Buying an Apple Macbook Pro... Store recommendations?

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earl29

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#76106 28-Jan-2011 16:00

Hey,

I going to buy a MBP and was just wondering if anybody knows what sort of difference it makes where you buy it from. My nearest Magnum mac shop is about 4 hours away but I do have a Noel Leemings in town. Is there any difference purchasing from one or the other?

clicknz

467 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#432283 28-Jan-2011 16:27

Hi - I've bought Mac laptops from both MagnuMac and Harvey Norman - I enjoyed the MM 'experience' more because most of the people there are clued up (pretty much) on Apple hardware/software, which can be handy. The only reason I bought from HN was a great interest free deal - it felt pretty much like buying a printer or a fridge.... so not a 'cool' Mac vibe (hey, it counts when it's a product you're not buying very often).
If you were to have a warranty issue I believe that you can choose which authorised repair place you take it back to.... not sure, but Noel Leeming may not take gear sold by MM, but I think the Renaissance repair place in MM will take back gear sold elsewhere (at least in Wellington).
It's certainly worth phoning around to see if anyone's offering a deal at all (like a free 'back to school' iPod with every MBP).

Cheers,
Mike

Photographer/Videographer clickmedia.nz

Disrespective

1925 posts

Uber Geek

#432297 28-Jan-2011 16:51

I bought online as I needed a customisation that Magnum Mac said would take up to 8 weeks to process but from the Apple store it was an extra 4 days on top of the 24 hour processing (or whatever it is). Pretty huge difference and well worth the non-face-to-face dealings.

I also used the Academic Store (legitimately I might add) which has no verification of whether you are actually an academic or in the school system so I'm surprised i haven't heard of rampant misuse of these discounts...

Noel Leeming and Magnum Mac tend to have good reputations, however in personal experience the former has staff who really don't know the spec ins-and-outs that I needed confirmation on so I ended up online anyway so the next logical step was an online purchase.

alasta

6701 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#432322 28-Jan-2011 17:18

There are probably two main differences in purchasing from Magnum Mac/Apple online versus a big box retailer:

- The big box retailer will not promote AppleCare but will instead pressure you to buy their in house extended warranty. Although cheaper than AppleCare these alternative warranty options don't offer any technical support benefits and there has been a lot of debate around responsiveness to claims and whether they really offer any benefits at all over the retailer's statutory warranty obligations.

- A big box retailer might offer loyalty incentives such as Fly Buys.

I would prefer buying from Apple's online store rather than endure the sales approach of the big box retailers which appears to be generally geared towards people with very limited technical knowledge, but that's just my personal preference.

dclegg

2806 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#432327 28-Jan-2011 17:29

I purchased my MacBook Pro from Noel Leemings. Within a week I discovered it had a stuck pixel, and they replaced it without question. Unfortunately the replacement also had a stuck pixel. While I eventually got that replaced too, it took a lot longer (nearly 2 weeks), and took a lot of chase up on my part. This was because NL made their problem mine, as they wrestled with their supplier to ensure they could minimize the damage of having 2 $3500 laptops they couldn't sell.

earl29

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#432383 28-Jan-2011 19:38

Thanks for your answers and help. I'm probably going to buy it at Noel Leemings as it is only 5 minutes away and from the replies there doesn't seem to be a great deal of difference.

Cheers!

earl29

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#432385 28-Jan-2011 19:41

By the way dclegg, what is astuck pixel?

dclegg

2806 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#432405 28-Jan-2011 20:29

earl29: By the way dclegg, what is astuck pixel?

A pixel that is constantly lit a particular colour. This is in contrast to a dead pixel, which doesn't work at all. The first display had a pixel in the centre of the display that was always red. The first replacement had one towards the bottom left corner that was always green. The third MacBook Pro (my current one) has a faultless display.

I've been using laptops of varying quality as my primary work machine for about 12 years, and these MacBooks are the first I've had any display issues with. Considering the MacBook was the first laptop I'd purchased that I would class a high end machine, I was surprised by the quality issues with the displays. Just bad luck, I guess. Twice. But the bottom line is that Noel Leeming eventually did the right thing.