Buying on Amazon

[slackersonly]

Looking to get my first Mac.

I am in Georgia, we have 2 stores in Atlanta which means I can get computer same day at a store but also I am subject to tax via apple.com if I dont want to drive that far. I am looking at Amazon as an option and I have a couple of questions:

1) Macrumors main page top right lists rebates that seem to be higher that what is currently available. Am I missing something?

2) What has been the experience in buying via Amazon in regards to ETA and quality out of the box?

3) What has been the experience in regards to the rebate?

4) It looks like Amazon offers Apple Care, .Mac, etc for cheaper than apple.com. Is Apple's price control limited to hardware?

5) Can I deal with the local store if there is a major issue with the purchase from Amazon?

6) Amazon seems to only offer the base configurations. Does anyone know of a similar priced deal online for a 20" iMac but with the GPU upgrade?

 

[Eraserhead]

MacRumors gives a bigger discount as they get money for referring you to amazon, you get a discount too.

 

[Matt Phoenix]

They change the rebate from time to time. When I bought my iBook in February, they were offering a $125 mail in rebate. Right now, it's $100.

I went through Amazon and had a great experience. I paid a little extra for 2 day shipping, ordered Tuesday and received it Thursday. The iBook box was inside a regular Amazon brown box, so that your neighbors won't know what's inside.

As for the rebate, you just go onto their rebate website, enter your order number, and that's it. It says you'll receive it in 8-10 weeks, but I got mine in 7.

 

[Artful Dodger]

I bought my 20" iMac (Intel) from Amazon and everything went smooth as did the rebate. At the time the rebate was $150 and I got that back early. Shipping was overnight and well free for me but because of some other issues that had happened but it would have been an extra $10 on the price.
As if something goes wrong with your Mac...yes just take it to the local AppleStore as Amazon will ask that you do this just for a ref./case number to log into their system. I had a SD that was DOA, Amazon said to bring it to the AppleStore and just get a case number for a return. Apple said they would fix it and no need to return it unless there were other things wrong and I didn't want to wait the 5-7 days for the repair. I chose to just get it fixed and all went well.
Really from start to finish I saved $300 with the rebate included as this was even better than using my edu discount. I would do it again and buy from Amazon, I still do buy a lot from them so what can I say other than good shipping and good CS when needed.

 

[slackersonly]

They change the rebate from time to time. When I bought my iBook in February, they were offering a $125 mail in rebate. Right now, it's $100.

I went through Amazon and had a great experience. I paid a little extra for 2 day shipping, ordered Tuesday and received it Thursday. The iBook box was inside a regular Amazon brown box, so that your neighbors won't know what's inside.

As for the rebate, you just go onto their rebate website, enter your order number, and that's it. It says you'll receive it in 8-10 weeks, but I got mine in 7.

arrives in an amazon brown box? i am hoping that this is around the regular apple box?
i like the fast shipping option. what is another $20 to get it faster.
can anyone verify eraserhead thought that you can still get the $150 rebate on the 20" iMac through this website?

 

[Laser47]

arrives in an amazon brown box? i am hoping that this is around the regular apple box?
i like the fast shipping option. what is another $20 to get it faster.
can anyone verify eraserhead thought that you can still get the $150 rebate on the 20" iMac through this website?

My ibook came with its box inside a small box, and then that box inside a bigger box with airbag packaging material. And unlike some places, you actually get the rebate.

 

[Matt Phoenix]

The iBook box was inside a regular Amazon brown box

Yes, the iBook box I was referring to was the regular Apple box. This box is inside Amazon's brown box.

 

[arn]

1) Macrumors main page top right lists rebates that seem to be higher that what is currently available. Am I missing something?

Sorry... they change the rebates from time to time. I've updated it to reflect the current prices.

arn