Mac Book Air 2017 €849.95

Frank_1969

Today only...€12.50 delivery
http://www.ibood.com/ie/en/

dingding

Good savings, just to be aware it has a US keyboard.

drunkmonkey

This has been around €700 on a good few sites lately. https://www.eglobalcentral.co.uk/apple-macbook-air-13.3-dual-core-i5-1.8ghz-8gb-128gb-silver-mqd32-us-keyboard.html

ED E

Gonna ship from the US and screw you for import tax like Groupon have done before?

trompele

drunkmonkey wrote: »

This has been around €700 on a good few sites lately. https://www.eglobalcentral.co.uk/apple-macbook-air-13.3-dual-core-i5-1.8ghz-8gb-128gb-silver-mqd32-us-keyboard.html

im looking to buy one, is this site trustworthy?

Sync

trompele wrote: »

im looking to buy one, is this site trustworthy?

They ship from Hong Kong I think, so you'll most likely get hit with duty on it

Davy

trompele wrote: »

im looking to buy one, is this site trustworthy?

It was on Amazon.co.uk for £670 recently so I would hold out for another option personally.

Farmer Bob

Frank_1969 wrote: »

Today only...€12.50 delivery

23% VAT on computer hardware coming from Hong Kong (or anywhere outside the EU)

€(849.95 + 12.50) + 23% = €1060

So basically the same price you'd pay for one in an Irish shop or from Apple themselves...

deadl0ck

eGlobalcentral have the import covered in the cost as far as I know. There's a good thread on the mobile phones below 300 Euro and they are mentioned a lot: Linky

I bought my LG V20 off them and didn't get hit for tax - took 2 weeks to arrive though

trompele

I just ordered one for 600 pounds via Tobydeals. I will keep you posted if i receive it at all

thereality

Davy wrote: »

It was on Amazon.co.uk for £670 recently so I would hold out for another option personally.

A lot of the ones on amazon UK super cheaply are grey imports from Canada. I look into it before

There is still a risk of getting hit with the tax on it

Farmer Bob

deadl0ck wrote: »

eGlobalcentral have the import covered in the cost as far as I know.

Most people would need something more definite than "as far as I know" before dropping the bones of 700 quid.

You can't get a refurbished 2017 MacBook Air for £620 (let alone a new one), so as a full and final price this falls into the "too good to be true" category. If you go on the eGlobal Central site and add it to the shopping cart it states that shipping is 6-8 days so most likely coming from the Far East. From reading up on them on other forums, their tracking numbers relate to Hong Kong Post and their return address is a P.O. box in Hong Kong - make of that what you will...

There is no mention on their website of them covering any import costs, so I'd get clarification before buying.

deadl0ck wrote: »

I bought my LG V20 off them and didn't get hit for tax - took 2 weeks to arrive though

I'm risk averse when spending more than a couple of hundred on electronics - mostly for warranty reasons, but tax too when buying from outside the EU. Some people don't mind the gamble, good luck to them.

Davy

thereality wrote: »

A lot of the ones on amazon UK super cheaply are grey imports from Canada. I look into it before

There is still a risk of getting hit with the tax on it

I was talking about a new item shipped from Amazon in the UK and not a third party seller.

GeneralC

Any updates?

9de5q7tsr8u2im

Fishy website not chancing it

trompele

I will post updates on my order as soon as i get any feedback. Placed order on Wednesday last week, order still showing "processing".

NUTZZ

trompele wrote: »

I will post updates on my order as soon as i get any feedback. Placed order on Wednesday last week, order still showing "processing".

You will have no issues. I have used them for years, and while technically a grey market website, they are very reliable and professional. They refunded me one time when an item was out of stock after I had ordered it and notified me as soon as it was back in stock so I could purchase it.

Even as a pretty big Apple fan, this laptop is still overpriced at €849 for the hardware and specs. The 5th generation Intel chips and the 1440x900 resolution are deal breakers for me. This will more than likely be the last iteration of the MacBook Air.

Farmer Bob

NUTZZ wrote: »

Even as a pretty big Apple fan, this laptop is still overpriced at €849 for the hardware and specs. The 5th generation Intel chips and the 1440x900 resolution are deal breakers for me. This will more than likely be the last iteration of the MacBook Air.

I don’t understand this attitude. It’s bit like saying a BMW is overpriced compared to a Dacia... They both have four wheels and an engine, so why would anyone pay a premium?

