Picking the price of a iMac

I didn't see a place to put this so....

Hi I'm new to the world of Mac, except I have the little devices like the, The New IPad, iPhone 4S, iPod touch and classic. My PC is very sick and my computer guy is M.I.A. and if he did comeback and fix it would still be old. It never had a OS update because he didn't like vista so I'm still rocking XP and if I go back to school they would have windows 7. And it would make it hard to do home work at home. So I'm going into the Mac world.

So I need help picking a good price? I have a budget of $2,000 (I don't want to spend all of the money)
Paying in cash
iMac 21.5
*Best Buy price: 1TB hard drive $1,419.99 or 500GB hard drive $1,139.99 (they are on sale right now)
Apple store regular price and education price; 500GB HD $1,199.00 or the education price of $1,149.00
1TB HD $1,499.00 or the edu price of $1,399.00

And is it alright to buy a computer at the education pricing

*By the time I buy one best buy might not have the price anymore

Avoid Best Buy.

If you qualify for EDU pricing (ie you are a student), by all means get the $1399 Apple store model. It's cheaper than Best Buy's "best" price and you'll be glad you got the 1TB over the 500GB, trust me.

If you're not a student, no you can't buy at EDU pricing. You have to be registered at a school.

Have you thought about buying a refurbished 21" model? I mean even brand new we're talking $500 less than your budget for a 1TB at regular price, but a refurbished might save you even more and they are indistinguishable from new.

So if I buy it at the edu pricing in person, I have to have a piece of paper from the college with my name own it to get.

The last time I did it at the edu pricing, I bought it off online.

Student ID's work, enrollment cards. best thing is to head to apple.com and see the requirements.

I've bought several items at the edu price just by logging into a university account in the Apple store and letting the sales person see I was logged in - of course not letting him see my login info and resetting Safari when I was done.

bobtomay said:

I've bought several items at the edu price just by logging into a university account in the Apple store and letting the sales person see I was logged in - of course not letting him see my login info and resetting Safari when I was done.

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When I bought my first iPod from the college page of apple.com and the college I was going to, using it was just their for their art department. And my major was total different from that.

But if I go in to the store they would automaticly think I was a college student by how I look and if I'm paying in cash they are never going to see my id to see my real age.

Well, let's just say no one would confuse me for your typical college age student.

chas_m said:

Have you thought about buying a refurbished 21" model? I mean even brand new we're talking $500 less than your budget for a 1TB at regular price, but a refurbished might save you even more and they are indistinguishable from new.

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I did the calculations im going to go to the regular price (and when I go to the store I'm going to ask if I use the edu price) I might not.. it only take a hundred dollars off it. And looking into the refurb one.

1,499.00 tax 89.94 free shipping = 1,588.94 saving 411.06 everyday pricing
1,399.00 tax 83.94 free shipping = 1,482.94 saving 517.06 edu pricing
1,249.00 tax 74.94 free shipping = 1,323.94 saving 676.06 refurb pricing

nmatthews said:

I did the calculations im going to go to the regular price (and when I go to the store I'm going to ask if I use the edu price) I might not.. it only take a hundred dollars off it. And looking into the refurb one.

1,499.00 tax 89.94 free shipping = 1,588.94 saving 411.06 everyday pricing
1,399.00 tax 83.94 free shipping = 1,482.94 saving 517.06 edu pricing
1,249.00 tax 74.94 free shipping = 1,323.94 saving 676.06 refurb pricing

Click to expand...

Two other options to consider:

Apple iMac MC812LL/A 21.5-Inch w/1TB HD $1419.99
Amazon.com: Apple iMac MC812LL/A 21.5-Inch Desktop (NEWEST VERSION): Computers & Accessories

and

Apple iMac MC813LL/A 27-Inch Desktop w/1TB HD $1597.99
Amazon.com: Apple iMac MC813LL/A 27-Inch Desktop (NEWEST VERSION): Computers & Accessories

Those are both no tax (depending on where you live) and free shipping prices. And since they are sold by Amazon and not a 3rd Party through Amazon you have same protection and rights as direct purchase from Apple.

I have purchsed a total of 4 Macs so far from Amazon (my 1st choice unless I go Apple refurb).

They are five apple stores in Michigan, I really like amazon but would they let me not use a credit card and take a money order instead.

