Where to buy MBP online?

[FayeDay]

I'm new to Mac. I've been a PC user my whole life but I think I'm finally ready for the switch. I think I've decided on a 15-inch 2.53 MacBook Pro but now I'm trying to figure out where I should buy it from.

I want to buy it online and have been looking at a few places. I'm not a student anymore so buying directly from Apple doesn't seem to give me the best pricing options. I've been looking at a few other online stores, MacMall, Smalldog Electronics and Springboard Store in particular.

They all have similar pricing-- MacMall has a $75 mail in rebate, Springboard has free shipping and you get reward points (which from what I gather I can use to get money off other purchases) and Smalldog is doing a special that includes a sleeve and free shipping. I'm totally torn.

Wondered if anyone had any advice to offer or could tell me if one place is more reputable than another.

 

[Blackjack07]

You are quite new to mac, so I would suggest you buy it straight from Apple. I've used Macs for the past two years, and I love it, so I bought my laptop from the refurbished section on the apple.com website. You find great deals, and if any problem occurs, you have the same warranty like if you would of gotten a brand new one.

So, briefly, I would buy it from a reliable source, such as Apple itself (you might want to look whether there are actions going on, I am not aware of that atm) so you are safe. Later in life, you can get another one (because you are going to love your mac), after you learned a bit more about macs or computers in general!

Good luck, and if any comments, please respond

B07

 

[Chupa Chupa]

There are only three places I'd buy a new Mac: Apple, Amazon, and MicroCenter (but only locally). Why? DOA. MacMall, MacConnection, etc, etc, often have good prices, but they also have lousy return policies, including if they send you a dead machine. They'll tell you to go talk to Apple and Apple will tell you repair, not a new machine is your only option.

OTOH, if you buy from Apple and they send you a DOA machine they'll swap it for a new one. Amazon will let you return for refund or swap for new, and Microcenter will swap for new. (Those have been the policies, but good idea to reconfirm).

I speak out of first hand experience on this. I once received a DOA G5 from MacMall and learned my lesson the hard way.

 

[2056]

I'd go with Amazon.

 

[spartanforever]

I'm new to Mac. I've been a PC user my whole life but I think I'm finally ready for the switch. I think I've decided on a 15-inch 2.53 MacBook Pro but now I'm trying to figure out where I should buy it from.

I want to buy it online and have been looking at a few places. I'm not a student anymore so buying directly from Apple doesn't seem to give me the best pricing options. I've been looking at a few other online stores, MacMall, Smalldog Electronics and Springboard Store in particular.

They all have similar pricing-- MacMall has a $75 mail in rebate, Springboard has free shipping and you get reward points (which from what I gather I can use to get money off other purchases) and Smalldog is doing a special that includes a sleeve and free shipping. I'm totally torn.

Wondered if anyone had any advice to offer or could tell me if one place is more reputable than another.

I'd check out JR.com too. They have excellent customer service, great prices (and they will price match to an online store), and free shipping. I think you only get taxed if you are in NY.

 

[panzer06]

I'm new to Mac. I've been a PC user my whole life but I think I'm finally ready for the switch. I think I've decided on a 15-inch 2.53 MacBook Pro but now I'm trying to figure out where I should buy it from.

I want to buy it online and have been looking at a few places. I'm not a student anymore so buying directly from Apple doesn't seem to give me the best pricing options. I've been looking at a few other online stores, MacMall, Smalldog Electronics and Springboard Store in particular.

They all have similar pricing-- MacMall has a $75 mail in rebate, Springboard has free shipping and you get reward points (which from what I gather I can use to get money off other purchases) and Smalldog is doing a special that includes a sleeve and free shipping. I'm totally torn.

Wondered if anyone had any advice to offer or could tell me if one place is more reputable than another.

Don't forget the refurb units on Apple's website. The prior 15" unibody is only $1349 today, only $150 more than the new 13" MBP, plus you get the expresscard slot, replaceable battery and 15" display.

I just sold my 1 month old White MB and ordered the refurb 15" uni MBP. Great deal.

Cheers,

 

[FayeDay]

Great Advice

Amazon is definitely out for me. They once charged my account over 100 times for a single purchase and it froze my bank account. Their customer service is crap. That's part of the reason I was looking at these smaller companies. I'm really concerned with the customer service aspect and figured I might have better luck with a smaller company hence the appeal of these other online stores.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll definitely look into the refurb possibility since I'm still having a hard time with the price tag factor of the Mac world!

 

[bji]

macconnection

I was just about to put in my order for a new 15" macconnection, until I found this thread. Is that really a bad idea? It would save me from paying the sales tax. I bought a powerbook from them years ago and no problems.

Any opinions?

 

[Negotiator74]

I'm in California so I have always purchased from either MacMall or MacConnection to save the sales tax. Both have been butter smooth transactions.

 

[FayeDay]

I went with springboardstore.com

So I did it! I got my first Mac. I went for the 2.53 MacBook Pro and I ended up going with Springboardstore.com.
I was still stuck on the idea of trying to get it from a smaller company and springboardstore had a return policy that made me feel better about buying from somewhere outside of Apple.com

"If you are not satisfied with your springboardstore.com purchase, please visit your Order History, (located on your Account Information page) for a Return Material Authorization (RMA) request within 14 calendar days of the receipt of the product.

If the item is returnable and you send it back to us unopened and in the original box, springboardstore.com will offer you a refund based on the original method of payment. You must return your product to the springboardstore.com warehouse within 7 calendar days of the issuance of the RMA. All products must be returned in the original, unmarked packaging, including any accessories, manuals, documentation and registration that shipped with the product."

It seemed pretty iron-clad and customer friendly. They were speedy, the order was easy and now I have reward points. I'd suggest them to any new buyer. I spoke to a rep on the phone before ordering and they were totally helpful. Seriously, the guy didn't try to get me to buy something I didn't need. He literally asked what I was going to use the machine for and we went from there.

Awesome start to finish! Now what am I going to use those reward points to buy? They are burning a hole in my pocket!!!