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Amazon i5 or apple i7

Y

yourashero

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 28, 2009
113
0
Im going to throw out a scenario and see if anyone sees flaw in my logic.

I first will mention that I will stick with console gaming and wont play games on the imac, although I thought in 07 there was a youtube video of someone playing crysis on a 2600GT imac (im not sure what the real graphics card was or if thats even a real one). I will be editing photos using aperture or some other photo editor, running Vuze nonstop, 12 tab browsing, and also probably watching a movie. My G5 ALS imac did that with about 3 tab browsing pretty easy. Also it wasnt editing photos.

ANYWAYS. Amazon has the i5 for 1972.98 and applecare for 135.99 for a total of 2108.97

The only way to get an i7 is from apple so you have 1999 + 200 + 169 applecare. That gives you a total of 2368 + .07% tax = 2533.76

That gives you a difference of 424.79.

Now I ask. Is the i7 worth $425 more than an i5 for a medium user?

With amazon in the mix and not having to pay tax, it makes it a much tastier deal to do away with the glory that is i7

Does anyone see ANYTHING wrong with my logic on this? From any perspective at all.

Thank you much

ps. I'm not advocating that the i7 is not worth it for people who will actually use it. If you are an advanced user, price isn't of much concern because it is necessary.
 
I've been going back and forth with this is issue too, I check amazon daily to see if they added the i7 but it looks like it will only be through apple.com. I did find expercom.com but not exactly sure if they are good to order from or not, they don't charge tax.
 
There is also Mac Mall and PowerMax. You might want to also check MacConnection and Club Mac although I'm not certain if they offer the I7 configuration as well.

In any case there are definitely alternatives to get the I7 from that don't charge taxes. Without taxes (and even rebates in some cases) it can be a fairly significant difference. So much that I'm not certain why anybody would want to order from Apple directly? If there's some advantage to doing this I don't know what it is and I've been using Macs for 24 years (and buying them from third parties).

-PN
 
How much the it be for the i5 from Amazon and then buying and upgrading to an i7 yourself? I know this will void warranty but lets throw some numbers out there.
 
2108.97
2533
2323

I hadn't seen that yet. $214 more than the amazon deal to get an i7. Not bad at all.

At least its $210 under apple for the same thing. I'd really like to find out if expercon is a good place to order from.

I wonder what expercon RAM is? 2 more Gigs for $35. Might be worth it.

Thanks for the tip. Let me know if you find more.
 
I don't think you will need the i7. If you encode video, then I say go for it.
 
yourashero said:
2108.97
2533
2323

I hadn't seen that yet. $214 more than the amazon deal to get an i7. Not bad at all.

At least its $210 under apple for the same thing. I'd really like to find out if expercon is a good place to order from.

I wonder what expercon RAM is? 2 more Gigs for $35. Might be worth it.

Thanks for the tip. Let me know if you find more.
Click to expand...

Just make sure you keep in mind that most resellers may not have as generous of a return policy as Apple, so if something is wrong, your only option would be repair, not replacement or refund.
 
You can save a little money by buying the i7 from Apple and then the AppleCare from Amazon. You don't have to buy it at the same time from Apple.
 
I wrestled with this same predicament myself, and ultimately decided to cancel my i7 order from the Online Apple Store and place an order for a stock i5 from Amazon.

The price difference was the chief reason I chose to go with the i5 from Amazon.

i7 from the Online Apple Store w/tax and 2-3 day shipping=$2,402.41

i5 from Amazon w/no tax and overnight shipping via Prime=$1,976.97

Price difference=$425.44

To me, the performance increase is not worth the much higher price. I consider myself a mid-range Mac user, and the most resource demanding task that I regularly perform is opening a single VMWare virtual machine running Windows XP. Otherwise, I will use the new iMac for word processing, web browsing, and iTunes management. While I do enjoy playing high-end games, I have an custom i7 PC for that.

I agree with your logic.
 
I chose to order from Amazon as well due to the cost difference. I considered ordering from Expercon but ordered through Amazon when I found out you need to have an Expercon account to order the iMac (previous purchase).

Scott
 
Amazon provides tax free shopping, and if you sign up for Prime, 2 Day shipping for something like $5.

Apple you are going to pay tax, free shipping, which may not be bad depending on where it is being shipped from (my guess will be west coast) but it is FedEx ground, and if you are on the other side of the country thats 5 days shipping.

If you are in the Delaware area, dont forget tax free shopping at the Apple store in Delaware, plus no shipping, and a nice day at the mall. ;)
 
cfitz7111 said:
Amazon provides tax free shopping, and if you sign up for Prime, 2 Day shipping for something like $5.

