Any experience buying through Amazon?

I want to buy a core i7 17" Macbook pro, and I was thinking of buying through Amazon so that I won't have to pay sales tax, and there is a small price reduction as well. I'd have to buy from one of Amazon's 3rd party sellers because Amazon doesn't currently sell this configuration (they do sell the i5). the seller has a lot of feedback that is 99% positive, 1% neutral, none negative. Shipping is only $35 for one day shipping. Is this a generally safe way to purchase an expensive laptop, or should I just pay full price and the tax and get it directly from Apple? I would save about $325 by going through Amazon, but I don't want to do something that I'll regret just to save some money, either.

I'd appreciated any advice, particularly if you have experience with Amazon's 3rd party sellers.

I would say your pretty safe to be honest.
Amazon screen any seller they use, and that feedback is decent enough.
Check Amazon's T and C's, because I reckon you would be covered should anything go wrong.

I bought my Mac laptop through Amazon - because I had a pile of gift certificates - but it was a stock machine that Amazon themselves stocked. I've ordered a lot of stuff from third party and only once did I get an order canceled. No real problem other than I had to re-order and wait longer.

You'll also want to double check the positive feedback, how long have they been around, and what the actual feedback says.

I also bought the apple care through Amazon - which was cheaper than buying the Apple Care directly through Apple. Overall I have been satisfied with purchasing stuff over Amazon. I tend to look there first for buying stuff online - as I trust the customer service over some random website. Depending - if it is within a few dollars I'll order from Amazon.

Hmm, feedback only goes back to June of 2010, but the info says they're a wholly owned subsidiary of PC Mall. Feedback is brief, mostly stating "fast shipping", "excellent", etc.

Most feedback comments are brief. I would be happy with it.

Just make sure :

Check to make sure you're getting the same price or less than Apple and the specs match those of the current machines.

Amazon has some 3rd party sellers of Macs that mark the machines up $500-$1000 above what Apple charges and there are some there that will be still be selling the prior model at the current models prices.

Amazon is fine, no worries there. I would definitely check what Bobtomay suggested on the MBP... make sure it's the very latest version (should come with a 330m GPU rather than a 9600m).

This is the description: 17" MacBook Pro Intel Core i7 2.66GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB 7200rpm Hard Drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M, SuperDrive, Aluminum unibody, Hi-Res Glossy Widescreen Display

Gern Blanston said:

This is the description: 17" MacBook Pro Intel Core i7 2.66GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB 7200rpm Hard Drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M, SuperDrive, Aluminum unibody, Hi-Res Glossy Widescreen Display

Click to expand...

Yeah that's definitely the newest one.

Many thanks for all of the help!

Hmm, feedback only goes back to June of 2010, but the info says they're a wholly owned subsidiary of PC Mall. Feedback is brief, mostly stating "fast shipping", "excellent", etc.

Click to expand...

PC Mall and Mac Mall have been around for a long time. Should be no problem buying from them as they warrant everything they sell, usually with easy returns. In any event, Amazon themselves will back it up.