Is an Apple laptop exactly the same as one offered at a lower price from a different store?

The difference probably comes from the volume of laptops bought by the retailer.

The specs are most likely inferior to Windows laptops at the same price.

Don’t buy Apple. Seriously: there’s only one button on the mouse. It’s intended for stupid people.

@the100thmonkey Trust me. Thought a lot about trying other laptops like Lenovo or Dell but every time I see a Windows interface, I feel uneasy. Got so used to seeing iLife and those OSX’s a while back. Also, more than 6 years with that iBook and not one single case of a virus or any computer trouble at all. Not one.

@the100thmonkey I agree. Apple has always seemed way too over-priced for what you actually get, I don’t know why you would want to pay sometimes double for a laptop with less stronger specs. than other competitors.

@mazingerz88 I have the MacBook Pro which I bought through apple and I absolutely love it… Check to make sure you are getting the OS X Lion on your laptop it should be coming on all the new laptops… With Lion you will get to have the new iCloud which is free for iOS 5 and OS X Lion users. iCloud comes out this fall so you want to make sure you have all the latest upgrades to the system you buy from someone other than Apple. I know when I bought from Apple I was a couple days off on the date to get the free upgrade to iLife which came out soon after purchase and Apple gave me the upgrade free anyways. I also recommend the Applecare Plan, I have it and they stand by it. Also when you buy with apple you get $100 rebate for a printer so if you need to buy a printer it may make sense to do it with apple and get the $100 rebate. I got a discount on mine because of the company I worked for by just showing my id check with apple if they offer a discount with the company you work for (I saved 6% on mine which added up to be well below BestBuy or anyone else)

Many retailers are able to offer legitimate and fully-qualified manufacturers’ products for less than the manufacturers’ own retail outlets. That’s because the manufacturer only offers the retail sales outlet because a) there is some demand via that channel, and b) they don’t want to lose sales by not being responsive to the channel. However, since “retail sales” is not their forte, and they definitely don’t want to compete head-to-head with their other retailers, they don’t undercut the prices offered elsewhere, either.

It’s not just computers or electronics; that applies to manufacturers of all kinds of products.

@creative1 Yes, thanks. It seems the one from Best Buy has the Leopard and the one from Apple store has the Lion. So you think the Lion for 60 bucks higher is better? Thanks.

The Lion upgrade is $29.99, does it have the latest iLife program that was recently upgraded to iLife 11… The cost of iLife to upgrade $49.00, if you don’t have it iLife it would definately be cheaper to go with Apple so the computer has all the latest upgrades… Which laptop are you going for?? If its the MacBook Air then that was recently upgraded to a whole new computer in July and the one at BestBuy would probably be an older model since it doesn’t have Lion and Lion came out when the Laptop did.

Apple today updated the MacBook Air with next-generation Intel Core processors, high-speed Thunderbolt I/O technology, a backlit keyboard, and Mac OS X Lion, the world’s most advanced operating system. With up to 2.5x the performance of the previous generation, flash storage for instant-on responsiveness, and a compact design so portable you can take it everywhere, MacBook Air is the ultimate everyday notebook. MacBook Air starts at $999 (US) and is available for order today and in stores tomorrow.

I get notifications from Apple of new products this was the email from the July Annoouncement: Apple today unveiled the new Apple Thunderbolt Display, the world’s first display with Thunderbolt I/O technology and the ultimate docking station for your Mac notebook. With just a single cable, you can connect a Thunderbolt-enabled Mac to the 27-inch Apple Thunderbolt Display and access its FaceTime camera, high-quality audio, and Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire 800, USB 2.0, and Thunderbolt ports. The new display features a thin aluminum and glass enclosure and includes a MagSafe connector that charges your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air.

The one from Best Buy, the MacBook pro has the Leopard for less than 60 bucks. So it’s that or the one from Apple store with the Lion and latest iLife probably. Guess my question is am I going to miss much if I go for the Leopard and older iLife? : )

Well there are certain features when doing things that were upgraded that are nice featues but its if its worth $60… Have you physically gone into the store because sometimes the store can find discounts you didn’t know were available especially if you own your own business. This is the Apple Store I am talking about…

Don’t think I could get any discounts from the Apple store. Never qualified for one. Almost near the Apple store now so guess I’ll check the Lion and compare it to Leopard. Thanks!

I spent just under $5000 for mine and I have all the upgrades imaginable, I was pleased I could custom build my laptop to meet my needs.