Apple you are going to pay tax, free shipping, which may not be bad depending on where it is being shipped from (my guess will be west coast) but it is FedEx ground, and if you are on the other side of the country thats 5 days shipping.
Click to expand...

Amazon Prime is free two-day shipping, and super cheap overnight.

And in Apple's defense, when i bought a custom MBP back in 2006, it was shipped for free from China and arrived at my doorstep two days later. Shenzhen > Anchorage > Indianapolis (for some reason) > San Francisco > doorstep in two days. That's not bad.
 
I'll agree your logic is sound. I didn't ever run the Amazon numbers because I was pretty set on the i7 (and while I'm sure the third-party dealers are fine I wanted to get this baby as fast as possible), bit $400+ difference is significant.

I almost ordered through the Education store (my Id still works and my mom is a school counselor if I needed to go through other means), and that would have saved me around $250+, but since I'm writing this off as a business expense, I decided not to.

Actually, depending on your situation, the writeoff might be worth or equal to the $400.

But other than that or just really wanting/needing an i7, I think your logic is sound.

The more Pragmatic side of me would have gone that route. The kid in me just wanted the biggest/baddest setup and I had the money to do it.
 
filmgirl said:
I'll agree your logic is sound. I didn't ever run the Amazon numbers because I was pretty set on the i7 (and while I'm sure the third-party dealers are fine I wanted to get this baby as fast as possible), bit $400+ difference is significant.

I almost ordered through the Education store (my Id still works and my mom is a school counselor if I needed to go through other means), and that would have saved me around $250+, but since I'm writing this off as a business expense, I decided not to.

Actually, depending on your situation, the writeoff might be worth or equal to the $400.

But other than that or just really wanting/needing an i7, I think your logic is sound.

The more Pragmatic side of me would have gone that route. The kid in me just wanted the biggest/baddest setup and I had the money to do it.
Click to expand...

The write off seems to be a pretty good idea, although I'm not sure I can do it because I'm a farmer. (corn and soybeans). Although I do use it for GPS updating and mapping. I'm really not sure of the advances of the i7. In a years time, the i7 may be miles ahead of the i5, in which case I'll kick myself for not spending the extra money. Even though right now I probably don't even need it. I just like the convenience of uninterrupted performance.


Also. How does it work when you get applecare from amazon and then an imac from macmall? Is it pretty easy to pair them up? Would I have to order the imac and then buy applecare afterward?
 
yourashero said:
Im going to throw out a scenario and see if anyone sees flaw in my logic.

I first will mention that I will stick with console gaming and wont play games on the imac, although I thought in 07 there was a youtube video of someone playing crysis on a 2600GT imac (im not sure what the real graphics card was or if thats even a real one). I will be editing photos using aperture or some other photo editor, running Vuze nonstop, 12 tab browsing, and also probably watching a movie. My G5 ALS imac did that with about 3 tab browsing pretty easy. Also it wasnt editing photos.

ANYWAYS. Amazon has the i5 for 1972.98 and applecare for 135.99 for a total of 2108.97

The only way to get an i7 is from apple so you have 1999 + 200 + 169 applecare. That gives you a total of 2368 + .07% tax = 2533.76

That gives you a difference of 424.79.

Now I ask. Is the i7 worth $425 more than an i5 for a medium user?

With amazon in the mix and not having to pay tax, it makes it a much tastier deal to do away with the glory that is i7

Does anyone see ANYTHING wrong with my logic on this? From any perspective at all.

Thank you much

ps. I'm not advocating that the i7 is not worth it for people who will actually use it. If you are an advanced user, price isn't of much concern because it is necessary.
Click to expand...

Like many here I probably do not need the "extra" kick from the 17 but also like a few other I want to be the fastest kid on the block. I priced the 15 with Apple Care at Amazon with overnight shipping ($3.99) and it came to $2111.97. My order through Apple with EPP discount for the 17 + Apple Care and taxes comes to $2366.40 or a difference of $255. I figure for $255 I will take the Overdrive feature (needed or not) and not wonder later on if I should have gotten the 17 instead of the 15.

The other point which may be valid or not is once the Quads are released, the Apple orders will most likely ship directly from China. Amazon may not get a large supply until some time later... so the wait may be longer.:(

I am going with the 17....:D
 
cfitz7111 said:
Amazon provides tax free shopping, and if you sign up for Prime, 2 Day shipping for something like $5.

