I love the 17" unibody, and Apple sucks!

if you are talking aobut the 17 inch unibody it has a much higher color gamut than the 15.4 inch.

 

Who says "very few" people want 1920x1200 on a 15.4? Did you ask them all? I know for one thing, that even with the text enlarged on a 1920x1200 display, text is so much smoother, unlike the 1440x900 display, where text looks very "jagged." I've enlarged my text on the 17" I'm typing on now, and it's so gorgeous to look at. Really, I love this display.

 

Yeah, you don't have to live with tiny fonts if you've got a high resolution display. Simply increase the DPI and everything will look both bigger and smoother. OS X is especially good when it comes to upscaling fonts, something which XP never really got right (not sure about Vista).

But I would imagine a 1920x1200 display on a 15" mac to cost an additional $1000 or more.

 

So next question - how did you get a new unibody 17" for 1798 shipped on eBay? LOL - you know I had to ask

 

LOL.

OK you asked...

A seller had it on eBay for $2400, shipped with next-day delivery. This was the cheapest I had found for a new "base" model (2.66Ghz, glossy). eBay is doing this Microsoft Live Cashback thing for buy-it-now up to a maximum of $200 cashback per transaction. So, that made the laptop $2200. Then, there's a promotion going on with eBay called eBay Bucks, which you needed to be invited to join, which I was. And that was 2% off the original $2400, which is another $48 off....

Then what happened is the seller refunded me $150 for not getting it out next-day to me. It took him maybe three or four days..., and then on top of that, he refunded me another $200 as a goodwill gesture to cover NOT getting the $200 cashback, since technically Microsoft/eBay can void the cashback for any refunds....

Anyway, Microsoft/eBay didn't void anything or retract the cashback, so I ended up getting the system for $2400 - $200 - $48 - $150 - $200 which = $1802 (not $1798 - I miscounted $4 ).

So, yes, VERY fortunate, but I won't look a gift horse in the mouth, that's for sure! When you factor in tax from the Apple store, I got a new 17" unibody for over $1200 cheaper than what Apple would charge. And my warranty is good through April, 2010, before I extend it with any Applecares, so it's a really new system. Very pleased.

 

Wow!!! You lucky dude!!!! i wish i had the same luck as you.

 

I was VERY lucky, no question.

 

you are (very lucky)^2 !I remember your "negotiations" with apple...

 

I think 1920x1200 is way overkill on a 15" display. I'd get constant headaches from squinting and have to use it so close it'll defeat the purpose of "comfort."

I think 1680x1050 should be the highest on a 15" screen.

I find the 1920x1200 still a bit overkill on a 17" screen. I owned the previous gen hi resolution 17" mbp and while you do get used to the 1920x1200 and it does look very nice when watching videos, I thought it was a pain in the a$$ to read articles with the tiny font.

Its ok when your lying down in bed with the 17" screen on your stomach but when you have the 17" mbp laying on your desk you cant really just lean back comfy on your chair and read an article. Instead you have to curl up close to the screen to read even with maximizing the fonts (cant go too big because it'll distort pictures and frames on websites).

Of course I increased the font on safari/firefox but it became somewhat a tedious task but I would imagine the new multitouch finger gesture to make the fonts bigger makes it a bit easier though.

 

I'm sure after all that, the seller must still have made quite a profit. Just imagine how much Apple actually made for each MBP sold....

 

Impressive! Thats awesome. I wish I had the same luck with sellers on eBay instead of getting conned so frequently lol (most recent instance was with the purchase of Apple Care)

 

Can you tell us what happened with your apple care? I wanted to buy one off ebay. Retail price is ridiculously high £273 ($408.88)

 

Re: AppleCare

Long story which actually consists of two separate transactions. First was a "digital email delivery" option that I purchased from a seller who had thousands of positive feedback with majority of them being from Apple Care purchases. I registered the code with Apple Care only to recieve a call from the Apple Care Administration department about a week later asking for the details of where I obtained the enrollment agreement number. I asked them why they wanted to know and they told me that it was because the enrollment agreement number was flagged in their system because it was fraudulently obtained. I immediately told them that I had purchased it on eBay and they asked for the seller details/reciept, etc. The next day, I got a call back from the same agent telling me that there was nothing that they could do about the registration unless I provided them with a serial number that is located on the boxed version. Obviously, I didnt have that S/N because I got the enrollment agreement emailed to me. I contacted the seller requesting the S/N from the box. After ignoring me for about a week, he finally responds saying that I don't need any of that - if I input everything properly on the Apple Care website, I wouldn't have any problems. I told him that I had done it properly and Apple Care Administration had given me a call about the problem with the enrollment agreement number. I asked him for a replacement code/refund. He refused and I filed a claim with Paypal and got my money back.