Do you own your own business??? They have a discount for that

Nice. Good for you! But no it’s just for goofing around the Internet, editing movies…

I looked at www.apple.com and Thunderbolt.
The fastest, most versatile I/O ever in a notebook. Was also put on the MacBook Pro in July because that technology came out then. This also would not be on the older laptop at BestBuy here is a link directly with the information about the technology… All of these put together I would go to Apple especially with thunderbolt

Argh not going to start my whole rant on why apple is better, but @the100thmonkey and others, don’t knock it till you try it! You want to right click? Simply tap two fingers. Even easier. With one button, you can’t hit the wrong one. Among other reasons.

@sliceswiththings don’t kill yourself, if the ones who don’t like apple want to keep replacing their obsolute laptops and desk tops that keep getting all sorts of virus’ and have a tech support that couldn’t figure out whats wrong without guessing then let him. They will never understand the speed and graphics of having a Mac… I still have a G4 Desk top from the 90’s that is faster than any one of those windows based computers considering when I load illustrator and photoshop it takes forever to just open on windows vs immediately on my Mac

@creative1 And I thought this was going to be a boring day. Lol. Was reading one of your post when the bus to the Apple store came and still did not know what to do! The Metro train to Best Buy was just across the street, was still analyzing what you said but had to board the bus since it’s about to leave.

Got to the Apple Store where the geek explained the difference between Leopard and Lion and decided I’d go for the cheaper Leopard so off I go to board another bus heading to the Metro. Opened my iPad and saw your Thunderbolt post. The bus was about to leave so I told the driver to let me off! Went to the Apple store to clarify what Thunderbolt is. It’s a port. New tech. Nice.

Decided to call Best Buy again ( which I did this morning already to inquire if they have Lion or Leopard and they said, Leopard ) to make sure their’s has no Thunderbolt. Calling Best Buy takes 10 minutes at the least. I was on my 5 minute wait time mark when, surprise, surprise, Best Buy calls me back to tell me they made a mistake. They do have Lion! So I asked them if it has the Thunderbolt port. After waiting for a few minutes, they said it has it. So I’m on my way there now. Lol.

So before I board the bus again and take a train trip to Best Buy, care to post your response now? Lol. Seriously, thanks for all the helpful info. : )

Nope sounds great!!!

@the100thmonkey

“Don’t buy Apple. Seriously: there’s only one button on the mouse. It’s intended for stupid people.
”

Actually, there are no buttons on the current mouse…but you can program it to function just like a “regular” two or three-button mouse.

Hee hee!

I’m sorry folks, I just couldn’t resist. There are a thousand different reasons not to buy a Mac, they’re all prefixed with ”$”.

@the100thmonkey and @crisw If you never had a Mac don’t knock it till you have had one. They last and their graphics are far superior than any windows based computer. I had bought a windows based high end laptop and it died less than 3 years later, with issues with the mother board detaching and told its not worth putting money in when you can buy a new one for the same money.

I have a desktop G4 from the late 90’s that still runs faster than my windows ever did and I was never able to properly run my favorite Adobe applications (illustrator and photoshop) once I added the needed virus software. My MacBook Pro is awesome and opens any application including illustrator and photoshop within seconds, can any of you windows lovers say that about yours. Even my windows desktop at work don’t open Excel as quickly as my Mac opens Illustrator which on a windows based platform takes forever to load the brushes. If you like doing any thing that is creative a Mac is the only way to go.

Just a though; why do people assume that all PCs run Windows?

Mac OS X is a Unix-based OS with a pretty interface. That is the reason that OS X is much more virus-resistant than Windows. Mac4Lin will make almost any Linux distro look like OS X.

@creative1 Except for the very latest revision, my $100 GT240 could beat most Macs graphically. Also, I don’t know if you noticed, but a lot of professionals use Linux too. GIMP and Blender are great graphics programs, and for what you pay for a 27” iMac, I can make a pretty hefty Beowulf cluster with a 32” screen and far superior video hardware.
Also, I know of three companies that beat Apple in laptop reliability ;)

@creative1

Believe me, I wasn’t knocking Macs. I’ve been a Mac tech for 9 years, and my first computer was a Mac Plus! I’m typing this right now on my iMac.

@creative1 – the speed with which macbook pros open software is due to the SSD, rather than anything inherently fast about the OS. Compared with a windows machine running an HDD, there’s going to be a massive difference. However, that’s comparing apples and oranges.