Apple you are going to pay tax, free shipping, which may not be bad depending on where it is being shipped from (my guess will be west coast) but it is FedEx ground, and if you are on the other side of the country thats 5 days shipping.

If you are in the Delaware area, dont forget tax free shopping at the Apple store in Delaware, plus no shipping, and a nice day at the mall. ;)
Click to expand...

Also, don't forget that unless you live in a state that doesn't charge sales tax, you legally have to pay tax, Amazon just doesn't charge it up front.
 
NevadaJack said:
Like many here I probably do not need the "extra" kick from the 17 but also like a few other I want to be the fastest kid on the block. I priced the 15 with Apple Care at Amazon with overnight shipping ($3.99) and it came to $2111.97. My order through Apple with EPP discount for the 17 + Apple Care and taxes comes to $2366.40 or a difference of $255. I figure for $255 I will take the Overdrive feature (needed or not) and not wonder later on if I should have gotten the 17 instead of the 15.

The other point which may be valid or not is once the Quads are released, the Apple orders will most likely ship directly from China. Amazon may not get a large supply until some time later... so the wait may be longer.:(

I am going with the 17....:D
Click to expand...

Same thing here.. I am about to place a EPP order,
i7 w/ Applecare + tax for $2349.00 for a difference of $237 over Amazon i5 w/ Applecare + Prime shipping.

The 237 is worth it to me for the i7 (hyperthreading badass power boost cpu) ;)
 
yourashero said:
The write off seems to be a pretty good idea, although I'm not sure I can do it because I'm a farmer. (corn and soybeans). Although I do use it for GPS updating and mapping. I'm really not sure of the advances of the i7. In a years time, the i7 may be miles ahead of the i5, in which case I'll kick myself for not spending the extra money. Even though right now I probably don't even need it. I just like the convenience of uninterrupted performance.


Also. How does it work when you get applecare from amazon and then an imac from macmall? Is it pretty easy to pair them up? Would I have to order the imac and then buy applecare afterward?
Click to expand...

Pairing the Apple Care is easy. Just register it after you get your Mac. It should start from the day your order is shipped. Just go online once you get the Apple Care and attach it to your iMac's serial number. No problem.

As for the write off, I'm no tax attorney, but if you use your computer in any business capacity, you can write at least some of it off. I'm a technology writer who works from home, so for me, this is a straight business expense because most of my work will be done from that computer.

However, if you do most or all of your computing tasks related to your farm on your iMac (like you said, the GPS mapping stuff and any financial tracking or whatever), I think that's a pretty easy write-off, i5 or i7.
 
oh how i do love bh photo video. unless you live in nyc heres your solution to taxes
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/657776-REG/Apple_Z0GF_0002_27_iMac_Desktop_Computer.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/657777-REG/Apple_Z0GF_0003_27_iMac_Desktop_Computer.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/657778-REG/Apple_Z0GF_0004_27_iMac_Desktop_Computer.html

they also have a student store with the same edu pricing as apple. they sell apple care as well. the whole shabangabang tax free.
i just realized that bh, although they do have an education store, have no student discounts on their macs. so now i have to figure out if its cheaper to pay the list price minus tax or to pay edu pricing with tax. ughh
 
Tony5787 said:
oh how i do love bh photo video. unless you live in nyc heres your solution to taxes
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/657776-REG/Apple_Z0GF_0002_27_iMac_Desktop_Computer.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/657777-REG/Apple_Z0GF_0003_27_iMac_Desktop_Computer.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/657778-REG/Apple_Z0GF_0004_27_iMac_Desktop_Computer.html

they also have a student store with the same edu pricing as apple. they sell apple care as well. the whole shabangabang tax free.
i just realized that bh, although they do have an education store, have no student discounts on their macs. so now i have to figure out if its cheaper to pay the list price minus tax or to pay edu pricing with tax. ughh
Click to expand...

its cheaper to get it from mac connection. they have the i5 imac for $1,949 - 100 rebate + Free shipping + Free VMware fusion (after rebate) + NO tax (at least for CA) = $1,849 total. this is the cheapest ive seen so far
 
harrychang said:
its cheaper to get it from mac connection. they have the i5 imac for $1,949 - 100 rebate + Free shipping + Free VMware fusion (after rebate) + NO tax (at least for CA) = $1,849 total. this is the cheapest ive seen so far
Click to expand...

That's where I ordered mine. Will report back on the experience. I'm sure it will be somewhat of a pain if there are any issues, but i did buy AppleCare, and the savings was too significant to pass up...
 
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