Is it better to buy iMac online or from Apple Store?

There won't be any price difference in buying a Mac in either place. There won't be any freebies likely either. If you buy it in the store you get what they have in the stockroom, which is pretty much the stock machine. If you buy it online you can build to order if you want any upgrades; more RAM, better videocard, bigger hard drive, etc.
If you buy the stock machine you can return it in the first 14 days. If you build to order, you're stuck with it, unless it's DOA.

If you buy a stock machine from a certified reseller (not the actual Apple Store) you can get a small rebate on accessories (ie: external HD, router, software ect). If you want a costomised machine the online store is the best place.

Chuck

P.S. If you are a student/teacher you can get from 100-500$ off computers off the online store

eMac Mac OS X (10.4.8) 1.42Ghz PPC G4

Hey Chuck, what item(s) do you receive $500 off? I'm a student, and saved $100 off the 24" iMac, like $30 off the Ram, and another like $40 off the video card. It's a good deal, but I'm curious what items save you more, I'd only like to know because I'll be purchasing all my computers etc. through Apple.


Thanks,


-Nick

Not true I went to a apple store and I can order a iMac that is A$4,778.49 for A$4,500.00 and the Specifications are

2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
750GB Serial ATA Drive
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB SDRAM
Apple Keyboard & Mighty Mouse + Mac OS X
APP for iMac / eMac - Enrolment Kit
24-inch widescreen LCD
AirPort Extreme
Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR

secretbum, you're in Australia, some of the other posters are in the U.S or Canada. That makes a difference as far as price/discounts go. Of course the OP is in Australia too, but I think the discounts work out about the same if you're talking about percentage of purchase price/total value of the discount rather than dollar value.

If you're buying BTO, going with the online Apple Store probably makes the most sense, but it's not a requirement as Apple Stores and resellers can order BTO machines for you.

All of my Macs have been stock machines and I've purchased two of them from a reseller, and one from The Apple Store. I prefer to buy from a real store, partly because I'm impatient and don't like to wait for shipping, but primarily because I like to support local business and local employees. I would actually choose a reseller over the Apple Store in general but only campus resellers (like school bookstores) and the Apple Store can give the educational discount. I also feel better about support having purchased from a real store, although at least with Apple there's really no difference.

If you are buying a stock IMac you can get a much better deal from any reseller in the USA like Best Buy, Circuit City, And Compusa. And MacMall.com and Macconnection.com allow BTO systems which end up being much cheaper over buying direct from an Apple store or Apple.com because of the savings in sale tax + thier current rebate promo's.

For example Best Buy right off the top will give you 2% back in rewards zone certs. And every couple of month Best Buy runs a promo for instant $100-150 gift card with purchase of any Apple Mac. Best Buy Also runs other promo all the time like they had tripple reward zone purchase day last week which basically makes your savings 6%. And 3 weeks ago they had a promo on PNY memory of free install and 33% off the memory with purchase of any system which all mac qualified also.

Circuit City and Compusa had mail in rebates like 2 months ago on all Apple computers. Rebates varried between $50-$100 depending on model.

Macconnection.com right now has between $75-150 mail in rebate on all IMacs Macconnection.com only collect sales tax in Ohio. And Macmall.com has between $75-100 mail in rebate plus a free printer after rebate and $9.99 for parallels after rebate and Macmall.com only collect sales in Ca, WA and AZ. So the sales tax savings alone on a $2K purchase can be a nice chunk of change alone. They allow BTO orders so unless you want to pay more I see no reason ordering direct from Apple.com as if you place your order via them you still qualify for the rebates and could possible avoid paying sales tax on your order too which Apple.com collects for every state.

Even for the students the deals from Macmall.com and Macconnection.com can be better than ordering from Apple.com direct as your getting between $75-150 rebate plus no sales tax. $150 rebate is on IMac 24" btw and student discount is only $100.

nicklange19,

The Mac Pro, when maxed out can be about 800$ less when you are a student. Final Cut Studio is over 600$ off with the student discount.

Chuck

eMac Mac OS X (10.4.8) 1.42Ghz PPC G4

I went through Apple's inventory dept, and was told that its faster. When I ordered the other day, it was in production and not sitting around waiting in some que. Now you say a que, well an Apple sales rep on the normal 800 number said if you order on the web or through a sales rep all orders go in a que and get distributed later that day or evening , "if there special orders only" if its a stock system than depending on the time of day will determine whether it will ship the same day.

BTO systems can only be bought through Apple, unless you just want a memory upgrade, which MacMall can do.

Although it took a little longer to receive, since its shipping from China, instead of the US, the overall product is exceptional. The upgraded video card is worth the $100-and-change I paid.

The OP asked about the difference between the Apple Store online and the Apple Store. The only nations with International Apple Stores are Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan. So, since you are in Australia, which has no Apple Stores, the example which you give is obviously from a 3rd party reseller, not an Apple Store, which was not the question.

If you are buying from Apple, it is best to buy from your local Apple store.

Why ?
Because if there is something wrong with the machine, you can return it and get a new one, or have it fixed by the stores geniuses. If you buy on line you spend days dealing with support, shipping your Mac back to Apple, waiting for them to receive it, and then waiting for them to build and ship a new unit to you. All this takes about 10 day and several hours on the phone getting conflicting advice.

Of course it is cheeper to buy from Amazon, but forget it if you want a build to order.

There are stores in the land of Down Under, check your facts fore you post