It’s the cheapest (or ‘most affordable’, if you prefer) way into owning an Apple laptop and I guarantee you 99.9% of people who buy them don’t care what generation processor is inside. They also hold their value really well; buy one for a grand, use it for three years and it’s still worth €600. You can’t say the same for a Dell or Lenovo...

WellyJ

Farmer Bob wrote: »

I don’t understand this attitude. It’s bit like saying a BMW is overpriced compared to a Dacia... They both have four wheels and an engine, so why would anyone pay a premium?

It’s the cheapest (or ‘most affordable’, if you prefer) way into owning an Apple laptop and I guarantee you 99.9% of people who buy them don’t care what generation processor is inside. They also hold their value really well; buy one for a grand, use it for three years and it’s still worth €600. You can’t say the same for a Dell or Lenovo...

Your analogy makes no sense here. The BMW is going to outperform the Dacia in every tangible department and contain superior quality parts throughout. There's myriad of options for cheaper that will far outperform some of these MacBooks with better processors etc. The Apple premium isn't the same as the BMW premium. You're getting nothing for the extra cost other than a name and resell value. And they look pretty of course.

Alanstrainor

Farmer Bob wrote: »

I don’t understand this attitude. It’s bit like saying a BMW is overpriced compared to a Dacia... They both have four wheels and an engine, so why would anyone pay a premium?

It’s the cheapest (or ‘most affordable’, if you prefer) way into owning an Apple laptop and I guarantee you 99.9% of people who buy them don’t care what generation processor is inside. They also hold their value really well; buy one for a grand, use it for three years and it’s still worth €600. You can’t say the same for a Dell or Lenovo...

I like Macbooks, I want a Macbook Pro. I'll probably pull the trigger this year. But he's right.

The Macbook Air is old at this point, it's surprising to me that they still sell it. It's outdated in almost every way. Low res screen, old processor, huge screen bezels, and all wrapped in a package that makes it impossible to upgrade in the future. It's not a an argument about how much of a rip off Apple is, it's valid. This machine is old school and still commanding a fairly serious price tag.

The Air was effectively replaced by the confusingly named "Macbook", thin and light with USB C. If anyone is considering this I would recommend making sure that this is the best price you can get, and keep in mind that it's never going to be the fastest machine around. I'm not looking to put down anyone who has bought this deal, you'll enjoy it. But there are a lot of arguments against it.

frozenfrozen

WellyJ wrote: »

Your analogy makes no sense here. The BMW is going to outperform the Dacia in every tangible department and contain superior quality parts throughout. There's myriad of options for cheaper that will far outperform some of these MacBooks with better processors etc. The Apple premium isn't the same as the BMW premium. You're getting nothing for the extra cost other than a name and resell value. And they look pretty of course.

I bought a macbook air in 2011/2012, it's still in daily use. So they look pretty and last a long time...

NUTZZ

Farmer Bob wrote: »

It’s the cheapest (or ‘most affordable’, if you prefer) way into owning an Apple laptop and I guarantee you 99.9% of people who buy them don’t care what generation processor is inside.

I was going to give an informed reply until I saw a guarantee on a made up statistic.

My point was that this particular MacBook Air, in this moment, is overpriced for what it is, even inside the Apple universe with badge included. As a MacBook Pro user for the last 10 years I'm fully aware of the premium you pay for their products and their resale value

beauf

What would you be upgrading? I think its still a decent machine.

The old macbook air is considerable cheaper has more ports. The res is enough on a 13" especially if you don't have super eyesight. its also a 13" vs a 12"
Performance will be similar https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=3052&cmp[]=2530&cmp[]=2873
Most people might prefer the port choice 2x (3.0) regular USB, 1xThunderbolt and a Card reader.
https://everymac.com/ultimate-mac-comparison-chart/?compare=all-current-macs&highlight=0&prod1=MacBookAir032&prod2=MacBook028&prod3=MacBook029

The new 12" Macbook is lighter, faster better screen and can be ordered in a higher spec (even more expensive).
It will also be supported longer by Apple.

beauf

NUTZZ wrote: »

... this particular MacBook Air, in this moment, is overpriced for what it is, even inside the Apple universe...

Why is it overpriced.

Farmer Bob

NUTZZ wrote: »

I was going to give an informed reply until I saw a guarantee on a made up statistic.

It's an expression, a phrase. You take everything so literally?

