it at a local AppleStore, while if you buy it from Apple online education they'll usually fix you right up.

 

[ibglowin]

We don't have ANY Apple stores in NM.......

I would jump if they would wave the Tax. It makes NO sense for Apple to charge if they have no brick and mortar store in your state.

Apple charges the tax because they are required to for any state in which they have a retail store...same goes with dell....

 

[mduser63]

Apple charges the tax because they are required to for any state in which they have a retail store...same goes with dell....

I'm not quite sure about this. Apple charges sales tax for orders from Utah, even though there's no retail store here. There is one under construction, so maybe that has something to do with it.

 

[solvs]

Apple charges tax for anywhere it has a presence. Which would be anywhere that charges tax (and those that don't). You're actually supposed to be paying tax anyway, but some places don't collect it and expect you to declare it (yeah right). Buy it from Amazon and install your own RAM.

 

[Lucky8]

If you purchase your Mac through a reseller and it needs major service
for some reason, Apple won't replace it at a local AppleStore, while if you buy it from Apple online education they'll usually fix you right up.

That's is totally NOT true.
Apple retail store will not replace computers that you did not buy directly from the Apple retail store itself unless you have Apple Care. And that's only after they go thru your computer for weeks and make sure there's nothing they can do to fix it before they replace it with a new one for you.
If you buy your computer at Apple retail store, they waive the $30 installation fee on RAM, Internal bluetooth module and Airport extreme card.
There is an installation fee even if you buy your computer at Apple online.

My point is there's no difference in buying it from Apple online or Apple reseller like Amazon.com or MacMall.
But if you buy it at Apple retail store, then they might fix you right up if you have any problem with it.

 

[Snide]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ibglowin
I was tempted by the MacMall "free" 1GB RAM offer until you read the fine print. You have to fill out yet another rebate form and then they charge you a $39 "install fee" on top of everything. Its not bad but the install fee is a total joke.

Yeah you do have to pay the install fee and do a rebate which sucks, however, when all is done you still save a lot vs. buying one after you purchase the computer.

You both missed the big one:

You have to pay the full price for the RAM, the printer, and the computer
up-front, and send in mail-in rebates (at least 3) for everything.

So add the following to the total price:
1 GB RAM –– $207
Printer –– $100

So my $949.00 12" iBook with "free" 1 GB RAM, free printer, and $50.00 rebate
comes to almost $1400 before rebates––which must be paid up front...

 

[Chrispy]

You both missed the big one:

You have to pay the full price for the RAM, the printer, and the computer
up-front, and send in mail-in rebates (at least 3) for everything.

So add the following to the total price:
1 GB RAM –– $207
Printer –– $100

So my $949.00 12" iBook with "free" 1 GB RAM, free printer, and $50.00 rebate
comes to almost $1400 before rebates––which must be paid up front...

Well yeah.. that is how rebates work. They are very upfront about the fact that it is a rebate. If you take your time and fill out the forms correclty then all is well in the end. If you can show some patience upfront then you can get some nice free stuff in the end. It is very rare to find something that is totally free right upfront. Even with the free iPod deal you had to wait for your $179 rebate check...

 

[Snide]

Well yeah.. that is how rebates work. They are very upfront about the fact that it is a rebate. If you take your time and fill out the forms correclty then all is well in the end. If you can show some patience upfront then you can get some nice free stuff in the end. It is very rare to find something that is totally free right upfront. Even with the free iPod deal you had to wait for your $179 rebate check...

Agreed ––I recently bought a Seagate 160 GB hard drive for $39.00
after rebates; there were three separate ones I had to send in.
Sure enough, they all arrived eventually––$80 worth.

The thing about the iBook deal is that I could spend approx. $100.00 more and buy a
Powerbook locally rather than have $1400 tied up for month(s) until all the rebates arrived.
(assuming they indeed arrive)

I mean, the whole point of getting the iBook is that I don't have lots of $$ to throw around!!

 

[Chrispy]

I guess the macmall deal just comes to down if you were going to purchase a gig of memory after you get the iBook. If you plan on doing so, you may as well take advantage of getting the memory for $39.99 after rebate. The printer and carrying case are optional (as is the memory) so you can skip them if you want. You also get a $50 rebate on the computer too. If you don't need any of those things then just grab the iBook alone or grab a nice shinny powerbook

 

[Demon Hunter]

Some misinformation

That's is totally NOT true.
Apple retail store will not replace computers that you did not buy directly from the Apple retail store itself unless you have Apple Care. And that's only after they go thru your computer for weeks and make sure there's nothing they can do to fix it before they replace it with a new one for you.

If you buy it from Apple online and there is a problem, and you bring it to an Apple Store within 14 days (with receipt) they will exchange units if they can and you're nice about it. My screen was acting up and they did this for me, no AppleCare.

If you buy your computer at Apple retail store, they waive the $30 installation fee on RAM, Internal bluetooth module and Airport extreme card.

They can't physically install Bluetooth modules, it's soldered to the motherboard. So you either configure it online, or buy one of the pre-configured systems which ships to their store with Bluetooth.

There is an installation fee even if you buy your computer at Apple online.

No, there's no fee... unless you mean the fee is "incorporated" into RAM cost.

My point is there's no difference in buying it from Apple online or Apple reseller like Amazon.com or MacMall.
But if you buy it at Apple retail store, then they might fix you right up if you have any problem with it.

A few others including myself have had notably better customer service when buying directly from Apple. Just a thought, it's been brought up before.

ibglowin, congrats. I've had some bad experiences with Amazon, them sending me the wrong CDs, not giving me a refund. I wouldn't buy anything from them unless I had to, much less a computer. A lot of people swear by Amazon though, too.