[The Placid Casual]

I just sold my Powerbook and am all stoked to buy a Dual 2ghz G5 with Bluetooth (£2000 with my HE discount!)...

Today, I was about to place my order with the Applestore UK when I thought, why should Apple have my money (or 'reserve' it on my card) for 2 months? So I waited...

So the dilema; If I were to wait until August to order, what are the chances of me then having to wait until October or something (2months from Aug) for delivery? Or by August, will there be loads swilling around in the channnel for immediate delivery?

I only ask as I ordered an iBook (dual USB) a few years ago on the day of the launch, and waited for 2 months for delivery. By the time it was delivered they were in all the local stores!

Anyone have any advice or experience of these kind of Product launches in the past?

Is pre-ordering worth it?

Cheers,

Marc

[awcopus]

On a budget? Wait, watch, read, debate, then order.

No $ constraints. Order. One of each. And for me, maybe, too, please?

[The Placid Casual]

Originally posted by awcopus:
On a budget? Wait, watch, read, debate, then order.

No $ constraints. Order. One of each. And for me, maybe, too, please?

I guess you're right, it all comes down to money in the end, or the money I'm meant to spend on tuition fees... :/

My mind says wait, my heart keeps hearing a voice saying... "I'm a G5, buy me"...

I guess I'll go with heart this time...

Peace,

Marc

P.S.l have alway said that if I were to win 'big' on the lottery, or discover a goldmine in my back yard or something, I would buy new Macs for as many people on the forum as I could, as MacNN people have been so helpful to me over the years! I can't buy now, but you never know...

*Note to self, must buy tin foil hat.

[idyll]

I have one question..

I'm currently attending a college this summer for two weeks only and my professor tells me I'm eligible for savings on Apple products.. If I was to buy one of the new G5s right now, which are going to start shipping in August, would they charge my credit card right away or when the item is shipped?

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by idyll:
I have one question..

I'm currently attending a college this summer for two weeks only and my professor tells me I'm eligible for savings on Apple products.. If I was to buy one of the new G5s right now, which are going to start shipping in August, would they charge my credit card right away or when the item is shipped?

They charge it when it is shipped.

[idyll]

Thanks!

[The Placid Casual]

They told me today that they will 'reserve' the funds if you use a credit card...

Anyone know if this means that those funds are 'locked' and unusable?

[DeathMan]

My upgrade path is

This Year by Christmas:

Upgrade to 64MB video card
Get a 20 inch (or 23 inch if I can scrape the $$ together)

Next Year by Fall:

Get Rev B G5!!


Then: Dance around crazy like cause I have the sweetest mac evar!!!

(plus I want to throw an iBook in there somewhere, not sure where though.....)

[chrisutley]

If you use a debit card they may reserve the money when you place the order.

Lots of people were able to walk into Apple Stores and buy 17" PowerBooks, while the folks that ordered very early online were still waiting for a delivery.

I don't think pre-ordering is worth it unless you are going with a BTO.

[Eriamjh]

They are not allows to actually place the charge, but they will "authorize" it. This basically is them making sure you have the credit. If you cancel, nothing happens. If you let them ship 2 months later, then they charge you when they ship.

In the meantime, no bill on your card. Anything else, is illegal.

[slipjack]

It does seem like Apple often screws over the pre-orders... I cancelled mine. I'm actually now thinking I might wait until 10.3 comes out... you just KNOW they are going to charge for it.

[Mac Zealot]

The smartest thing to do is wait until they start shipping and hit the first store that has them.

OR go to a place like macmall or whatever and buy it wtih loads of goodies

[businezguy]

Personally, I would not get the G5 now, only to find out I'd have to pay $129 more for Panther. That would not be cool.

Rather, I am going to wait and watch. If the G5 comes with a cheap upgrade fee to Panther, it will grab my interest.

Besides, Apple hasn't been very loyal to those who preorder. Most of the time, people get the item from the store before Apple ships to customers who placed orders early on. That is also not too cool.

[The Placid Casual]

Originally posted by businezguy:
Personally, I would not get the G5 now, only to find out I'd have to pay $129 more for Panther. That would not be cool.

Rather, I am going to wait and watch. If the G5 comes with a cheap upgrade fee to Panther, it will grab my interest.

Besides, Apple hasn't been very loyal to those who preorder. Most of the time, people get the item from the store before Apple ships to customers who placed orders early on. That is also not too cool.

Good point about 10.3... I can't say I would look forward to buying the same operating system for the 3rd time in 2 years!

I guess waiting is the logical choice...

I also just found out that my backup machine, a G3 466SE iBook actually runs Jaguar really well with the RAM maxed out, so the wait won't be as bad as I expected...

Roll on August!

[TC]

Originally posted by The Placid Casual:
They told me today that they will 'reserve' the funds if you use a credit card...

Anyone know if this means that those funds are 'locked' and unusable?

I believe this will lower the limit on your card.

Say you have a £4000 limit on your card and then Apple reserve £2000 you will only have another £2000 available to use on your card.

I found this out when they tried to reserve a Powerbook purchase for me 3 times due to problems with the order. In the end the order failed due to my card being maxed out by their reservations. But because of the problems they put my order on priority and when the G4 Powerbooks came out and I got one of the first ones in Europe