But I might pay the extra have the memory

No time to read it all...
How much RAM is in these iMacs? I was looking at the current Minis yesterday. One has only 2GB of RAM, the minimum to run the OS it ships with! What happens when they upgrade it to something that is more "thirsty" than that?

Razormac said:

Two other options to consider:

Apple iMac MC812LL/A 21.5-Inch w/1TB HD $1419.99
Amazon.com: Apple iMac MC812LL/A 21.5-Inch Desktop (NEWEST VERSION): Computers & Accessories

and

Apple iMac MC813LL/A 27-Inch Desktop w/1TB HD $1597.99
Amazon.com: Apple iMac MC813LL/A 27-Inch Desktop (NEWEST VERSION): Computers & Accessories

Those are both no tax (depending on where you live) and free shipping prices. And since they are sold by Amazon and not a 3rd Party through Amazon you have same protection and rights as direct purchase from Apple.

I have purchsed a total of 4 Macs so far from Amazon (my 1st choice unless I go Apple refurb).

Click to expand...

Now I was told (we went to the bank we don't have access to the money right now) so I have use a credit card. I look at the 27inch I still don't know if I have the room for my desk has a hutch on it.

Also whichever way you go also consider a refurbished model. These are current models returned from resellers for various reasons, thoroughly checked over by Apple technicians and come with free delivery for several hundred dollars cheaper. You get the normal twelve month warranty and have the option of taking up AppleCare to increase this to three years.

The machine comes set up with th latest operating system, perhaps currently with Lion woith a free upgrade to Mountain Lion. Apple Online accepts credit cards. Just Google refurbed iMac but here is a start:-


http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/imac

nmatthews said:

Now I was told (we went to the bank we don't have access to the money right now) so I have use a credit card. I look at the 27inch I still don't know if I have the room for my desk has a hutch on it.

Click to expand...

That big screen is beautiful, but if it won't fit it won't fit . . .

chas_m said:

Avoid Best Buy.

Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, why??

Hwilensky

Hwilensky said:

Out of curiosity, why??

Hwilensky

Click to expand...

chas_m said:

Avoid Best Buy.

It's cheaper than Best Buy's "best" price and you'll be glad you got the 1TB over the 500GB, trust me..

Click to expand...

that what he said about them, is that what they called a sale price "best"

toMACsh said:

No time to read it all...
How much RAM is in these iMacs? I was looking at the current Minis yesterday. One has only 2GB of RAM, the minimum to run the OS it ships with! What happens when they upgrade it to something that is more "thirsty" than that?

Click to expand...

You can upgrade to 4gb in a mac mini and iMac can do up to 16GB I think

Actually a new iMac can handle 32GB, 4 x 8GB modules.

nmatthews said:

that what he said about them, is that what they called a sale price "best"

Click to expand...

Regarding Best Buy, I think it is a very viable option. First, they have a 30 day return policy, no questions asked. I might be wrong on this, but I think apple only has a 14 day return window. Second, Best Buy offers student discounts. I purchased my 2012 13 MBP and received $100 off the list price along with a $150 gift card to BB. If you qualify, you can get a credit card from Best Buy and finance your purchase with 18 months 0 interest. You also can sign up for their reward zone. When I bought my MBP I earned enough reward zone points to get a $20 gift card. I do not see how this is not a better option than the Apple Store. As far as Amazon goes, we have to pay sales tax with Amazon in Texas, so that was a no go for me. Anyways, good luck on your new mac purchase. Im sure what ever you get, you will be extremely pleased with.

mad_griff said:

Regarding Best Buy, I think it is a very viable option. First, they have a 30 day return policy, no questions asked. I might be wrong on this, but I think apple only has a 14 day return window. Second, Best Buy offers student discounts. I purchased my 2012 13 MBP and received $100 off the list price along with a $150 gift card to BB. If you qualify, you can get a credit card from Best Buy and finance your purchase with 18 months 0 interest. You also can sign up for their reward zone. When I bought my MBP I earned enough reward zone points to get a $20 gift card. I do not see how this is not a better option than the Apple Store. As far as Amazon goes, we have to pay sales tax with Amazon in Texas, so that was a no go for me. Anyways, good luck on your new mac purchase. Im sure what ever you get, you will be extremely pleased with.

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It just how bad I want the iMac, if I want it right now I would go to best buy and buy it. But I'm thinking of upgrading the memory it just I don't know to what 8GB or 16GB. And how big should it be 21 or the 27.

Because the bank president told me I should by the one 1,999.00 27-inch