Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

buddy1065 · Feb 24, 2006, 02:27 PM

I just checked PortableOne and they have MBP's with free shipping and charge no tax in my location. Resellerratings gives them a great history. Their service is excellent. Are there other vendors anyone here would recommend with no tax or shipping?

mduell · Feb 24, 2006, 03:02 PM

Amazon

uicandrew · Feb 24, 2006, 03:03 PM

amazon.com, b&h (where i got my intel imac), smalldog, lacomputercompany, j&r

uicandrew · 03:45 PM

sorry. double post because my mac froze for a second and i reclicked "submit"

Belisarius · Feb 24, 2006, 03:25 PM

I've used Amazon a couple of times and have been pretty happy with them. I mostly purchase new Macs straight from Apple simply because I'm extraordinarily impatient and Apple.com always ships new products before resellers. So, I guess my lack of patience costs me money, but you know what they say -- you can't make a tiger changes its stripes.

Kevin

Lateralus · Feb 24, 2006, 03:43 PM

ExperCom.

SSharon · Feb 24, 2006, 05:42 PM

I got my desktop from macmall and my laptop from apple. I just do whichever one comes out cheaper in terms of edu discount/tax/free ram

ASIMO · Feb 24, 2006, 05:53 PM

Originally Posted by uicandrew

sorry. double post because my mac froze for a second and i reclicked "submit"

No excuses. Go stand in the corner for 30 minutes.

Oh, and school for me.

John123 · Feb 24, 2006, 06:09 PM

Chalk up another Amazon testimonial here. For the price, it can't be beat.

jeebus · Feb 24, 2006, 10:07 PM

What's nice about the bookstore at my college is that they have a huge apple section where you can buy macs, software, accessories etc. and you can get the edu discounts there and take it home that day. I still ordered online from Apple though, as I think my MacBook will come faster that way. If it were a product that had already been shipping for awhile and had no supply problems then I would get it from there, it's nice to be able to go to the store and take your purchase home, I hate all this waiting for shipping and having to deal with FedEx. It's worth it though to get my MBP even a few days earlier.

Oh, and I CTOed the HD anyway so I had to get it online. That is another big reason ppl get it from Apple.

ChrisF · Feb 25, 2006, 01:22 AM

Originally Posted by jeebus

Oh, and I CTOed the HD anyway so I had to get it online. That is another big reason ppl get it from Apple.

Independent Apple dealers, at least in the US, can order CTO machines for customers.

jwoods · Feb 25, 2006, 01:40 AM

I order from Apple using my goverment employee discount.

JaNeDoe · Feb 25, 2006, 04:12 AM

I order from Apple with my student discount.

Maflynn · Feb 25, 2006, 07:59 AM

I order from apple and/or go to their store.

uicandrew · Feb 25, 2006, 11:51 AM

for the apple store, even with edu discount, the tax bring the price in line with the no tax, no shipping online stores.

Sometimes, the online stores have some custom configs in stock for immediate shipping. otherwise, custom configs are only available from apple.

actually, just go to macprices.com

but a word of caution, people have had not good experiences with ecost, macmall, maczone. i think they are the same company because they all charge tax to the state i'm in.

epluth · Feb 25, 2006, 12:16 PM

I've used macmall, and maczone, but most were for my employer.... Not too bad, but their customer service lacks a bit in the knowlege dept.

On the other hand, apple ed store gave me tiger for half price. You cant beat that.

onlykaria · Feb 25, 2006, 02:44 PM

Originally Posted by buddy1065

I just checked PortableOne and they have MBP's with free shipping and charge no tax in my location. Resellerratings gives them a great history. Their service is excellent. Are there other vendors anyone here would recommend with no tax or shipping?

i always order from apple for 2 reasons:

1) i always get built to order machines, this order is:
MBPRO 15/1.83 CTO
1.83Ghz Intel Core Duo/VR128MB
1GB 667 DDR2- 2x512 SO-DIMM
120GB Serial ATA Drive@5400rpm
SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
BkLit Keyboard/Mac OS
Airport Extreme Card&BT

2) its cheaper (with the right discount)
before taxes and shipping i got that for $230 off retail with my student/teacher discount.

Goldfinger · Feb 25, 2006, 02:48 PM

I go and buy them myself. No waiting.

b33faroni · Feb 25, 2006, 03:07 PM

jwoods, hows the government discount compared to education discount? Just curious to see how they treat ya

aristotles · Feb 25, 2006, 03:39 PM

My previous macs were bought from a local reseller but this time I'm buying my macbook pro from apple.ca because I cannot wait several months until the local stores here get them.

BTW, I'm in Canada so YMMV.

jwoods · Feb 25, 2006, 07:59 PM

Originally Posted by b33faroni

jwoods, hows the government discount compared to education discount? Just curious to see how they treat ya

It's not bad, about the same as the Ed discount.....maybe a dollar or two higher per item than the Ed discount.

onlykaria · Feb 26, 2006, 03:46 AM

Originally Posted by jwoods

I order from Apple using my goverment employee discount.

they can, but i have asked local stores and they wont.

but its not that big a deal i guess.

powerbook911 · Feb 26, 2006, 04:12 AM

I order from Amazon.com because the rebates and other discounts save a lot of money.

Nevertheless, if there was ever a configuration I had to have, I would buy from Apple.

