Hey all,

I'm looking to get the new MacBook for my girlfriend for Christmas. I was wondering if anyone knows of any coupons or coupon codes or other places to buy it instead of through Apple.com or through their retail store.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Apple products are rarely if ever discounted. Your best bet is probably to go through a store that is offering a gift card with purchase or something.

Keep an eye on dealmac. Amazon typically offers rebates with the Macs they sell. You could also save a considerable amount by going with a refurbished system from Apple's online store; I could have sworn I saw one of the new Core 2 Duo models on there earlier today, but they only have the previous model Core Duos listed right now.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I'd rather not say "Merry Christmas" and hand her a refurbished item.

Any other ideas out there?

You know anyone that's a student? that's 20% off there.

I've bought from macmall before - they are currently having a holiday sale with some good deals.

http://www.macmall.com/macmall/holiday/

They offer free products (after MIR) and the rebate checks come back pretty quickly.

If you know any college students or university employees, get them to tag along with you to the Apple store and use their $200-300 discount. The savings are comparable to Mac Mall prices. Mac Mall is cheaper if you take the freebies into account. For example, right now they are offering Parallels for $9.99 with any new Mac, that's $70 off retail. (A few weeks ago it was FREE, but their computers were on backorder)

Thanks for the additional information on student discounts (I'm a grad student). Can anyone confirm that I can get the discount if I were to go into their retail store?

On another note, which forum should I go to ask about whether or not to purchase the $249 3-year AppleCare protection plan?

You can get it cheaper (and legally) on eBay, or even through one of the smaller Mac vendors like MegaMacs. When it comes to laptops, I wouldn't give it a second thought, especially with Apple's track record on iBooks.

are you saying that I shouldn't buy the plan since they make reliable laptops or that I should buy the plan since they are known to fail?

runner001,

to answer your question about student discount, You can go the apple retail store and get the discount as well.If I am not mistaken you just need to show them your school ID card or something. Even if you are going to a school in a different state and want to buy it from a state where you are visiting or anything like that it still applies.
And if you want a forum to ask more questions regarding Macbook. Check out macrumours.com and go to their forum. You will find a lot of inofrmation there.

I am saying that I personally would spring for the extended warranty on any laptop, Mac or not, but I am also saying that I have seen a number of issues with Apple's older models (especially the G3 iBooks and G4 Titanium PowerBooks). I have no firsthand experience with any of the Intel models, though.

I've owned many Macs and I've always bought AppleCare. It is fantastic. Not becasue things go wrong a lot (but every once in a while they do), but it's a great resource when you're trying to do something that you're not sure how about. (How do I install this? How do I change this? How do I set that? And so on. Just call the number and they'll walk you through it.

Definitely get the AppleCare.

neale, you can call them for a tutorial on the preinstalled programs? that sounds like a deal then since my GF will most likely need that help using their video editing software that's included.

After some searching, I think I'm going to go with the 2.0GHz Macbook from Amazon. Its the best price available (unless someone has it on sale closer to Christmas time) and they don't charge TAX, which could be used to purchase the AppleCare.