buying from the apple store

I'm heading to the states in May, and plan to stop off in New York on my way through and pick up a new MacBook Pro from the Apple store.

I've been looking at the options on line though and realise I don't want the basic model and would like to buy the higher resolution screen.

has anybody bought directly in the store before? I need to know if I will be able to get the upgrades done then and there, as I only get the chance to go to New York about twice a year and that's a long time to wait to pick it up!!! I can't order online and have it ready for collection because I don't have an American bank or Postal Address. Sucks to be British!

As an aside it actually would work out cheaper for me to fly to the US and buy a MacBook than to drive to the Apple store in London!

Empyfree said:

.........

As an aside it actually would work out cheaper for me to fly to the US and buy a MacBook than to drive to the Apple store in London!

Click to expand...

Why not order one online, have it shipped to a friend in the States then shipped to you? That would have to be cheaper than flying here then back home.

Buying the laptop in the US requires a lot of fiddling to un-Americanize the machine: DVD region code, spell checker etc. And my keyboard only has $, no pound key.
There may also be warranty issues if support is required outside the country it is bought.

How much more expensive are they in the UK?
http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore
Assuming $2=#1
It is $1999 vs. $2600 for the base Mac Book Pro. ouch!

Unforgiven said:

Why not order one online, have it shipped to a friend in the States then shipped to you? That would have to be cheaper than flying here then back home.

Click to expand...

Do you know anybody that would ship to the UK? I probably should have said that I will be in New York anyway, not just going to buy a Mac! I'm heading across in May to work at a Summer Camp in Maine for the summer, did it last year and it was an amazing experience.

LEDninja said:

Buying the laptop in the US requires a lot of fiddling to un-Americanize the machine: DVD region code, spell checker etc. And my keyboard only has $, no pound key.
There may also be warranty issues if support is required outside the country it is bought.

How much more expensive are they in the UK?
http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore
Assuming $2=#1
It is $1999 vs. $2600 for the base Mac Book Pro. ouch!

Click to expand...

I know about the problem with localisation, however I feel that the price difference is well worth it! (Basically I can't afford it over here!) Besides with the amount of time I spend on this forum discussing $$$'s a $ key will probably get more use than a £ key!

The 4/$ key is not a real issue as you can just change the keyboard layout from US to UK in the OS as most will allow you to do so.

My family has bought two, a MacBook and a Pro. I think the wife's Pro was the base model. Mine had the additional memory and was boxed and marked as if it was from the factory. My impression is they might be factory configured for the options but not sure.

Your comment about 'resolution' was puzzling. I took a moment to review the tech. spec. on the apple site and the only thing I could think of was the difference between the 15 and 17 inch display. Overall they are different by size and I don't mean just the screen.

I think it might be best to call in advance and set something up to ensure they will have the item available for you. Anytime I go to the local Apple store it's wall to wall customers and you have to hunt down an employee to make a purchase and there is a steady stream of happy customers leaving with a product large or small.

mike

just call the store a couple of days ahead of time and make sure they have what you want or will have it ready for you when you get there.

I dont think they can do a "while you wait" upgrade of something like the hard disk, but putting memory in is a no brainer if you need that.

But I also dont know what you mean by the resolution... they dont come in different resolutions do they?

changing the DVD region code USED to be a no brainer too. You just put in a DVD from a different region and it would warn you that you have 4 region switches left before it becomes permanent and then it would switch, or something like that. But it's been several years since I did any playing around with that. Try to do some research and make sure that you can actually switch the region code without doing a firmware hack which I've never completely trusted...

The 15" MacBook Pro supports the following resolutions:
Supported resolutions: 1440 by 900 (native), 1280 by 800, 1152 by 720, 1024 by 640, and 800 by 500 pixels at 16:10 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 pixels at 4:3 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 pixels at 4:3 aspect ratio stretched; 720 by 480 pixels at 3:2 aspect ratio; 720 by 480 pixels at 3:2 aspect ratio stretched.

The 17" MacBook Pro supports the following resolutions:
1680 by 1050 (native), 1280 by 800, 1152 by 720, 1024 by 640, and 800 by 500 pixels at 16:10 aspect ratio; 1280 by 1024 pixels at 5:4 aspect ratio; 1280 by 1024 pixels at 5:4 aspect ratio stretched; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 pixels at 4:3 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 pixels at 4:3 aspect ratio stretched; 720 by 480 pixels at 3:2 aspect ratio; 720 by 480 pixels at 3:2 aspect ratio stretched

The newly updated macbook pro's have an optional higher resolution (1900 x 1200) 17" screen. A lot of the time I find a high res screen is ideal for my photo, video and web editing applications as it lets me preview things full size in the middle of the screen and have floating palletes and tool-boxes around the screen.

I like the idea of phoning ahead, that's so simple I'm quite embarrased not to have thought of it!

Looking closer I see the higher resolution 17" screen data on the web page which I missed on 1st read.

I don't believe it will be an in-store upgrade but its only speculation on my part. It might be a low demand option and require some lead time from the factory to ensure you and your new MAC are in the store at the same time.

Anti-glare or glossy screen? Difficult choice or maybe not? My MacBook has the glossy and I find it has a crispness to the display I have not found with anti-glare (frosty) screens. Not a fair comparison because they were never the same computer screen with and without anti-glare. With the glossy screen its true I have to careful with lighting and position to eliminate the glare, but that is something I can control.

Good luck with you new MAC.

mike

I'd love the Glossy screen for watching video/playing games etc. But it just won't "cut the mustard" when it comes to serious editing of photos, too much glare/flare will end up annoying me!

I think the plan of phoning up a couple of weeks before I fly out and ordering it to collect is a winner of an Idea! I'll be heading straight up to Rural Maine where I don't want to trust my shiny new laptop to a delivery driver! (I know they're good, but it is a lot of money!!!)

I also need to build up a collection of Mac Software to have with me so that I can get working as soon as I get it unpacked. I'm not going to take my existing laptop with me, so I need to hit the road running with the new one so to speak. Main things I'll buy is a copy of Office and Photoshop, video editing can come at a later date.

A new MacBook Pro will have the latest iPhoto program. It's not on the level of PhotoShop. Yet it does a good job of organizing your pictures and has editing function too. It might save you some money until you find it falls short of you needs. The Apple site will have a video link that talks about using iPhoto.

I've been using Photoshop for a while now on the PC and don't think I could go back to a "bundled" app again! I'm tempted by Apeture though, that looks like a very serious photography tool!

Sad as it may be I'm probably going to have to take a windows XP install kit with me, along with my current collection of windoze based software. I'll have to do a bootcamp install on the new mac as I can't risk being stuck without a "working" computer for a long period of time!

Now I just need to concentrate on making some money and waiting for May to come around!

If you know someone who is a student, they can access the educational Apple store (UK) through their university/college network. The savings are roughly equivalent to VAT.

I would suggest buying it off the internet. The apple store is great, but im sure it can be had for cheaper.

Just a quick update. I've finally managed to purchase a Mac from "MacMall", an online retailer based in the states. They're shipping it to my Summer-camp's head office where I can pick it up en-route to camp in a weeks time.

I finally gave up on buying from apple direct. Their rep on the phone was downright rude, and their price structure in the UK is baffling. I managed to get the 17" MacBookPro, with Upgraded screen, Processor and Ram for less than the basic model over here...

Can't wait! Now I've just got to learn how to use it...