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2008 iMac 3.06Ghz Model with 8800GS spotted for only £1186 inc VAT tax. !! WOW !!

L

lewchenko

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 8, 2004
440
656
Fancy a top end iMac 3.06Ghz 2008 model with the 8800GS GPU in it ?

The new equivalent 2009 model in the UK with a 130 graphics card is a whopping £1799....

The previous model above was £1350 from most resellers inclusive of VAT tax. The new Model is a whopping £450 more :eek: :eek:

So imagine my surprise when I logged onto macwarehouse.co.uk this evening and found the 2008 3.06Ghz model for only £1186 inclusive of VAT tax ! :) You can add the memory to take it to an equivalent 4GB memory for only £32+vat as well.

Link here : http://www.macwarehouse.co.uk/catalogue/item/APIMIN16

They had 132 in stock when I placed my order. I also ordered a 4GB memory kit to go with it as well taking the total price of my order to :

1 x APIMIN16 @ £1,032.04 each = £1,032.04
CTO Apple iMac 24" Core 2 Duo 3.06GHz/2GB/500GB/ SuperDrive/nvidia8800

1 x CRUC275 @ £32.40 each = £32.40
CRUCIAL 4GB 800MHz DDR2 (PC2-6400) - 2x2GB SO-DIMM

Sub-total: £1,064.44
Shipping: £9.95
Total: £1,074.39
Total inc. VAT: £1,235.54

Expected Shipping Date is 09/03/2009 (next day delivery)

mac.jpg




So Ive just saved myself a huge £565 by buying this computer rather than the £1800 2009 model. The only real difference now Ive upped the memory is the 130 rather than the 8800GS... plus extra HD space.... and is that really worth £565 !!!

Plenty left in stock by the look of it too. Clearance bargain !! This model will smoke any 2009 model other than the top end iMac, and for a fraction of the price.
 
this looks like a fantastic deal, do you think they can be trusted?
Has anyone had any experience of dealing with this company plus do you think they have really got 130 units?
if this checks out then this is a deal not to be missed...
 
They are a big company in the UK. I normally buy from either macwarehouse.co.uk or cancomuk.com.

I think these two are the biggest mac resellers in the UK. Their adverts are always in Mac Magazines. They also buy up lots of stock from Apple when new lines come out and then sell it off (so it says somewhere on the cancom website).

I have received an order confirmation email with an estimated dispatch date of monday. Also yesterday I spoke to Macwarehouse.co.uk about the old iMacs and they told me to keep an eye out on the web site for old models and the stock is real time. i.e. it dropped after I placed my order.. so mine is allocated.

Its on my credit card now, so Im covered either way.
 
thanks for that.
we already have one of these and would like another but not at new prices!
 
Ok...I'm a bit thick here.

How does the older model and the new model compare?

Are we saying the old model that is on offer is far better than the, say, mid range new model? (Especially if you upgrade it to 4Gb of RAM)

Apologies for the stupid question.
 
seems to me that the new model could be slightly quicker but can't be worth over £600 more, especially if you can upgrade the RAM for around £40...
My 3.06Ghz is more than fast enough already...
 
If you upgrade to 4GB on the old model then its just about the HD space (not an issue for me) and the GPU (130 Model).

The current thinking is that the 130 is a decent card now (not a gimped version after all)

Someone else posted this

RADEON HD 4850 (new iMac) >8800GS (old iMac) > GT 130 (new iMac) > GT 120 (new iMac)= RADEON 2600 PRO (old iMac) > GEFORCE 9400M (new iMac and Mini) > RADEON 2400 XT (old iMac) > INTEL GMA 950 (old Mini)

based on scores from 3D Mark. Personally I think the 130 will probably be slightly better than the 8800GS model but as the poster above pointed out... there is no way on this planet that it is worth £565 more!

Plus the 2008 model is tried and trusted.... the new models may suffer the curse of apple revision change death LOL! At this price, its a bargain.
 
HD4850 > GT130 ~ 8800MGTS

We're still not sure if the GT130 is a 9600GT (G94) or a 9800M GS. Overclock the 8800M GTS and you effectively can keep pace.
 
That's definitely a good deal you got, at just a little bit more £ than that model refurburished cost a few weeks ago from Apple Store.
I got a refurb version of that one with 4GB memory in it for £1164 :D
 
p0mme said:
That's definitely a good deal you got, at just a little bit more £ than that model refurburished cost a few weeks ago from Apple Store.
I got a refurb version of that one with 4GB memory in it for £1164 :D
Click to expand...

