$200 some odd worth it?

Heres the scoop:

I was going to get one of those new Dell XPS 1330, but changed my mind last minute and opted for a Macbook Pro/Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz T7700/2GB DDR2-667/Geforce 8600M GT 256MB/160GB (7200RPM). Tax for this thing in my area came out to $250+, so I told apple to ship it to some family of mine in oregon, where there is no sales tax. Unfortunately, now I have to wait until mid August for them to drive down and bring it to me. I figure from the stories i've been reading, if I had it shipped here, I would have had it in a week or so.

What would you guys have done? Pay the tax, and enjoy a rocksolid laptop or save the cash and wait for a month in agony.

 

First of all, great choice in laptop!
Second, There have been MASSIVE delays for these laptops. If you ordered today or yesterday they probably wont even receive the laptop till early August. You might not wait much longer than you would've if you'd had it shipped directly to your house. Have you checked Apple's website and seen your estimated ship date? I bet it's sometime in August.

I would've done the same, it was worth it to save almost 300 dollars.

 

1. Thank you..I was totally zoned in on that Dell, but their service just drove me over the wall, which led me to apple. It'll be my first, but now that Im getting one, I actually cant believe I didnt consider it earlier.

2. I didnt actually put the order in, but im sure your right. This laptop is awsome so I'm sure people are flocking to get this thing. I feel bad for those who got the mbp in Feb....5 months longer, and they would have received the same awsome notebook, on steroids.

 

ship it to oregon. even if you asked your family to ship it to you after they recieve it from apple, even next day air, you would still save $200

 

As the acidman said, just have your folks ship it to you after it drops. You'll still save hundreds, and get the laptop practically instantaneously.

 

Since they are driving, I assume that Oregon is within driving distance? Then, drive there yourself to an Apple store and get it now. Call just to make sure that the store has the model in stock. Apple stores get shipments every night, some of the 2500$ models are bound to come in the next few days.

 

Quite the contrary, the distance is, lets say, from Salem to San Francisco, give or take 100 miles. They enjoy the drive, so thats why they are doing it. Realistically, I thought about driving up there and picking it up myself, but I have done the drive once, and it is brutal. Not to mention the gas...

 

Do you NEED the laptop right now? If the answer is yes, then spend the extra money. If the answer is no, suck it up and wait.

Personally, I would pay the extra money just because I am an impatient bastard that wants everything right away.

 

Huh?

http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MacBook...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1184628388&sr=8-6

In stock, you can have it at your door Wednesday for $40 or get it Thursday for $22, no sales tax.

Sure it's the 5400RPM one, but you could replace the drive with a 7200RPM one and sell the old one or get a 2.5" external enclosure and still save money.

 

I'd go to the nearest Apple store and buy it there. I'd pay $200 for instant gratification. I would think you'd have to pay tax when getting it from Amazon?

Also you can take it back within 14 days no questions asked - that's the back-up safety for, say, a dead pixel disagreement.

Apple replaces displays with dead pixels under warranty, but only if there's more than (3?) or if they are right in the center of the screen. I wanted to have the option to just return the whole thing in case there's disagreement of whether or not I need a new display because of dead pixels. If they wouldn't replace it, I would just give back the whole thing (then turn around and buy another one ). Same if there's any other weird or hard-to-see display problem.

As it were my MBP happened to have a perfect screen, no dead pixels, and no other defects.

Replacing the HD yourself is a pretty scary procedure. I did it, and it worked fine in the end but not without a lot of drama. First the top case wouldn't come off, then it sounded like it had snapped off. It's fine, it just makes that bad noise when coming off. Then the whole thing didn't start so I thought I had maybe broken one of those extremely fragile cables inside. Pretty exciting. Keep in mind that the MBP is not like the MacBook where you can just swap out the HD. You have to open the whole thing up, unscrew about 20 screws, remove several fragile cables in the way, etc. iFixit has pretty good instructions.

 

Aren't they tax free?

 

Amazon does not charge sales tax.

