New Apple Store opens in my area!

A brand new apple store opened in my area! I had to go check it out. They have all kinds of laptops set up and iPhones and iPods and iMacs.... all running different apps with headphones so you could play and listen without disturbing others.....I think I O.D.ed at the store. The best part..I got to "play" with a Mac Pro. They are really cool. They let me pick it up and look at it from all angles. It really runs cool ... but I didn't get to stress it with a game or After Effects. It was the base model. I will have one. Let the saving begin!

This means we have a genius bar now...which I hope to never need but nice to have available.

Lisa

It's really great to have an Apple Store nearby, ours is about 4 miles from my home. The only problem is that it's located in one of the more popular shopping centers. Almost impossible to find a parking spot and the store is like a mad house especially on the weekends.

The Mac Pro is really NOT a gaming computer. The video cares are workstation class and not gaming cards so don't expect stellar gaming performance, but with anything else it's one fast and powerful system!

dtravis7 said:

The Mac Pro is really NOT a gaming computer. The video cares are workstation class and not gaming cards so don't expect stellar gaming performance, but with anything else it's one fast and powerful system!

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I know that it is not for gaming but in the store I could not think of anything else they might have. I don't game but I want it for video editing. I do a lot of work with Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop, and Audition. I have a very faithful but aging Windows editor with dual quad core Xeons and a lot of other bells and whistles. It is getting time to replace her and I want to make the switch to Apple.

Lisa

The nearest Apple store from me is 70 miles away. Perhaps this is just as well. I'm like a kid in a candy store when I go there.

chscag said:

It's really great to have an Apple Store nearby, ours is about 4 miles from my home. The only problem is that it's located in one of the more popular shopping centers. Almost impossible to find a parking spot and the store is like a mad house especially on the weekends.

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Same here but I can go through the week and at least I have one near....30 miles. I live in the country (we pipe in sunlight!) So anything under 50 miles is close for me.

Lisa

I visit Apple Stores whenever I happen to be near one but only occasionally buy things there. I like bargains, and everything there is list price. This makes very little difference if you're buying something that's brand new, but I'm more of a refurb and clearance buyer.

The genius bar is the big attractor in an Apple Store for me, along with 1) the pleasure of seeing a packed store filled with people switching to the Mac/iOS platforms and 2) the outstanding customer service people get most of the time.

The nearest one to me is in Vancouver so not very convenient to visit, perhaps someday Victoria will get one but even though its a VERY Mac-centric town, we aren't high on their priority list because its kind of a small town on an island (80,000 in the city itself), though we are getting a lot of growth to the west ... but if I'm honest an Apple Store here would destroy most the numerous Apple-supporting dealers and stores here. We have at least five independent Mac dealers (not counting the electronics shops and such) here, I'd hate to lose most of them.

Congrats on getting the store. We just got ours a few years ago (about 30 miles from my house).

We don't have an Apple store, and the nearest is a hundred miles away in the big city, but we recently got a clone. Simply-Mac opened a storefront and I have to say it is almost identical to the real thing, looks and all. Either Apple gave them the rules about how a Mac store will look, or they decided to go with something that worked.

Anyway, as someone posted, the prices are the same, no matter who is selling and more importantly, I now don't have to go the that store with the Quack Squad for my Apple stuff.

Three hundred miles each to a genuine Apple Store alas. Have a nearby (50 miles) so-called reseller who is more interested in moving windows stock and did not know a Mac Pro was a little bigger than a MacBook Pro as they had never sold nor stocked the former!

Enjoy icldv.

chas_m said:

I visit Apple Stores whenever I happen to be near one but only occasionally buy things there. I like bargains, and everything there is list price. This makes very little difference if you're buying something that's brand new, but I'm more of a refurb and clearance buyer.

The genius bar is the big attractor in an Apple Store for me, along with 1) the pleasure of seeing a packed store filled with people switching to the Mac/iOS platforms and 2) the outstanding customer service people get most of the time.

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Totally agree! I went in knowing I would not be buying but it was fun to see others experiencing apple products. The best part (besides seeing the mac pro I am coveting) was watching the little kids playing at a table just their size filled with iPads. They were having a blast.

Lisa

I have one just a few miles from my house in a mall called Partridge Creek. Been there a few times. The Mac mini I'm on right now is a new one I just ordered that arrived last week, but I had it shipped directly to me instead of to the store, although I was tempted to have it shipped to the store because of the requirement of a signature. But I opted for that deal where you tape a signed form to the front door -- the FedEx guy took it and drove off.

I hit another Apple store in Charlotte NC a couple of weeks ago. I went with my girlfriend (non-techie) who was having surgery and needed a "nurse" for the week she had to stay in town. While not my particular talent, she is one of my best friends so... anyway.... They have a huge Apple store in the SouthPark Mall. I am not a fashion type shopper but I can spend hours in a computer store. I met the nicest Apple Genius person who spent an hour talking to me. I really needed and appreciated the mental therapy ...
Anyway, he gave me some tips and information and the best part - I got to play with the new mac pro. So fun....

LIsa

Well, "Nurse" Lisa did you resist the urge to divulge the contents of your wallet or credit card while you were there? I stay out of our Apple store unless I really need to be there for a purchase or hit the genius bar. Too much temptation and I'm weak.

For the record... working in the nursing capacity is a huge stretch for me.

As to actually purchasing.....no,no, no. I enter without credit card or wallet. I have learned long ago to make myself take a cooling off period or it can get ugly. I go for ideas and information.

For example, since I am relatively new to the apple world, I did not know through an apple store I can get a business discount on large purchases. So, if they ever decide at work to change over to apple computers, I would be researching just how much of a discount and the advantage.

While I love the new Mac Pro, I will restrain from purchasing one for a while. I will wait for the shake out of potential design issues first. I will also wait for the refurbs to start showing up too. And I will have saved up to get the one I want specked the way I want.

I do think they are over-priced, for what my opinion is worth, but I still want one.

Lisa