Apparently, I was never wired to not touch fire twice - about three weeks later, I decided to give Apple Care another go and went off to eBay to see if I can buy it again. This time, I wasn't going to settle for one of the electronic versions. Instead, I looked specifically for retail boxed versions that were sealed. Well low and behold, I found one from a seemingly reputable seller. The price of the retail box was more or less in accordance with the pricing history so I went ahead and purchased it. As expected I received a sealed retail box, except this box had an auto-enroll stamp on it. I thought that auto-enroll boxes were only shipped with the system when you purchased apple care at POS. Before even opening the box, I contacted the seller and explained the situation. She said that she had sold many of these items before, that it wouldn't be a problem. She said that I should contact Apple Care by phone to register it instead of by web-registration. I went ahead and called Apple Care and they basically confirmed my doubts - the auto enroll version is not to be sold as retail because it does not contain an enrollment agreement number. At this point, the seller just started ignoring my emails. Finally she responded asking me to mail the box back to her and she will refund my money. Well I sent it back to her last week, still awaiting refund. I will be opening a paypal claim if I don't get my refund soon.

Anyways a long winded answer to your question but the time to write this out is worth it if it warns others considering the same option. Just be very careful. I went ahead and purchased Apple Care from eBay on the recommendation of many people and based on my own past experience. It could very well be that I just had a streak of bad luck, but others be forewarned.

 

No kidding, My 22" is using the 1680x1050 resolution.

 

I'm sorry for with you've been through. May be you will have better luck next time.

 

Yep, never had any real problems with buying Applecare off eBay. Only one time did I have an issue, but the seller refunded my money, since he sent me an "AUTO ENROLL" box, which of course had nothing in it except instructions about Applecare.

 

ok. I saw a buyer with 12feedback points, im sure he wil continue selling his applecares for a few months. All his apple cares worked fine and they are a bit cheap. I will buy one in a few months. Uk apple care is a total rip off £273

 

I bought AppleCare for my previous Macbook, the white one, off eBay and I had no trouble doing so. Just make sure they have good feedback, and a lot of it. You shouldn't have a problem, if you just be careful on which seller you choose.

 

Do they send you a code or they will send you the box?

 

They sent me a sealed box, just like the one you can get at the Apple store.

 

Colton is right - getting the sealed box apple cares on ebay will be your best bet. I would avoid purchasing the electronic codes if you can. I know for a fact now that Apple Care has been calling a bunch of people who purchased these "electronic codes" and telling them to either provide an S/N from the Apple Care box or show the receipt of purchase from an authorized Apple Care dealer. The guy I purchased from had over 5000 positive feedback. Unfortunately, it seems that feedback is not the only clue to legitimacy of some of these sellers. Here's my reasoning:

You buy apple care electronic code from eBay
Seller emails you apple care electronic enrollment agreement code
You enroll your apple care agreement through the Apple website
Apple takes a couple of days to verify all of the details and input you into the system.
Apple confirms that your system is now covered under the APP extended warranty.
You go off to eBay and leave the seller positive feedback thinking, hey this guy really got me a good deal.
A couple of months later, Apple calls you saying that your code is no longer valid and that you need to provide proof of ownership.
You don't have anything they ask for (i.e. S/N from APP box or valid receipt of purchase from authorized apple retailer), so you go back to the seller.
Seller ignores you.
You are outside of your 45 day protection agreement from paypal and you have no means of leaving negative feedback for the seller.

Basically, based on what I have been reading, Apple only contests your warranty if someone else tries to use the same enrollment agreement number to register theirs. It appears that these sellers could be recycling these enrollment agreement codes such that there is a 2-3 month gap before they resell the same code. This ensures that the original buyer doesn't get screwed by Apple Care until after the 45 days time frame to file a paypal claim. Again this is just a theory, and I am basing it on "primary" and secondary sourced information.