[neilw]

Despite my serious misgivings about its reliability, I'm considering ordering a new 20" iMac from Amazon this week to take advantage of that lovely $150 rebate. Given the problems some people have with these machines, would I be making a mistake buying one mail order? Is there a material advantage to buying at a brick and mortar store, to perhaps handle some of the possible problems directly rather than through warranty? Or is warranty service the only option once I crack it open?

I swear, it kills me that Apple doesn't make a "normal" consumer desktop machine. I'd get a mini with LCD if I thought that there might be a good consumer desktop in the future (so I'd have hope of upgrading while keeping the LCD), but seeing as how Jobs seems dead set against the concept, I'm left with the iMac. Nice, except for the fact that it seems to be constantly cooking its innards, whether noisily or not.

But I digress. Any real reason not to go with Amazon?

Thanks...

[MaxPower2k3]

i bought mine from amazon. good experience. no issues. use A9.com for a few days and get a small discount in addition to the rebate.

[Tomacorno]

I bought mine from Amazon for the rebate also. It was a little pokey getting shipped but I received my computer just fine. I sent the rebate coupon in today. Having purchased other items from Amazon in the past I could not come up with a good reason not to go with them and get a reduction in price over the Apple Store. You won't get free shipping on an iMac from Amazon though. I think shipping was about $30 for me.

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by neilw

Despite my serious misgivings about its reliability, I'm considering ordering a new 20" iMac from Amazon this week to take advantage of that lovely $150 rebate. Given the problems some people have with these machines, would I be making a mistake buying one mail order? Is there a material advantage to buying at a brick and mortar store, to perhaps handle some of the possible problems directly rather than through warranty? Or is warranty service the only option once I crack it open?

I swear, it kills me that Apple doesn't make a "normal" consumer desktop machine. I'd get a mini with LCD if I thought that there might be a good consumer desktop in the future (so I'd have hope of upgrading while keeping the LCD), but seeing as how Jobs seems dead set against the concept, I'm left with the iMac. Nice, except for the fact that it seems to be constantly cooking its innards, whether noisily or not.

But I digress. Any real reason not to go with Amazon?

Thanks...

An Apple warranty entitles you to service from any authorized service provider, and yes, warranty service is the only option available. And you're right, Apple should offer a consumer mini-tower, but Apple has always had difficulty with that market segment.

[neilw]

Under normal circumstances I would certainly have no qualms buying from Amazon; have done so numerous times in the past without problem.

I guess my concern this time is that if I am one of the unlucky ones that has significant problems with the iMac, then my only recourse would be warranty service. By contrast, some have reported that after multiple attempts to fix their iMac have failed, they've actually been able to get refunds from the Apple Store. This would seem unlikely for a machine bought elsewhere.

But I guess for the $250 savings (after figuring in the lack of sales tax) it's worth the gamble.

Thanks for the A9 tip, by the way; that extra discount should almost cover shipping.