Your deal is the bet yet !

I remember seeing great deals before the update but thought ' No.. I'll wait.. the new ones will be amazing specs for the same money'. I could not have been more wrong on both counts !!!

I will ring them on Monday and add Apple Care to the deal I think as well. They always give a discount on apple care when you buy it with a new machine if memory serves me right.
 
Good spot. I just bought the iMac 3.06Ghz 2008 model with the 8800GS GPU from the UK Apple refurb store for £1189. If I'm lucky it might have extra memory or upgraded hard drive in it, as seems to sometimes happen.

There was no value in the UK buying a new 2009 model compared to this, even with an Education discount.
 
that looks like a good deal, how did you get a 3.06Ghz refurb from Apple, can't see any on the website?
Also does anyone know what CTO means?
 
eric44 said:
that looks like a good deal, how did you get a 3.06Ghz refurb from Apple, can't see any on the website?
Also does anyone know what CTO means?
Click to expand...

You need to keep a beady eye on the refurb store around midnight-1am which is when they refresh the stock. The iMacs are not lasting long. The Macwarehouse deal is great though for a new one.
 
eric44 said:
that looks like a good deal, how did you get a 3.06Ghz refurb from Apple, can't see any on the website?
Also does anyone know what CTO means?
Click to expand...

CTO = custom to order. I believe Apple classed the top end 2008 iMac as this, even though it was stocked by resellers as the top end model.
 
many thanks - I've just ordered one with the extra memory.
Some deal, just have to hope it's OK when it turns up!!!
 
lewchenko said:
Your deal is the bet yet !

I remember seeing great deals before the update but thought ' No.. I'll wait.. the new ones will be amazing specs for the same money'. I could not have been more wrong on both counts !!!

I will ring them on Monday and add Apple Care to the deal I think as well. They always give a discount on apple care when you buy it with a new machine if memory serves me right.
Click to expand...

Check out ebay as well. Applecare can be picked up for around £55.
 
Great spot - thanks very much. I've just ordered one too with the extra memory and Parallels...

As another bonus - Macwarehouse also do cashback of 5% via most of the UK Cashback sites (certainly Quidco and Cashback Kings) - so that's another £50-£60.
 
mmm may buy this. The latest updates are a rip off in the UK. This seems much better value.
 
Sorry if this is a silly question but this is my first time buying a mac and would appreciate some help here :)

Does CTO mean it comes with the bare minimum and I have to add a keyboard and mouse to the order as well? Or for the £1186 would it could with a keyboard and mouse and everything else as if I were ordering it from the apple store?

Thanks alot :)
 
ZebraTalent said:
Sorry if this is a silly question but this is my first time buying a mac and would appreciate some help here :)

Does CTO mean it comes with the bare minimum and I have to add a keyboard and mouse to the order as well? Or for the £1186 would it could with a keyboard and mouse and everything else as if I were ordering it from the apple store?

Thanks alot :)
Click to expand...

You'll get the lot - + an apple remote which you have to pay extra for with the 2009 'update.'

This is a nice find. I've bought a lot of stuff from MacWarehouse over the years and they're very good - usually next day delivery. I had a look mid last week and they had squat, so they must have just got this stock in.
 
This was a great find - many thanks to the OP for posting this.

I waited a couple of months for the update and was then kicking myself for now having to pay more money for a basically similar computer. (The 0.5TB vs 1TB drive doesn't make any difference to me as I run all my photos and music off an external firewire 800 drive.)

In the end I cancelled a refurb order in order to get the macwarehouse one - thanks again for the tip!

Londonj
 
londonj said:
This was a great find - many thanks to the OP for posting this.

I waited a couple of months for the update and was then kicking myself for now having to pay more money for a basically similar computer. (The 0.5TB vs 1TB drive doesn't make any difference to me as I run all my photos and music off an external firewire 800 drive.)

In the end I cancelled a refurb order in order to get the macwarehouse one - thanks again for the tip!

Londonj
Click to expand...

I thought I'd leave the refurb I ordered coming to see if I get any free extras. I can still elect to return it under distance selling regulations if I decide I want the original Apple packaging (which should be the only difference AFAIK). Will find out tomorrow :)
 
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