mini mac from canada

[hornydragon]

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1440773
Found out today my flatmate may be going out to canada to work for a month in a couple of weeks so how much could i save if he bought a mini mac out there for me? Anyone got links to good mac sites? I would probably want it to be paid for on My CC and delivered to him at work or hotel if possible.... any links appreciated. either basic model or superdrive unit will upgrade RAM with some crucial mysefl i think.

 

[hornydragon]

OK th UK price is £479.00 for the 1.25Ghz 40GB with super drive and airport + Bluetooth
Will Airport work on any b/g wireless system?
Can i use any old Bluetooth/USB keyboard and mouse?
£479.00 for UK unit
$888 CAD = £383.00 (using XE.com)
US price is even lower (ex sales tax?) does canada do the stupid sales tax thing?
£383.oo is a lot of money...............................hmmmm anyone got an opinion?

 

[cwick]

Airport will work fine on anything (mine works with Linksys, for example).

Canada has sales tax (two taxes I think), but both can be claimed back after the event - just make sure the receipt gets stamped on the way out of Canadian customs, otherwise you're screwed.

Then hope he doesn't get stopped coming back thru UK customs !

 

[ancientgeek]

Apple's normal practice is to sell 110V only machines in N America (except portables) to prevent grey importing. But according to apple.com, mini has universal power, so you should be OK.

Stocks of mini may be limited. Currently on 3 week lead time.

You'll have trouble doing it with a UK credit card delivered to a Canadian hotel. Better to enlist the help of Canadian colleague with CC , or go to a shop.

Any old USB/bluetooth keyboard/mouse should be fine. Scroll wheel and multi buttons automatically recognised by Mac. (I use Logitech MX310 & MX900) No need to install drivers. Also syncs with bluetooth phones.

Personally, I'd just get bluetooth (no superdrive or airport) and a network cable if keeping costs down. But I would stick in a Crucial 512M module.

OS X is incredibly stable - I last rebooted 19 days ago, and I currently have 17 applications running; there's no point in shutting down or quitting apps; just use sleep; it takes ten seconds or so from clicking the mouse to fully awake.

 

[M.A.S]

That looks like a BTO spec HD and might be hard to get from anywhere other than apple, most resellers only sell the standard spec models. (i think) Also the US apple store states 2-3 weeks shipping time on the mini, add BTO options and thats a v long wait!

Can you not get your mate to nip over the boarder on his day off to an apple store?! if so you could pick-up the 1.25GHz for £267.98 and the 1.42GHz for £321.68 (conversion exact at time of post!) If you wanted Airport and BT then you could just add them via USB plug-in's. (agreed this is not ideal) and if your friend can visit an apple store in the US they might have different spec mini's with AE and BT included?

Another option is, do you know anyone in education or a teacher? if so then they can get a discount. (about 9%) I got my 17" PowerBook while i was at Uni and got john lewis to price match the edu discount price. (they didn't even check if i was a student!) I would offer but am no longer a student

 

[hornydragon]

thanks acient greek where i want to use this it would need to be wireless and would prefer it to be internal and not USB......He will be near calgary so I'll see if tehre is a MAC store local this may or may not happen as I'm a bit short at the moment but seems a wasted oppertunity if the saving is enough......

 

[Matt Horne]

Why not buy in the uk and get someone to order whose eleigble for the edu discount (about 8%)

Just ordered mine : 1.4 + 80gb + bt and airport + 512 ram £487 inc vat/del

cheers

Matt