ManiD Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 (edited) For none Canadian, Futureshop is owned by Bestbuy Canada and offers almost identical services and products as Bestbuy. So I want to buy a new macbook pro and the fact is I can't decide whether buy it from Apple store or BestBuy(Futureshop). I had couple of question maybe you guys know the answer, 1- Does Apple still have the promotion of giving an Ipod with purchase of a computer, if not do you know if they have any other promotion going on ? (EDIT:Checked the website and they still have the offer going on) 2- I checked and the hard drive upgrade(5400 to 7200 rpm) is not available through FutureShop, only can get it from apple. but is it available in apple store or only online? is it that big of a deal to this upgrade? 3- which warranty is better Applecare or PSP(futureshop warranty). I also should mention I can get the same education discount, if not more that apple offers from Futureshop. So any advice on this ? Edited July 29, 2009 by ManiD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Helix Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Without a doubt Apple store is best, bestbuy has very limited versions of Macs on hand, and in the US they try to sell you a "Bestbuy" only Warranty/service/replacement plan that IMO is junk compared to Applecare. the free ipod touch is still ongoing Click here for info Depending on what you plan to use the Macbook for the HDD speed is not going to be that much noticable Upgrades for certain things can be WAYYYYY over priced from apple (memory and HDD) to name a few, you can get better prices online from third party places like macsales.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManiD Posted July 29, 2009 Author Share Posted July 29, 2009 (edited) I was thinking about the memory upgrade too, but as you said apple charges WAYYYYYYYYYYYY too much for that. this website is pretty usefull. I hope they ship to Canada too. Do you know if the15" 2.8, June 09 model has 1 or 2 free memory slot ? if im not mistaking they take DDR3 1066 PC3-8500 correct ? Edited July 29, 2009 by ManiD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Helix Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 (edited) im not certain, the newest mac i have is a 24' iMac (Feb '09) my Macbook is the old white plastic one I do know tho that it is best to buy a full memory kit rather than just adding another single Stick http://support.apple.com/kb/SP544 http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs.html Edited July 29, 2009 by Phantom Helix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefarewellnote Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 I was thinking about the memory upgrade too, but as you said apple charges WAYYYYYYYYYYYY too much for that. this website is pretty usefull. I hope they ship to Canada too.Do you know if the15" 2.8, June 09 model has 1 or 2 free memory slot ? if im not mistaking they take DDR3 1066 PC3-8500 correct ? There will be two memory slots within the device. Depending on how much RAM you get installed one will be free. If I were you I would order the RAM in pairs (i.e. 4 GBs x 2 ) or (2 GBs x 2 ). And completely replace what is in the machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyX Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 1- Does Apple still have the promotion of giving an Ipod with purchase of a computer, if not do you know if they have any other promotion going on ? (EDIT:Checked the website and they still have the offer going on)2- I checked and the hard drive upgrade(5400 to 7200 rpm) is not available through FutureShop, only can get it from apple. but is it available in apple store or only online? is it that big of a deal to this upgrade? 3- which warranty is better Applecare or PSP(futureshop warranty). 1. Yes, until September 8th. You have to be a college or university student or teacher, and you must not have purchased an Apple laptop for the past 12 months. 2. You can customize everything on Apple's Online Store, not at Future Shop. I have no idea if it's a big deal for the upgrade or not, but sometimes it's worth upgrading a few parts, then Apple's Online Store is the one you'll prefer. 3. Apple Care, because if something happens, your stuff will be fixed by Apple technicians with the official parts Apple makes. Future Shop's PSP and Best Buy's Geek Squad often repairs your electronic devices by putting anything into it, as long as it fits and it fixes the problem. That being said, I think Future Shop's PSP is worth a little more in the sense that if something really strange (read "unfixable") happens to your device, it'll get replaced. You'll lose your whole hard drive though (it happened to me at Future Shop and I had a MiniDV camcorder. Got a new one, but lost my MiniDV, when I said I wanted it back...) Honestly, I took the warranty for my iMac and didn't take it for my MacBook. Nothing ever happened under 3 years for my iMac (the warranty expires in a month) and same for my 8 months old MacBook. Apple is great quality, and I can't justify paying a warranty 10% of the price of the device anymore. It would mean 1 device out of 10 breaks, when it's in fact 1 out of 1 000 or something like that, and problems vary from ridiculous to critical. - By the way, my dad works at Canada Post and there's a special Apple's Online Store just for them - exactly like the educational store, same but different prices. And since about 2 years, I'm getting better rebates over there than with my educational discounts. So take a look at it. If your dad works at some special place, try to type the name of his company in Google and add "Apple Store" and you may find interesting prices (that's what I did). It's just that the $259 iPod credit won't be available anymore. - If you get a better price at Future Shop - which I think would be wrong because last time I checked, Future Shop had all of their prices wrong and upped a lot (that wired $49 aluminum keyboard was $73 for instance) - remember that you won't get a free iPod. In the case of Apple's Online Store, you'll be able to get this free iPod and just sell it to a friend. Make them save the taxes or something like that, they'll be happy, and you'll get a $259 rebate on your MacBook. Cool? :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecstasis Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 I would probably buy it straight from Apple. BestBuy doesn't handle any warranty issue right at the store, they send it off to their depot. Even if you don't have an actual Apple store near by, I think any authorized mac dealer will be able to do a better job of fixing your machine compare to BestBuy. But that's just my $0.02 (I did buy from BestBuy and regretted it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V-99 ODST Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Apple Store is just so much fun! It's like going to Neman Marcus! :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian M. Veteran Posted August 3, 2009 Veteran Share Posted August 3, 2009 Remember that if it works out cheaper to buy it from BestBuy, you can always buy the warranty from Apple (you can purchase the APP within the first 12 months). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudy Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 Sicne you're in Toronto I'd say just buy from the Apple Store, otherwise I would advise people to be careful with AppleCare. In Canada AppleCare isn't as good as it should be, you will often have to ship your machine for weeks to have it "inspected" and maybe fixed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sn00pie Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 I would buy it from the Best Buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiggah Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 (edited) The promotion is from the Apple Store only. At least that's what I was told a couple of weeks ago (BestBuy). The Apple Store will take care of everything. I'd recommend doing the deal there. They will do the "mail-in" rebate for the Touch+printer in store (you pay full for the Touch+printer upfront), you just wait on the check. You also get a discount on the AppleCare, it should be $66 (US dollars) off for the standard package. Edited August 4, 2009 by Jiggah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sn00pie Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 Best Buy will match the Apple education discount, it's just a matter of speaking to the sales manager or someone who has a little bit of authority, and of course buying the extended service plan helps the cause ;). Best Buy acknowledges the free iPod promo from Apple and obviously have to have their own bundles and deals to be competitive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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