I’ve decided it’s time to replace my aging Macbook, and, while I know that the discounts to be had at Mac resellers are small, it’s better than nothing.
I looked at macmall.com, and the 13-inch Macbook Air I want is $40 cheaper. Yesterday, it looked like there was a special deal with Parallels and a printer free after some rebates, but I don’t see that any more. I’d use Parallels (I have an older version, but I’d be happy to have the upgrade for free), and I figure I can always craigslist the printer.
Is Macmall reputable? Are there other resellers with better deals? Any good or bad experiences buying from resellers?
I can’t speak about the aftermarket sellers, but if you know anyone who’s affiliated with a college, they usually can get a $100 educational discount on Macs.
I’ve bought my PowerBook and graphite iMac from MacMall. (Both times I turned down the free printer.) They’ve never caused me problems. One order coincided with my credit card expiring, and they were quick to contact me to update the new card info. My mom also bought her PowerPC 7200 and new iMac from them, and also never had problems. Shipping in all cases has been fast, usually 2 business days.
I usually go with MacMall because they’ll throw in free RAM upgrades and shipping, which makes them a better deal than most other retailers, including Apple.
I ordered a desktop from MacMall and they emailed me a few days later to suggest a different ordering method (different combination of ordering options/coupons) that gave me the same system but saved me $200.
I’m all about the Apple Store refurbs… hit the website and look in the lower left corner. Save a couple hundred on computers .5-1 generation(s) behind.
If you’re not in a major hurry, then just be patient. They’ll show up in the refurb store. I can’t remember the last time I bought a non-refurb Mac. Probably the Graphite iMac I bought back in 1999?
It’s about three months into the product cycle till the refurbs start showing up in the online store… just an FYI, and I totally understand wanting the newest-gen.
My impression is that they’re more underpowered than the specs would indicate due to regular underclocking of the CPU. There’s also some speculation right now that the SSD performance in the new Airs is better due to some optimized drivers.
The benchmarks seem to support this. Note how much slower the 2009 Air is compared to the 2010 model, even though the specs are pretty similar.
I’m not saying that the 2009 is a bad computer. Just that it’s significantly worse than the newest one. And, since I get a smaller, lighter, stronger machine along with the increased performance, it’s not worth the (relatively) small refurbished discount to me.