A client of mine has to buy a Macbook Pro for his son who is going off to college. But the Apple student discount is only 10% of of full list.
What deals do Dopers know about?
Hrrmmm… 10% ain’t that bad, plus with the current educational promotion, he would get a bonus $100 gift card to use in Mac App Store (I believe the educational promotions usually end in September). I think that’s probably the best deal he’s going to get. I know there are some special “developer discounts” too, but he would have to sign up for a “developer” membership, and I don’t believe that discount is as good as the current student discount, with promotion. I’m sure a Google would give you more details. Also, I’m not sure of the legitimacy of that discount, if he’s not really a developer.
I just bought a new Macbook Air. Searched around for better deals and the education discount was the best I could find. Apple seems to be pretty straightforward and no-nonsense with their specials. The specials aren’t hard to find, it’s just a matter of qualifying for them, which your client does.
Apple discounts are much more rare and limited than other PC manufacturer discounts. A 10% student discount is about as good as you can do for current stock items. If you have a credit card that offers cash points back based on purchase volume you might be able to knock off another 1-3% if you use it.
I just had the thought of buying it on-line and saving him the sales tax, and combine that with the Educational discount.
That might be difficult as Apple has retail stores in most of the US states. If they have a store in your state the online retailer has to charge sales tax.
They could look at getting a refurbished one from Apple (I wouldn’t trust anyone else, plus, warranty!). Other then that, I doubt they’ll find sale prices anywhere, unless they look at buying a floor model. Apple products don’t really go on sale, ever.
I was looking at laptops a couple weeks ago and ended up with a Sony Vaio. At Abt Electronics they had several Apple computers in their mini Apple Store that were floor models or customer returns with decent discounts on them. Could be worth giving them a call. Their service is just fantastic btw.
It’s worth checking out Amazon. I don’t think they charge sales tax in most states, and they have new Macs at discounted prices. Since they are an authorized dealer the computer is still under the Apple warranty, so you can bring it back to an Apple Store and expect the same service as if you bought it there.
I don’t know if the discount is as good as the student discount + the 100 bucks for the App Store. But, you never know. They seem to have some pretty good discounts. The 15.4 inch model is $100 off.
clearance/refurb from apple
The 10% student discount is the best you’re ever going to get on a new Apple. Refurb discounts generally average about 10%. And no, the student discount does not apply to refurbs, so you may as well just get a new one.