buying a macbook pro 13"...any special deals or promos going on? Best place to buy?

buying a macbook pro 13"...any special deals or promos going on? Best place to buy?
I know the prices are standard...I live in California and can get the education discount; but that also means I get the insane sales tax...found so far that BHPHOTOvideo has it out the door total for $1549 which is cheapest so far. I know mac's are a standard price; but are there any promo's or rebates or freebies anyone is throwing in?
thx,
M

...that sales tax is horrible (note to self...one more reason to not live in Cali) I got my MBP brand spankin new at Best Buy for 1300 and change out the door.

I don't know if you have family in Delaware (Or another state with no sales tax) but I purchased mine in De from best buy, to avoid sales tax. I was able to show them a student ID and get the education discount as well.

Does the Apple Store on line charge Sales Tax? I do not remember. It may be different from State to State.

Your experience may vary but I have done all my Apple hardware and software purchases at the Apple Store by my house they have treated me vary well and have
fixed a thing or 2 outside of warranty as for pricing I thought that anyone caught selling
above or below would loose their seller/reseller agreement with Apple.

microcenter sells macs cheaper then apple.com I believe they are an authorized reseller.

apple online store does charge sales tax (if they have a retail store in your state)

Ditto, Amazon.

Watch for refurbished 13" Macbook pro's at the applestore. I checked the link every day for about five days and finally got a base model for $999, $1081 after CA sales tax. It is in pristine condition, zero blemishes. The refurbished models also come with a 1 year warranty, and I believe you can buy an extended warranty.

Good luck! Have fun!

D

I would compare the prices at a few places.

A great place to buy them is direct, from the Apple Store when you can get the one you want on refurb. The ones on refurb are guaranteed to work just like the new ones and you still have a 1 year warranty. The cheapest 13" pro (current model) is $999 plus tax. I do not think you can use the education discount on the Apple Store when you are buying refurb, but it is still $100 cheaper than getting it new.

Ebay might be a great place to look if you aren't afraid to get a used one, there are a lot of reputable sellers on there that will give you a great deal.

Just bought mine from MacMall.com... If you go to appleinsider.com and follow their link to MacMall you'll get a discounted price of $1387 for the 2.53GHz model and you'll get a free (after rebate) copy of Parallels 5.

Their shipping was fast and service was excellent, they even called me a week later to make sure I was happy with my purchase!!

albertwigs said:

I like the post very much as it contain informative knowledge regarding the mac-book and its price selling.Does the Apple Store on line charge Sales Tax? I do not remember. It may be different from State to State.I want to know this in nearby future from users.

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That was already answered. Yes they do if there is an Apple retail store in your state. If not, they do not charge sales tax online.

micro center has brand new macbook pro on sale for $1000. Regular matchbooks for $800. They are an authorized reseller.

Amazon. They don't charge tax in most states (check for your state). They were slightly cheaper than the apple store (like 15 bucks or so), but I wanted instant gratification and just spent the little extra. I ended up with a bill just shy of $1200 bucks with a student discount. And yes, apple charges tax in all 50 states through their online store.

Doc750 said:

I don't know if you have family in Delaware (Or another state with no sales tax) but I purchased mine in De from best buy, to avoid sales tax. I was able to show them a student ID and get the education discount as well.

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Does anyone know of any states besides Delaware that this is possible? I googled it and didn't have any luck... I'm in hopes of getting my first Mac this week and since it's also spring break I could use the money saved on tax and get in on some traveling!

I would wait to buy. New MBPs are do out VERY soon.

MacDailyNews - RUMOR: Apple to release new MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air this month

One thing to remember when you order it online to avoid sales taxes is that most all states with sales tax also have a "use tax" which you are supposed to pay on out of state purchases that just so happens to be the same as the sales tax (in most states).

The upside is it is normally an honor system whereby the states don't have a system in place to determine who has bought something from out of state and who hasn't, but there is always a chance they will do like New York when people were trying to avoid tobacco taxes by buying online and start looking at credit card purchases.

In short, if you live in a state like California with an insane tax the best way to avoid it is to move.... buying online doesn't really get you out of paying it, it just means that you've become a willing tax cheat (unless you pay the use tax).