My Win7 box on an SSD primary drive boots in less than 25 seconds. My Ubuntu laptop goes from cold start to login screen in 15. That’s on a 1.66GHz single core 1st gen Atom processor too.

I will never by another computer that is in that world again…. went talked into 3 yrs ago the thing died within 3 years and considering my last mac is still going from the late 90’s will tell me what kind of quality is being made. Then you have all the tech support people who can for the life of them fix a computer or diagnose an issue when I can simply go into an apple store and have my computer diagnosed within 20min if an issue exists and it can be fixed usually right on site. I will only by Apple because they stand by their products even on as old as the late 90’s they still now how to make sure its up to date. In the long run of things less than 3 years vs over 15 years with the same computer. Over the course of that time it make the Apple so much cheaper than any window based or linx based system when you spread what you spend on an apple vs the competition you are saving in the end not having to constantly have the headache of buying a brand new computer. I like quality things that will last not a hunk of junk that don’t.

@creative1 I’ve seen enough PCs live that long and enough Macs die young that I must disagree. I will grant that their support is excellent, but their hardware is less reliable than you claim; still in the top five but far from problem free.
As for “up to date”, does your old Mac run OS X? How well does it run the current generation of applications?

That said, the Mac Pro with dual CPUs actually is a decent machine at a decent price, but I have spent less on the last five PCs I’ve owned and the 32” flatscreen I use as a monitor than Apple charges for a low-end iMac, and my current rig has more power too. Yeah, I might need to upgrade again in three or for years to run the latest games, but such is life.

I like quality things that get the job done. That is why I upgrade my PC every few years; unlike my ‘85 Toyota, an obsolete computer can’t get the job done any more. You are not wrong for being an Apple loyalist, but your reasoning runs counter to my experience.

@jerv I’m really impressed with the amount of knowledge you have about these stuff. Wish I have the knack. I think the reason why Apple’s double the price products sell is because they figured out most people do not understand computer tech and would rather not understand it but just, guess what, enjoy. Enjoy how it looks, enjoy how it works. : )

@mazingerz88 I think that Apple sells a product of above-average quality that has the benefit of Jony Ives’ design style. Say what you will about Steve Jobs, but I think that Mr. Ives is the real reason behind Apple’s success.

Apple products look great. The interface is nice eye candy without all of the “extraneous” things that PC users have, and for the average user, the lack of options and functionality isn’t missed. You don’t get that without great industrial design, and guess who designed (or helped design) all that. Granted, Steve Jobs was smart to hire him on, but that doesn’t make him Gawd.

If you want a powerful computer at a decent price, go PC. If you want an easy-to-use computer that looks great and is simplified to the point where even the least little issue requires a trip to the Genius Bar since most of the controls are hidden and don’t care about the fact that the hardware is non-upgradable, go Apple. As a person who does pay attention to the man behind the curtain, PC and Android phones are a natural choice for me.

However, Apple’s tagline for a while was “For the rest of us”, implying that you shouldn’t need skill to use a computer. To an extent, that is true. However, look at how many people wind up in deep shit due to their ignorance. Maybe you get fired for posting a rant against your boss on Facebook and forget that said rant can be read by said boss. Maybe you get your computer infected by malware because you don’t bother to protect yourself. And yes, Macs can get infected! Problems that could be solved by a little learning that most people not only don’t do, but are willing to pay a premium to avoid doing.

So it boils down to what is important to you. I value bang-for-the-buck, avoiding obsolescence, hardware reliability, software compatibility, and ease of maintenance/repair. Mac users generally value ease of use and good look over all else. Linux users are willing to sacrifice a little ease and compatibility for a lot more power. and reliability. It’s all about priorities.

Agree! Once again thanks for that bit of info. Never heard of Jony Ives till now. In the mid-90’s when I first took notice of Macs, it was the color of the computer that got to me. Don’t know if Mr. Ives was there already. It’s eye candy and I’m a sucker for that. Btw, any CEO is the closest thing to a Gawd at least in his company. Lol. Think it was Lee Iacocca who said the only talent he had which benefited Chrysler, which led to its successful reemergence, was the ability to pick the right people to work with him. Once you pick the right ones, you’re gold.

Also like to get all the bang I could get for the buck, who doesn’t? It’s just that my patience and abilities to absorb all these specifications are just douchey. : )