BTO return questions

You can always take your laptop to the Apple Store and they will install the ram for you. It is really easy but I wasnt comfortable going inside mine either.

If you customize to order, you CAN NOT exchange it. Apple will have to send it off for a week to 10 days to fix anything...

The Memory is so easy to install yourself, just buy stock, order 2 512 mb or 2 1 GB sticks of ram from newegg.com and install it yourself.

Also, installing iwork is a piece of cake...

I made the mistake of customizing to order on my Intel Imac. The first week, the display just crapped out... Had I ordered stock, they would have just swapped it our for a new maching, but instead I had to go w/o it for a week.

As others said, upgrading the ram is easy and cheaper if you do it. if ram the only upgrade, then I'd keep the purchase vanilla so you keep your options open.

Apple will honor the warranty so you need not fear that but if you do choose the standard build you can easily swap to a new unit if your is in fact defective.

Mike

Hello,

Can I buy 3rd party RAM and get the Apple Store
people to install it?

That depends on the store you choose to use.

You are less likely to have that option at an Apple-Owned store.

But, if you go to an Apple Authorized Service Provider, then your chances of having them install memory you supply is excellent.

Hi daljr,

You can see what is involved in replacing your RAM in the MacBook in the pdf file at http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/MacBook13inch_MemoryDIY.pdf

It really is very simple. Whether an Apple Store will install third party RAM for you may depend on whether it is an officail Apple Store or a third party reseller. In Australia many resellers will actually sell you third party RAM (from makers like Kingston) at good prices and install it for you on the spot when you buy your computer. You can't do this through the online store, though, of course.

iWork O6 actually comes pre-installed on your computer anyway. All you need to turn it into the "full deal" is to purchase a registration code.

Cheers

Rod

They may help you on the sly, the Apple geni here in California are a real friendly and helpful bunch. The also understand Apple RAM is not cheap

I received a MacBook by express delivery here in the Netherlands, and it was DOA (dead on arrival; the screen stays white on startup, and nothing else happens)

The Apple Store will nonetheless take it back and send me a replacement, even though it's formally BTO (factory upgraded the RAM to 1 GB).

This seems no more than reasonable to me. In fact, I think it's wildly annoying that Apple Europe still doesn't have any MacBooks in stock. I will have to wait another week or ten days while they ship a replacement machine from Shanghai.

I recommed that you buy your MacBook stock from the Apple Store and perform all the upgrades yourself...so if something goes wrong you can return it and get a new MacBook.

I had my MacBook custom built from Apple online [ordered the 120 GB hard drive] and then upgraded the RAM myself, but my MacBook came with a dead speaker, so now I have to wait 2+ weeks for a new custom built MacBook to arrive.

At least if something goes wrong with a MacBook from the store you can get a replacement immediately.

Unfortunately, there are no Apple Stores (brick and mortar ones) in mainland Europe (yet).