UnSainted · Mar 7, 2006, 10:54 AM

I bought my 15 inch Powerbook from PC Connection (Mac Connections) and got a fair pricel I bought a refurb and its been working great.

bthom70 · Mar 7, 2006, 02:11 PM

I second Amazon.com, free shipping and rebates make them cheaper.

I was able to get my Rev E. PB 1.67 for less than Apple Edu pricing.
Granted I had to submit a rebate, I was able to save tax and I had free shipping
I got my $200USD rebate is about 10 weeks. So my $1999USD PB was $1799USD, free shipping and no tax.
Apple Edu pricing was $1799USD plus 6% tax. = $1907USD. That was $108USD I saved. by sending in a rebate and waiting 10 weeks.
Amazon.com shipping time was less than 4 days, pretty good if you ask me.
Plus I earned points with my credit card.

SpaceRockness · Mar 7, 2006, 03:37 PM

I usually order from Apple for CTO options. The only exception to that was when I bought my 12" PowerBook at an Apple Retail Store via student discount because I waited too long... I had classes two days later so yeah it was crunch time to migrate data over and install my applications.

If I wasn't a student, the Amazon or other companies offers are sometimes better but mail-ins nowdays aren't what they're cracked up to be. Amazon is the most reliable for rebates these days.
The best regional dealer I prefer is Small Dog, they're the best

LagunaSol · Mar 7, 2006, 05:13 PM

Originally Posted by jwoods

It's not bad, about the same as the Ed discount.....maybe a dollar or two higher per item than the Ed discount.

Actually, the student discount is a bit better than that. $40 cheaper for a base MacBook Pro than the government employee price.

Still a good deal though. I do tend to order directly from Apple with my government employee discount. I have to pay sales tax, but shipping is free, so it comes out to be about the same as ordering from a mail order outlet. And my holdings in AAPL feel better about cutting out the middleman.

Drakino · Mar 8, 2006, 05:27 AM

Local Mac reseller. It's a non chain store that started in 1984, and helped keep Apple alive in the 90s. So I support them by buying from them. It's a shame Apple is trying to run such stores out now.

Duracell · Mar 8, 2006, 11:53 AM

Local mac reseller, John Lewis.

TheoCryst · Mar 8, 2006, 05:16 PM

School bookstore. They have amazing deals somethimes. I got my current gen iBook G4 for $799 plus tax. Made me very happy!

turbopants · Mar 8, 2006, 05:25 PM

Amazon is the place to go. Plus you can get the A9 discount for an extra 1.57% discount on your purchase. Also, they've been offering free Amazon Prime accounts to people so you could also get free 2 day shipping or $3.99 overnight shipping. Have not had a bad experience with Amazon.

hmp · Mar 8, 2006, 08:11 PM

Originally Posted by turbopants

Amazon is the place to go. Plus you can get the A9 discount for an extra 1.57% discount on your purchase. Also, they've been offering free Amazon Prime accounts to people so you could also get free 2 day shipping or $3.99 overnight shipping. Have not had a bad experience with Amazon.

Yeah, my Amazon Prime 3 month trial just ended yesterday. Did influence my buying behavior though - I bought more from Amazon just because I knew I'd get it within two days instead of waiting for ground shipping.

Back on topic - I usually go to the Apple Store in the mall - they honor educational discounts if you show your student id. For my Macbook Pro though, I had to order through the university computer store because the school is paying for it

onlykaria · Mar 9, 2006, 12:58 AM

Originally Posted by turbopants

Amazon is the place to go. Plus you can get the A9 discount for an extra 1.57% discount on your purchase. Also, they've been offering free Amazon Prime accounts to people so you could also get free 2 day shipping or $3.99 overnight shipping. Have not had a bad experience with Amazon.

wait how and where are they offering free amazon prime accounts.

hmp · 03:31 AM

Originally Posted by onlykaria

wait how and where are they offering free amazon prime accounts.

If I remember correctly, I was browsing the Amazon site a few months ago and there was a link for a free 3 month trial, no strings attached. I received multiple email reminders before the trial expired with a link to cancel the automatic upgrade. It was very hassle-free.

With that said, I don't think they're still offering this. Maybe it was just for a short promotional period...

onlykaria · Mar 9, 2006, 03:19 AM

Originally Posted by hmp

If I remember correctly, I was just browsing the Amazon site a few months ago and there was a link for a free 3 month trial, no strings attached. A received multiple email reminders before the trial expired with a link to cancel the automatic upgrade. It was very hassle-free.

With that said, I don't think they're still offering this. Maybe it was just for a short promotional period...

thank you for the info, and much sadness.

i paid for amazon prime (was hoping to use any free time to add time to my membership) , but i still would not order a machine from them because they dont sell custom config.

msuper69 · Mar 10, 2006, 12:57 AM

No.

bonedaddy77 · Mar 10, 2006, 04:58 PM

Nope...I went with Amazon.com

I wasn't planning on getting a macbook but fatwallet.com really loves to help me spend my cash. On the morning on 3/7, I was checking the hot deals forum and thread about a 10% off coupon that was working on EVERYTHING.

Obviously it was an error but I decided to try my luck and ordered a 2Ghz Macbook. Total price after coupon, A9 discount, and free shipping came out to $2114.67. To my surprise it shipped on 3/9 and to make the deal even sweeter, they have a $150 rebate so for $2064.67 I'll have my first mac.