buying a Mac but not from apple.com

[ywenz]

What are the disadvantages of buying a MacBook from J&R Music (jr.com). The advantage of going with jr.com is that I don't get charged sales tax like I do at the apple store. Are the Macs purchased from them fully recongnized by Apple in case I need to fix it under warranty?

 

[abumac]

Here in Europe it does not matter where you buy it. Always the same warranty.

rw

 

[mich8261]

shouldn't matter as long as it is an authorized dealer. If you are a student or teacher you should contact Apple for the education discount. If you work for a large company, they may have an employee discount for purchases (even if they don't buy Apple for corporate). My employee is PC/Windows only, but they have an agreement with Apple. I think I got 5% off my iMac.

 

[nightfly]

I've done both and as far as I understand it, here are the differences:

If you buy from some place like MacMall (which I recommend) you usually get free RAM upgrades which is nice, and then a bunch of stuff you may or may not need, like a printer and you don't pay sales tax (companies are usually in NJ or Delaware or something).

You can't customize the computer much beyond RAM.

If you buy from Apple, you can get custom configurations like bigger or faster or hardrives or some combos of features that stores don't offer. That was why I bit the bullet and paid more for my last one buying directly through apple, I wanted a faster hard drive than stock.

Warranty is the same. If it's a laptop, I'd advise getting Applecare. Doesn't seem worth it till a screen or something goes and you get it fixed for free instead of $500. Plus Apple is really good about returns and repairs, sending you a nice box with shipping label etc.

If you want stock, shop around for a place that will double your RAM and give you free shipping and no tax. If you need it custom, go with Apple.

 

[Trius]

There are very few "grey market" Apple resellers, and I doubt that an outfit with the high profile of J&R could get away with it for more than, say, 5 seconds. Of course, you could call them up and ask...

 

[pesphoto]

Definatley get Apple care. Saved our butts a couple times.

 

[photogdave]

If you buy from Apple direct you build up credit with them. After a while they will send you "offers" for discounts on some products.

 

[kaiyen]

applecare is what matters, not the vendor (the extremely rare grey market ones aside). Apples are not that reliable, in all honesty. Their QC leaves something to be desired (not worse than PCs, mind you, just not better). So applecare is critical.

allan

 

[ywenz]

Do they package OS X installtion CD with the laptop? Say I want to upgrade my hard drive to a bigger and faster one and I want to install OS X on the new drive..

Also... just looked on macmall.com. Is AppleCare only available when I purchase directly FROM Apple?

 

[LeicaM3]

Do they package OS X installtion CD with the laptop? Say I want to upgrade my hard drive to a bigger and faster one and I want to install OS X on the new drive..

Also... just looked on macmall.com. Is AppleCare only available when I purchase directly FROM Apple?

Yes, installation DVD is included.

You can buy AppleCare from anywhere, best prices usually through amazon.com

Consider buying from the Apple refurbish store (Deals in the Apple Store) - I have bought many that way. Same guarantee as a new one. Plus it has been inspected for sure! They currently have great deals.

Make sure to check if you qualify for educational discount through Apple. Almost everybody qualifies. Do you homeschool others or yourself? 😀


Andreas

 

[mr roberts]

A lot of good information in the preceding posts. The edu discount is considerable and I too buy a lot of hardware from the refurb store. Just add the Applecare warranty...it's worth the cost; however you don't need to purchase it up front with the machine. You get 1 year hardware and 90 days software/OS support out of the box. You can add Applecare any time before the 1 year is up.

Also, I've been burned by resellers a couple of times in one area...memory. They often add/substitute aftermarket memory for the more expensive Apple labeled RAM. If you have a problem with the system and send it in for repair Apple will remove the non-Apple RAM, test it with their own and send the system back to you with the RAM in a separate bag. The note will usually say "Non-Apple RAM was found to be the source of the problem. If re-installed the system will not be supported further for this issue" or something to that effect.

I therefor buy the system with the minimum RAM Apple config and buy the additional/substitute DIMMS from a Samsung memory supplier (Memory to Go).
If I have a problem that requires depot repair I swap out to the original DIMM.

 

[BillBingham2]

If you are getting a laptop, GET APPLE CARE, it is worth it's weight in gold. I have it on my wifes and it has paid for itself twice over (she is hard on systems).

3rd party memory is often problems, but if the reseller (like mac mall) has been around a long time, they stand behind them pretty well. You get what you pay for. If you get them memory at the same time as you get the system (from apple) it and all the accessories are covered under Apple Care. IHMO, well worth it.

B2 (;->