[digitalprimate]

Aaah... another one to finally make the journey towards that electronic fruit. That's me, that is.

Anyway, just wondering how it makes (or doesn't make) a difference when buying an Apple.

Do you prefer buying it online or would you go to a local reseller?

In my case, I'm still a student (last year, fingers crossed), so I can still enjoy an educational discount. However, maybe I can save a few bucks more to go to an Apple Store and look out for bargains (like pre-january 10-ibooks for example).

What are your experiences (good and bad)?

[jevau]

i just bought a PowerBook (today ) and had been comparison shopping for a few months so i can tell you the best deals online, but if you want to ask questions and be sure of the product you're purchasing, i would recommend stopping by a retail store. some of the sites online are not 100% reliable and i ran into a few that were just too shady, but retail stores are a lot more simple and easy when it comes to purchasing.

i would say if you trust a site online and it's cheap, go for it. but if you want to be sure then just head to an apple store and use your student discount.

[NosferaDrew]

PowerMax and Small Dog are both Apple authorized resellers and are very reputible.
Also, you do not pay tax when you buy through them which can save you lots of money.

[torifile]

I don't think small dog will sell new Apple products to you if you haven't bought in their brick and mortar store before. I usually buy my apple hardware in an Apple store so I can get the ed discount. Granted, I have to pay tax, but it works out close to the same as buying online most of the time and I get instant gratification.

[Franz Josef]

Personally I prefer to buy online directly from the Apple. I've said it before - ignoring the high quality of the product, Apple is the best fulfillment company I have come across. Painless and reliable from start to finish.

[digitalprimate]

So I've read some on some other (more local) forums that quite of lot of people have problems with service and also in terms of availability, when buying from a reseller.

But maybe that's only a problem where I live.

So how did you people buy your FIRST mac? Good experience? Less good experience?

[judeobscure]

I bought my first Mac ever at a tag sale. I bought my first new Mac from apple.com. No problems at all. Sadly, there are no brick and mortar apple stores in western MA. at all.