Urgent Mac purchase help please..

rp2000

rp2000

rp2000

Caporegime
Joined
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Barcelona
Macbook Pro purchase options (Apple Store, Higher Education, or Business Store)

Hi,

I am thinking of buying something from the Apple Store for Business online. I am VAT registered etc. Has anyone had any experience buying through their business who can offer me guidelines etc. Is there any difference in terms of aftercare/warranty etc, in comparison to the normal apple store or retail outlets.

Any help much appreciated. I am going to get the 15.4 MacBookPro (middle spec one, no optional extras of any sort). I have not kept up with the hardware since last spec refresh. (I recall the GPUs got bumped and also the screens are now OLED or something). Is there any gaping flaws in the hardware I should know about?

The one thing that I am really unsure of is whether to get glossy or matte screen, but I guess that is a personal preference thing, and not something I can change once I take the plunge. I will watch some media content on it, but mostly be using as a Windows XP/OSX machine (boot camp or parallels etc). I do not plan on doing any photo/video editing so can anyone recommend the best screen based on that?


rp2000
 
Last edited:
If you are not doing any media editing i would get the glossy, as you don't care if the image on the screen is artificially altered by the glossy finished. Things will just look prettier :)
 
I recently bought a MacBook and had a good look at the Pro before I took the plunge. The new LED screens are really very good, but I strongly recommend having a look at the differences between the matte and glossy screens as it can be quite a personal decision. I'd recommend the glossy from a personal point of view, but bear in mind where you'll be using it - if you have have your back to a window for example, the glossy will be a pain.

MacRumours suggest holding off from buying a Pro as a new one should be around soon - that's another reason I chose to get a MacBook as they've recently been updated. Read up here.

Oh, I went along the VMware Fusion route for my Vista, and it works brilliantly.
 
I do media editing aswell as general DTP on my MBP, and chose the matte screen. This was after looking at both instore, and speaking to the salesman (who had both instock). Having the matte has been quite useful actually, as during the summer here & in California I was using it a lot outside in the midday sun...
 
Having had both finishes I prefer the glossy.

There's no substitute for viewing them in person, so if you can, I suggest you check out the nearest store that stock's the model your after.

I believe you can claim the VAT back on business purchases, but then, if you just want to save money.. use the HE discount;

You get 3 years hardware cover (parts and labour) AS STANDARD, whereas you'd normally get 90 days :)
 
EVH said:
Having had both finishes I prefer the glossy.

There's no substitute for viewing them in person, so if you can, I suggest you check out the nearest store that stock's the model your after.

I believe you can claim the VAT back on business purchases, but then, if you just want to save money.. use the HE discount;

You get 3 years hardware cover (parts and labour) AS STANDARD, whereas you'd normally get 90 days :)
Click to expand...

You don't get the 3 years hardware cover on the normal macbook now under HE discount. It's £47 :) Not sure about the MB Pro
 
EVH said:
Having had both finishes I prefer the glossy.

There's no substitute for viewing them in person, so if you can, I suggest you check out the nearest store that stock's the model your after.

I believe you can claim the VAT back on business purchases, but then, if you just want to save money.. use the HE discount;

You get 3 years hardware cover (parts and labour) AS STANDARD, whereas you'd normally get 90 days :)
Click to expand...

Are you sure? I can offset the purchase against corporation tax that works out as 20%, but are you saying there is differences in the warranty between the "types" of purchase.

From your previous threads I know you know a lot about this stuff and discounts etc.

coudl you clarify what state of warranty etc I would get from:

1) Apple Retail (curiousity)
2) Apple Business (20% discount)
3) Apple HE (15% discount)

I am in a position to order any of the 3.


rp2000
 
I bought a MacBook a few weeks ago and was told standard retail warranty was 1 year parts and labour and 90 phone support.
My girlfriend is a teacher so we managed to get 6% off, but the warranty remains the same.
 
Few more questions from me (I make no secret of the fact I will probably be unbearable and ask severral n00bish questions that google could answer until I get my MBP).

I got a mate at uni to take a screenshot for me:
hewarrantydn3.jpg


Any thoughts anyone re warranty etc. I don't mind paying the £59 quid for the 3 year warranty, but EVH has mentioned you get one automatically etc. Has anyone here bought one recently with the HE discount who can comment?

What if i want to give the laptop away at a later date? Basically does the type of purchase (HE/Retail etc) only affect purchase price, and after that you have a standard Apple Warranty? Just in case I am not happy with it say 6 months down the line, and there is a 2.5 years warranty remaining.

More questions in a bit after I think a bit more. Definitely popping into an Apple store today tomorrow, to see the glossy/matte in person. I have used both types of screens before with otehr Sony/Dell/Tosh/HP laptops. But never seen the same model side by side. Hopefully with funky lighting in the shop it should give me an idea of worst case scenario etc.



rp2000
 
Another quesition:

I have a mac mini 1.83ghz (pre core2duo with Tiger). I use that for Fontrow connected to HDTV and use the remote. Obviously I will get a new remote with *** MBP as well.

Will they interfere with each other? Is there a way to just use one? etc etc.

I'm sure someone here must have more than 1 mac product in their house.

Also what would happen If I bought a universal dock for my Nano (which also comes with the same remote!)

Options please.



rp2000
 
All the remotes are the same, ie you can use one remote to control everything and unfortunately it will probably interfere.

The remote that came with my MBP controls the dock too, which can be rather annoying.
 
You can definitely lock the remotes to a single machine, just click "Pair" in the Security section of System Prefs.
 
rp2000 said:
Any thoughts anyone re warranty etc. I don't mind paying the £59 quid for the 3 year warranty, but EVH has mentioned you get one automatically etc. Has anyone here bought one recently with the HE discount who can comment?
Click to expand...

I bought a macbook with he discount and i can confirm that you do get a three year warrenty. This is what i received in my e-mail the other day.

Coverage is now in effect. The AppleCare Base Warranty is a uniquely
integrated service and support solution that extends your built-in
service and support coverage from date of purchase as follows:
- 1 year phone support / Apple Applications Support (*)
- 3 years Hardware Warranty Parts & Labour (*)
Click to expand...
 
I've just bought with the HE discount

13" white macbook as stock - £607 (ex vat)
3 year apple care - £40 (ex vat)

a total of £760.13 inc vat..

I had to pay for the warranty. But bearing in mind I think the 3 year warranty is not that far short of £200, its a pretty worthwhile thing to do!

Can't wait to start using it!

Tom* :)
 
hyper_piper45 said:
I bought a macbook with he discount and i can confirm that you do get a three year warrenty. This is what i received in my e-mail the other day.
Click to expand...

I bought one two weeks back with the 14% HE discount and had to pay £47 on top for the 3 year Applecare, should have been around £200 normally I think.
 
It's annoying that the HE discount gives a huge chunk off the Applecare. When I bought mine a couple of weeks ago we got 6% due to my gf being a secondary school teacher, but he still tried to sell me the Applecare at full price -6%. Does this sound right to anyone?
 
rp2000, as there's a new MBP coming soon, can you wait? It'd be pretty annoying to buy one then have an improved model come out 6 weeks (or so) later.
Obviously you'll still be getting a great laptop, but faster/bigger processor Ram etc is always welcome.
 
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