 

That would have been awsome, if it wasnt a 17 incher. I checked Amazon, and didnt see a 15 inch with a 2.4 option. Maybe I skipped over it by accident, but I dont think that was available. If it was, I'd cancel my order and do it through Amazon.

 

Is this it?:

http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MacBook...5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1184634765&sr=1-5


EDIT: Never mind... those are "In stock soon"

 

Indeed, plus, I got it for cheaper than that from Apple.

Thanks though

 

For $250, you could FLY to Portland for a day, and take that needed vacation. Or have your family in Oregon FedEx it to you. But I'd just suck it up and buy it at the store. SFO to PDX shouldn't cost that much to fly. Maybe ask them if you can stay at their house for a night? I mean I don't think they would mind.

 

OK, you can't fly SFO to PDX for less than $300. Just go buy it at the local apple store.

 

Ahh, yeah. I saved $175 by getting my Macbook at Amazon, so I always look there first since then.

 

Look at it this way. If you would of ordered a XPS m1330, you probably wont get it till 2008. Waiting a month or so is definitely worth $250.

 

You still made the right choice. With delays, it wouldn't matter either way. Many Apple stores are sold out of the 15.4 MBP anyway.

I'm getting mine at the end of the month, I'm so excited!

 

Heh, good attempt though. That wouldn't have been that bad if it was possible.

I know some people that are waiting to see mine, before they get their first Mac's as well... I'm sure by the time I get mine, Amazon will put it up... lucky bastards...

SERIOUSLY

 

It's a good time to buy Apple. With the new processors that just came out, and Leopard coming out soon... I'm just trying to not sound like a typical Apple drone "I part of a Mac community!" type of crap. Apple is a good company, with some solid products, and actually care enough to hold seminar-style gatherings in their stores for free on Saturday's, for those who want to learn about every aspect of Tiger, which is awsome, because up till now, I've been learning to use it with trial by error tactics on my girlfriends computer, which frankly sucks because I've been wired to use pc/windows style, since 7-8.

I think internet icon MADDOX said it best: "It's a computer, not a social movement, *******!"

Yes I will be a Mac user, but I am going to do my damn best to distance myself from these ubernerds. In the meantime, if you can take some jokes, here's material he has written about Apple that cracks me up:

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=macs_cant

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=iphone

 

I do not know much about Apple/Mac. If I buy a new MB or MBP now, will i get a free upgrade to Leopard when it comes out? If not, how much will it cost?

 

I highly doubt it, and it's $130.

 

I still say drive and stay with the relatives. Google says its 9 hours from SF to Salem. Take a buddy/GF and make it mini-vacation out of it. Or just asked them to ship it. MBPs are pretty light, shipping shoudnt be too bad.

 

I say ship it.

I think we need a new poll.

 

This was mentioned briefly in passing, in one of the earlier posts, but one thing you should take into consideration is the condition of the machine.

Now, the majority of MBP that arrive should be just fine, but if the unthinkable occurs and you find a defect or worse, you definitely want to be able to return and replace that machine as soon as possible (not to mention the 14-day return policy). If you won't be able to see the machine for 2 months - well if there's something wrong, at the very least it'd mean further delays.

 

Thats a good point...

Seeing that if they bring it, it will be around mid-August, and I will need it ready for total usage by the end of August for school....

Does anyone know, IF it has problems, how long Apple takes to replace/repair parts? Does it matter that I live in the same town as Apple Headquarters? What about the stores... would I be able to take it in, and possibly by that time have it replaced in store? Hopefully, by the end of August, they will be stocked with them.

 

I had the exact same circumstances. I hate paying the California taxes and fees so I had my MBP sent to friends in Oregon who then FedExed to me. Even with overnight shipping I saved a lot of money and only had to wait one more day. It's worth it unless you got money to burn. In which case send it my way!

 

You made the right choice by sucking it up and just waiting. You can use the 250 dollars toward a nice widescreen external monitor or a good desktop setup. Or better yet, use it toward a Apple Cinema display!