Re: Quick question re. purchasing laptops
 

Best advice!

I was really confused after I'd counted out all my weird canadian money the first time I went to buy something and they charged me more than what I'd prepared!

Re: Quick question re. purchasing laptops
 

Its generally cheaper in Canada I found. USA is a bigger market and its next door so electronic goods will be a little cheaper.

I bought a Macbook pro in Calgary and tax was only 5%. The equivalent here in the UK cost a lot more.

Re: Quick question re. purchasing laptops
 

You can bootcamp a mac and run Windows and Mac OS.

If you check their refurbed macs for sale on their website you could find a deal.

Re: Quick question re. purchasing laptops
 

jumping in a bit late now but I believe Apple has a pricing structure in place to make their products the same price throughout the world. There might be little differences with exchange rates fluctuating and tax prices (i.e if you buy tax free etc) but most of the time you will find products the same.

Saying that I used to work at Futureshop and there was always a ton of Apple computers returned so you can buy them open box for a nice discount..I would highly recommend doing this, I did it and its as if buying new but with no plasitc seal. There is little to 0% mark up on Apple products either so they often sell open box products to you at a loss, it costs them more having them in the inventory.

Generally if you want a cheap laptop thats not Apple branded (i.e Acer) it will be cheaper here in Canada, follow their flyers and website as they often have sales. Ive seen very basic 15 inch Acers start at $279.99.

Re: Quick question re. purchasing laptops
 

Bootcamp works very well. But why tarnish your nice Mac's hard drive :D

Re: Quick question re. purchasing laptops
 

Ditto on a refurbished Mac

Buy a Mac and only buy it from the Apple store by scrolling down to the Special Deals area under "refurbished". The refurbished Mac's are the cheapest price you will get anywhere - trust me, I did a lot of research into it with looking into Future Shop, Costco, London Drugs, etc.

Don't worry about it being refurbished as they come with the exact same one year warranty as the all the other ones. I've bought three laptops and several Ipods this way and have never had any issues.

Mac's are so much the way to go for personal use.

Re: Quick question re. purchasing laptops
 

This is taken straight from Apples website:

UK Price for 21.5" iMac is 999 GBP ($1606 CAD)

CAD Price $1199.
Each Province has difference tax rates but even here in NS where we get screwed over with 15%, the price is still only $1379.
In Alberta, where GST is 5%, it's $1259.


As I said, Apple products are much cheaper here in Canada than in the UK.

Re: Quick question re. purchasing laptops
 

How much tax are you paying? 13% (HST payable in Ontario) takes the Canadian price to $1411.37, current exchange rates take the UK price to $1615. Seems like a decent enough difference to me!

I agree, if you're buying apple, go for refurbished or open box. Warranties are still intact either way. At least they were with my ipod.

For other brands, there's generally a sale on something somewhere most weeks , Future Shop, Best Buy (same company), Staples, The Source.

Re: Quick question re. purchasing laptops
 

Why?

I see no significant advantage to buying a Mac other than saying you have a Mac?
Mac software is overpriced and hardware is overpriced for what it actually does,
The only plus for Apple products is that if you have a list of Apple products such as iphones, ipads and AppleTV its integrates well… other than that you paying a lot for a brand image…

Re: Quick question re. purchasing laptops
 

Agree completely, Apple control the prices, consequently are over priced compared to PCs, the only real difference is maybe some visual design appearances. There is more PC software than Mac, it is updated more frequently (other than graphics software, which PC and Mac are about the same). The only Apple product I like is the ipad, it is a great tool to use my new GPS software on as it is also touch screen, same as my Garmin GTN750.

Re: Quick question re. purchasing laptops
 

Agreed, another reason why we won't be purchasing a MAC....sorry but I hate the iPad, which I'm using to type this message. In my opnion it's an overpriced piece of crud that doesn't have flash player or usb socket....and typing on it is frustrating to say the least. My son received it as a gift from grandparents but it's been passed to me because he'd rather use his PC.....it ain't the apple of my eye.....

Re: Quick question re. purchasing laptops
 

Viruses, trojans, etc.

I'm on a PC for work every day and for engineering and the programs we run, it's the way to go and 'cus I know my way around one I use to have a PC at home for home use. As the kids got older, they each had PC's 'cus I knew more about them but with surfing the net, I starting spending way too much time fixing them. And yes you can all the greatest anti-virus software like we do at work but they still get in.

I decided to try Mac's for my teenage daughters first, yes they were pricey but in the three years they've had them, I haven't had one problem with them. I've been on a Mac myself for two years for personal use, surfing, downloading, photo editing, website construction, etc. and I've never had a problem and I haven't come across anything that I can't do on a Mac that I could on a PC. For the record, most of the guys in our engineering office are the same - PC for work and a Mac for play - they were the ones that convinced me try one.

And by the way, I'm not big on "brands" so that doesn't factor into the equation. I am Scottish though and yes I'm cheap, so if I'm going to pay a premium for something it better bloody well perform and the Mac has exceeded my expectations and was well worth what I paid for it.

Re: Quick question re. purchasing laptops
 

Agreed they are for some and not for others.

Reasons to go for a Mac (laptop specifically)

- Very hard to get a virus - having had PC's prior to 2010 I would get some form of a virus/malware flag up every few months. Since having a Mac not once. Exact the same for everyone else I know who has one.

- Materials & Parts - Macbook Pros are made from one piece of aluminium, drop this and the casing isnt going to break (internals might not not the outer part) it also doesnt warp. I have had multiple laptops in the past that get stress cracks, warp and crack just with basic wear and tear. Very annoying.

- Software (OS) - Windows computers DO slow down noticably with use, it cant be helped, it is because of the way Windows was designed. Windows knows and acknowledges this (new Windows 8 has one touch restore button to re-install basic OS system to restore speed) Macs slow, but it isnt noticeable. For everyday use this is ideal.

Reasons not to get a Mac,

Price - Alot higher than PC's.
Software availability - getting better, especially with Bootcamp.
Familiarity - Used to Windows, cant handle the change

My personal opinion there are two kinds of people best suite to Mac.
- Digital Artists using high end Adobe and Mac native software
- Basic users who Surf internet, listen to music and download/watch movies

Mid end users who use random bits of software and Gamers are not suited to Macs at all.

Re: Quick question re. purchasing laptops
 

My iMac still works as well and as fast now as it did when I bought it 5 years ago.

For that reason alone, it's worth every penny in my opinion.

I've never had a laptop or PC that has been able to last 5 years and still be in decent shape.

Re: Quick question re. purchasing laptops
 

100% agree. One of the biggest reasons alone.

Futureshop will charge you upwards of $150 to remove viruses if you dont know how to do it yourself - this is ALOT of people. Factor this over mutliple years/PC's and its a no-brainer.

I know investing in a Apple product is seen as overpriced, but your not just paying for the brand name it genuinely is a product that 'works' and will continue to do so without issues for 5 years + Try finding a PC that does this.