slawecki

wife has an iMac core 2 duo (2.4Ghz). what is the best way to sell it(cheap), while acquiring a new i 5. how best to acquire the i5.

best buy has a 2 and a 4 year warranty. are those add on to the factory 1 year? are they mac warranties or Best Buy warranties.

the only item i ever purchased from best buy with complete satisfaction was a cold 20oz coke from the machine. all other transactions have been horror stories. the coke, by the way, was overpriced......

SRQ Guy

From what I can see, the ONLY sensible way to buy a Mac is to buy a refurb from Apple.com. The savings are huge and Apple factory refurbs are truly indistinguishable from new.

As for selling your old one, I would use ebay but YMMV.

9Benua

Selling: Craiglist, screen your buyer carefully.

Buying: I bought my mac stuff from bestbuy taking advantage of their 18 months 0% financing and some rewards point. I don't buy warranty nor apple protection.

dtsm

I stopped selling larger ticket items - eBay holds funds in escrow and lots of dishonest buyers out there these days. They'll blackmail or hold your funds ransom. Why not consider a donation? And don't forget to either reformat HD or zero out at least 7 [preferably 35] times with disk utility.

As far as purchase, refurb apple or amazon.com if customization not needed.

Dunbar

I'd say sell it on Craigslist or check what Best Buy or Amazon will give you. I'm about to sell my IPad 1 (16gb wifi) and Amazon will give me $215 for it which is not much less than I could get on Craiglist for it. That said, I've never had a problem selling stuff on Craigslist.

planemechanic

The best thing to do is wait. They are extremely close to releasing the next generation of iMac's according to this link:

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#iMac

The average between new models is about 9 1/2 months, and they are about to hit the 12 month mark.

squeakr

you can get some $$ for trade and usually free shipping. Plus you keep the machine till you get the new one so you can transfer whatever you want. Plus no sales tax! They will sell you a box and foam etc to send it back in if you are truly lazy.
I've bought almost all my macs from them (all but one and that one was a problem) and am very happy with their service and prices.

www.powermax.com

slawecki

i have now read that the next gen of imac is probably going to be intorduced in june or so. other than a new innovation, non-glare screen, any guess as to additions. any posibility of usb 3.0? or do i just buy her a 2011? she is not a "power" user.

planemechanic

Rumor is a new 32" screen option and USB 3.0

slawecki

reference? i did not find either.

SRQ Guy

I'd be surprised by USB 3.0. Apple is pushing Thunderbolt hard.

planemechanic

http://www.appletruthandrumors.com/r...tv-aka-ipanel/

This was not the site I originally saw the rumor, but it was one site I saw after a quick search.

phillyjoe

I have a really good strategy with my Mac computers, especially the laptops. As I re-read your post, you specifically mention the iMac, which is a desk top. What follows is basically for the macBook Pro laptops.

My dealer (Apple authorized dealer, but NOT an Apple store) always offers me a trade-in value of $400 to $450 for my 3 year old laptops. He will clean these up and resell for $500-$600. I buy the new MacBook (typically around $1100) and the 3-year Apple care policy. You can get the Apple Care cheaply on eBay, but my dealer usually matches the current ebay price. That is because he gets a deal from Apple if a high percentage of his new computer sales include apple care. So everybody is happy.

The math:
net cost of the new macbook
purchase $1100
tax $66
trade -$400
applecare $150
==========
Out of pocket $916.00

Since the applecare covers virtually everything for 3 year (including free phone help with connecting non-apple peripherals and software), this breaks down to about $25 per month. This gives me a very recent laptop with full coverage for about 81 cents per day. I've been doing this for 12 years now.

wco81

If nothing else, you get faster chips and maybe bigger hard drive and more RAM at the same prices.

But if they make more major changes, like a larger screen, then the price levels may change.

aster

That's what I was thinking, but if they still decide to include USB ports then leaving the old ones might be a marketing mistake ("here's the new imac that still uses old usb ports").