Buying a Powerbook

Cabaal

Anyway I've been thinking of getting a Mac Mini since I saw it on Mac World, after carefull consideration I've changed from a Mac Mini (extra ram, bigger hd, dvd burner) to a 12" Powerbook w/Superdrive.

While it is double the price its something I would certainly use more as I'd be able to bring it home etc.

But when it comes to buying it I see things differently to getting a Mac Mini as its v.expensive and their is a much higher chance of it getting stolen/broken etc, because of this I would rather buy it from PC World then the Apple site as I can't see anything on the Apple site saying that AppleCare covers theft/accidental damage.
Also I find it much easier to pay 12 monthly payments and then a lump sum at the end of the year when it comes to paying for it.


So with this in mind I traveled to the PC World outlet in Waterford and checked out what they got...they only had the 15" G4 1.5Ghz model

So I asked a member of staff and learned the following things:
- PC World outlets nationwide apparently have no say in what specific product they get, Dublin orders in the products and ships out whatever it gets to the outlets

- PC World outlets can in no way order anything specific (12" Powerbook) from Dublin even if you offer to put down a deposit...they don;t take deposits either

- Even after explaining why I wished to purchase the powerbook from PC world the member of staff still advised me to buy from the Apple site.

- Even if a customer wants a specific product PC World don't want to get it untill they shift all there old Powerbooks first...this also links back to them not accepting deposits

All in all very helpfull and disappointing and they must lose alot of customer this way...any suggestions?

nutzboutstuff

There's a place in limerick i think it is, when it came to buying my ibook they couldn't have been more helpful http://www.compub.com/, pronounced Compu-B, i wanted a 12in iBook, and i'm never one to wait so i phoned everywhere, there was even a two week waiting period from apple. No where else in ireland had one that i knew of. I rang this place, they couldn't have been more helpful. He took my name and number and went on a 'quest' to find me an ibook. Not only did he find me one, he found a distribution warehouse about 10 minutes from my house and i had the ibook with 2 hours. He took payment over the phone if i remember and all was well! I'd recommend them to anyone, same went with when i broke my power supply three days before i was due to go abroad for a month, i had one the next morning.
As for the mac, that was all done at no extra cost, and there was no queue and the mac was brand brand new... hadn't been sitting on some shops shelf for three months....

zAbbo

Buy it direct from apple, and arrange finance with credit union / bank etc.

nutzboutstuff

Even better get a mate, i'm sure you've a few who've registered themselves as companies, and get them to buy it as a company asset, they can write it off over three years... That way you will never have to pay the vat... and get it cheaper... get a student loan if you can, if not the rates aren't bad from aib.

monkeyfudge

Apple does educational discounts too if you're a student or a teacher.

Cabaal

monkeyfudge wrote:

Apple does educational discounts too if you're a student or a teacher.

Of which I am neither
Its looking like I'll be buying it directly from Apple if things continue the way they are....I'd much prefer have good cover for such a item though

Clank

Applecare is purely an extended warranty but you get a 1 year warranty as standard so dont worry, you can buy applecare any time within the first year of purchase.

On educational discounts, you can get them ridiculously easy, just type in a college the area and you should get it, at the time I wasnt in college but I still got almost €350+ off my order.

Seriously just buy it off Apple direct, their service is quite good, never had a problem myself but I know people who have and its never been problematic.

N.B. DONT buy Ram off of Apple direct, buy it after its really easy to install, ive 1.25GBs in mine and its smooooth.

Cabaal

Clank wrote:

Applecare is purely an extended warranty but you get a 1 year warranty as standard so dont worry, you can buy applecare any time within the first year of purchase.

This is good atleast, something that I'd like to confirm though

On educational discounts, you can get them ridiculously easy, just type in a college the area and you should get it, at the time I wasnt in college but I still got almost €350+ off my order.

Seems abit dodgy in fairness, they can easily check surely?

N.B. DONT buy Ram off of Apple direct, buy it after its really easy to install, ive 1.25GBs in mine and its smooooth.

This I've heard from many people

j26

Cabaal wrote:

....
So with this in mind I traveled to the PC World outlet in Waterford and checked out what they got...they only had the 15" G4 1.5Ghz model
....

Oops, sorry. I bought the last 12" Powerbook from them a few days ago.

It was a 1.33gig Combo (not what you wanted anyway) on an end of line discount.

Get it from the Apple site. They're reasonable enough in price.

Cabaal

j26 wrote:

Oops, sorry. I bought the last 12" Powerbook from them a few days ago.

It was a 1.33gig Combo (not what you wanted anyway) on an end of line discount.

Get it from the Apple site. They're reasonable enough in price.

Last week they had one 'old' combo 12" powerbook..but it was a display model and I'd rather get the newer model with a superdrive.

Looks like I'll buy from Apple but it'll be Sept/Oct before I can afford to do that

mycroft

Cabaal wrote:

Last week they had one 'old' combo 12" powerbook..but it was a display model and I'd rather get the newer model with a superdrive.

Looks like I'll buy from Apple but it'll be Sept/Oct before I can afford to do that

Actually on an aside, don't go for the superdrive. The superdrive is expensive and slows down boot time immensely. An external dvd burner could work out cheaper and save o great deal of time waiting for the mac to boot.

I know one mac reseller in dublin whom I can recommend btw. pm if you need details.

DubTony

You might want to try an O2 shop (yeah, the phone people). All their stores sell iPods and such but I've seen iMacs, Powerbooks and iBooks in their larger stores. They seem to be a touch cheaper than the Applestore as well.

Tony

TrishMvhl

Cabaal-

You can't go wrong buying from Apple, and their AppleCare is definitely worth it. Check out their refurbished items if you want to save a bit.... one of my friends got his 12" Powerbook that way. If you're worried about damage, get yourself a padded sleeve and/or backpack for it. I live in NYC and my padded sleeve fits very nicely inside a messenger bag. It doesn't scream "computer case" so I don't constantly worry about theft. Just try to avoid carrying it in one of those square bulky cases that makes it obvious a laptop is inside.

I disagree with an earlier poster about the Superdrive - I don't find it slows down anything. I use my Powerbook every day, all day for intense Photoshop work. If you find you need to back up data to DVDs often enough, go for SuperDrive. Definitely shop around for RAM though - Apple's is too expensive. I got a great deal from OWC - not sure if they ship internationally.

The Apple store here in NYC is just a few blocks away, so I'm always walking by (and often going in!). If there's anything in particular you'd like to know about a product I'd be happy to ask one of the Apple staff and report back here. They're good folks.

And for those wondering how a NYC girl found her way here... I was asking a question on the Cork board and the computing topic caught my eye. Geek that I am, I had to check it out!

TrishMvhl