Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Mac Happens

Buying an iMac

19 February 1999 - Evan Kleiman

Okay, so you've seen it, you've tried it, you like it.

Now you want one.

You want your every own iMac for your home. You see many places advertising it, but you're incredibly overwhelmed with the options. So today I'll help you figure out what's the best deal for you.

First, gather up all of your ads. Some places selling the iMac that you probably have in your area are Best Buy, CompUSA, Club Mac, Mac Warehouse, and MacMall. The last three places mentioned are mail order stores, which means as long as you have a phone and a mailbox you can get an iMac.

Now we get to probably the hardest part, the color. The new iMac comes in five colors: lime, tangerine, grape, strawberry, and blueberry. The original iMac comes only in Bondi Blue. You have a very small chance of getting a blueberry or grape iMac before March. All of the stores are back ordered on these computers by at least 200 orders. Lime, tangerine, and strawberry are also back ordered, but you'll be able to get your hands on one in 1-2 weeks. This is because these colors aren't quite as popular. Personally, I still feel confident in my choice of lime. And there are still many of the Bondi's still in stock, so you'll have a good shot at getting one.

So now that we're done with the color, you need to decide where to buy one. First, decide if you want to get yours from a store or a catalog. In a store, you'll be able to pick up your computer. You won't have to worry about shipping, and you'll actually get to see the person who you order it from.

But there's also some advantage to buying from a catalog. All of the catalogs offer some type of incentive if you buy from them. Some offer free memory (but look to pay 20-30 dollars to have it installed), others also offer free scanners and other peripherals. Also, many of these stores offer discounts that they are not advertising. Club Mac and Mac Mall both offer a 50-60 dollar(U.S.) discount. But this might change - the discount was only 20-30 dollars a few weeks ago. Also, the people in the catalogs tend to be more knowledgeable than the employees at regular computer stores, since they don't specialize in only Macs.

But also consider the shipping. Shipping in the U.S. will cost you about 35 dollars via two-day FedEx or UPS. Shipping outside the U.S. will cost a bit more. Also, you need to remember many people order from the catalogs, so they might be back ordered a bit.

But before you order, call. Many places will change what they have advertised, so shop around before you spend 1200 dollars. Also, remember, don't buy a lime iMac just because I bought one, remember we Mac users like to "Think Different" (ha ha). So now you'll be able to get the most Mac for your buck.

Latest Deals on Low End Mac

More links in our archive.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Mac Happens copyright 1999-2000 by Evan Kleiman. � Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2010 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.