A MacBook Surprise
August 26, 2009
by Walter S. Mossberg
I am trying to surprise my wife with a laptop for our anniversary. I will probably go with the Apple MacBook Pro. Are there reliable sellers from which to buy the machine online?
There are lots of reliable online sellers of laptops, and online buying is fine, provided you have somehow handled the machine and are familiar enough with it to be sure it’s the one you (or, in this case, your lucky wife) will be happy owning. In the case of Apple, a company whose products are rarely deeply discounted by third-party sellers, it often makes sense for online buyers to use the company’s own online store, at store.apple.com. I have found Apple’s online store to be easy to use, secure and reliable. And you get some minor benefits at the physical Apple stores if you buy directly from Apple.
However, other major online sellers with equally good reputations also carry Macs, and some do shave the prices. One good example I have used happily is amazon.com, which carries the latest MacBook Pros at discounts ranging from $5 to over $100, depending on model.
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Among the ones Mozilla suggests using are Glubble for Families, and ProCon Latte. More information is at: support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Parental+controls.
Comments
Regarding online sellers of Macs and greater discounts, I recommend shopping Apple’s refurbished store. Even if you walk into an Apple retrail store to handle a computer and ensure it’s right, refurbished computers were returned for any number of reasons, fixed up to be like new, and resold at a deeper discount (often 15-25%). http://store.apple.com/us/brow.....co=MTMzNTY
Posted by Ben Rosenthal at August 26th, 2009 at 4:08 pmMacMall has some pretty good discounts. But it’s true that Apple Store is going to be easier in many respects. They essentially keep their copy of the receipt and your serial number and name so when you show up with any kind of problem they don’t treat you like a stranger. It may be worth the slight premium to many people to just shop exclusively at the Apple Store.
I don’t recommend refurbs. I bought one once and it went into the shop 3 times during 3 years and then died a few months into the 4th year. I got good use out of it and it wasn’t much trouble to take it in to Apple each time and they always cheerfully fixed it, but when you add up the 3 weeks it was out and my time and you look at what I saved getting a refurb, it was not worth it for me. That repair history can happen with a new machine also, but it’s true in my case that the one refurb I bought was also the most unreliable Mac ever for me. This was an iMac also, not even a notebook where you expect a little more servicing due to smaller components and the daily rigors of traveling around.
Posted by Fred Hamranhansenhansen at September 14th, 2009 at 4:46 pmSmall Dog Electronics in Vermont is an excellent online dealer. I’ve bought 3 Macs from them, but my more recent purchases have been from a local dealer, The Mac Store in Oregon. They even matched the Apple Store government employee price. (I”m retired from the US military.)
Posted by George Slusher at October 17th, 2009 at 1:11 am