[muchachotron]

i've got a couple of questions:

- on the new powerbooks with "upgradeable" vram, does this mean that users will be able to upgrade it themselves, or perhaps will resellers offer the 128mb versions as well as the 64, or will you only be able to get the 128 version directly from apple? does this just mean that a different graphics chip/card is soldered into the machine? i'm guessing this is (unfortunately) the case, but maybe i can be enlightened. of course, i guess it would help to actually allow some people to receive the new machines, rather than expect answers out of thin air...

- why do so many people buy from the apple store? not only are the prices higher than online resellers, but they charge tax, which adds up the total cost significantly. they also do not offer the common bundles/discounts/rebates that resellers do. in addition, it seems their shipping is sporadic and unpredictable. what are the benefits of ordering from apple instead of a reseller? i suppose if the answer to my first question is "yes, only from apple can you get this, stupid", this becomes more or less a moot point, but i'd still like to know. i really want to have the 128mb vram, just to help extend the powerbooks life a bit longer as new iterations of powerbook come out.

i am especialy curious about the first question...

- d

[DoeJury]

Originally posted by muchachotron:
i've got a couple of questions:

- on the new powerbooks with "upgradeable" vram, does this mean that users will be able to upgrade it themselves, or perhaps will resellers offer the 128mb versions as well as the 64, or will you only be able to get the 128 version directly from apple? does this just mean that a different graphics chip/card is soldered into the machine? i'm guessing this is (unfortunately) the case, but maybe i can be enlightened. of course, i guess it would help to actually allow some people to receive the new machines, rather than expect answers out of thin air...

- why do so many people buy from the apple store? not only are the prices higher than online resellers, but they charge tax, which adds up the total cost significantly. they also do not offer the common bundles/discounts/rebates that resellers do. in addition, it seems their shipping is sporadic and unpredictable. what are the benefits of ordering from apple instead of a reseller? i suppose if the answer to my first question is "yes, only from apple can you get this, stupid", this becomes more or less a moot point, but i'd still like to know. i really want to have the 128mb vram, just to help extend the powerbooks life a bit longer as new iterations of powerbook come out.

i am especialy curious about the first question...

- d

1- They mean that you select this as an option when buying from the Apple store with a new machine. It can't be "upgraded" later. Laptop video cards don't work like that.

2- People buy from the Apple Store because of reasons like the above. You can only get certain options and configurations straight from them. For example, you can only get an iMac w/160gb hard drive straight from Apple. Or, if you want the first RAM slot to have something other than the default 256mb w/a machine, the list goes on and on.

[Person Man]

Originally posted by muchachotron:


- why do so many people buy from the apple store? not only are the prices higher than online resellers, but they charge tax, which adds up the total cost significantly. they also do not offer the common bundles/discounts/rebates that resellers do.

- d

Well, most of the time the base price even at third party resellers is the same as Apple's suggested retail price (same as Apple store price). Even if you don't pay sales tax on a purchase from a third party reseller, your state still expects you to pay a "use tax" equal to the amount of sales tax you would have paid (assuming your state has a sales tax) had you bought it in state.

Many state income tax forms now have a section where they ask if you bought goods from out of state and whether you paid sales tax on them or not. If you didn't, they expect you to report that, and then pay the sales tax on the items. They may not be enforcing that very well, but they could start doing so at any time.

I don't have a problem with that per se, especially if I bought something online and didn't pay any sales tax. But what if you are physically in another state and purchase something? You pay sales tax at that state's rate, instead of the rate for the place you live. Are you required to report that on the use tax line? If so, then you would be taxed double on something... good luck getting a refund on the sales tax of the other state...