Apple gives you free shipping, better than many places... but they also tack on sales tax regardless of which state you're in (unless you are in a state that doesn't have sales tax). The other advantage of buying from Apple is that you can choose various build-to-order options, like the HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 5400 RPM hard drive upgrade. Other places will often charge shipping, and they don't offer BTO options, but you avoid sales tax. They also may offer various bundle deals, like extra RAM, although it's usually accompanied by a rather steep installation fee. Usually it's still cheaper than buying it separately, and you do get it preinstalled so that removes some of the hassle.
Definitely look around and see if you can find a place that offers both free shipping AND no sales tax. Amazon might be a good place to look.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Brad
However, this voids your warranty, IIRC.
|
Perhaps, but there is no way Apple can actually tell you've done the hack if you simply reverse it (which is easy). In fact, when I owned an iBook a couple years ago, I actually did the hack and then sent it back to Apple for a hard drive repair
without undoing it first, and they didn't raise issue. So I wouldn't worry about it, but do keep in mind that it is still an unsupported procedure and Apple won't be there to help you if it messes up your machine.