Could you make an informed reply if I wrote something like:
"100% of the people in this thread who expressed a desire to buy one of these laptops made no mention of being dissatisfied with the processor generation or other hardware features..."?? :eek:

Although that's pretty much the same as what I wrote earlier (if you don't take a figure of speech literally, you know...):
"I guarantee you 99.9% of people who buy them don’t care what generation processor is inside."

NUTZZ wrote: »

... this particular MacBook Air, in this moment, is overpriced for what it is, even inside the Apple universe...

beauf wrote: »

Why is it overpriced.

Because he says so, apparently. :cool:

beauf

I was half thinking of one myself. But I'd go for the older one because of the port selection and the bigger screen. But then at that price I'd probably get something decent in the Windows world.

trompele

I selected MacBook air as my ipad replacement device. I found that i'm using Ipad in very passive way, browsing webs and watching netflix. I wanted to have light portable device with good battery life, quiet fan and MacOSX. I'm not planning to play games or edit video on it. Mostly editing, coding etc. Selection of ports and Magsafe also is a deal breaker for me when choosing between Air and Macbook

GeneralC

I have a 2o1o MBP and it's still going strong! Not an ounce of problems with it!

Pique

GeneralC wrote:

I have a 2o1o MBP and it's still going strong! Not an ounce of problems with it!

Apart from maybe the 0 key.

yoshimitsu

One rough way to look at it:

-> cost of Windows laptop = sum of component costs + casing + Windows license + whatever margins the OEM makes (DELL, HP, Lenovo, etc make anywhere from 4% to 10% profit margins)

-> cost of an Apple laptop = all of the above except for the Windows license and the profit margins (~20% avg; between 15-28% in the last few years)

There's no doubt that Apple's pricing power is unrivaled in the consumer electronics/IT industry (one of the reasons why it's the world's most valuable company in terms of market capitalization - almost $1 trillion) and that at identical configurations you pay a ~20% premium on an Apple laptop. But there is also an element of the value the consumer attributes to the operating system/user experience. It may not justify the entire difference in price but it's conceivable that one would pay a premium for OSX vs Windows.

Full disclosure: I have a mid-2012 Macbook Air (my first Mac ever). Still going strong after 5 years. Waiting for the price of a 1TB SSD + 16GB RAM Macbook pro to come down before making the upgrade

GeneralC

Pique wrote: »

Apart from maybe the 0 key.

Yeah, the zero key won't work for me! It only happened when I updated the OSX, strangely.

Farmer Bob

GeneralC wrote: »

Yeah, the zero key won't work for me! It only happened when I updated the OSX, strangely.

Could be something in your Accessibility settings... Does 0 work if you plug in a USB keyboard?

GeneralC

Farmer Bob wrote: »

Could be something in your Accessibility settings... Does 0 work if you plug in a USB keyboard?

Yes! I've been trying to mess about with it to get it to function but I can't seem to find how to get working again. I am now using a keyboard attached via USB it works fine 0000 but when I detach it from the laptop, it won't work.

Catmologen

yoshimitsu wrote: »

Full disclosure: I have a mid-2012 Macbook Air (my first Mac ever). Still going strong after 5 years. Waiting for the price of a 1TB SSD + 16GB RAM Macbook pro to come down before making the upgrade

FYI the 2012 model can be user upgraded to this spec, it’s really easy and takes about 10 minutes. There’s plenty of guides online.

garyskeepers

Catmologen wrote: »

FYI the 2012 model can be user upgraded to this spec, it’s really easy and takes about 10 minutes. There’s plenty of guides online.

can it? is the ram soldered in ?

bk

Catmologen wrote: »

FYI the 2012 model can be user upgraded to this spec, it’s really easy and takes about 10 minutes. There’s plenty of guides online.

Not the Retina display, cpu, gpu, etc. Hell even the ram isn't the same type!

So while it might be a decent upgrade to keep an old machine going another year or two. It certainly wouldn't touch a new mac book pro.

Farmer Bob

1Tb SSD for a 2012 MacBook Air is about $500 from OWC, probably not the best use of money. Unless someone else is paying for it of course....

Catmologen

garyskeepers wrote: »

Catmologen wrote: »

FYI the 2012 model can be user upgraded to this spec, it’s really easy and takes about 10 minutes. There’s plenty of guides online.

can it? is the ram soldered in ?

Ram and HDD arent soldered in.

Farmer Bob

Catmologen wrote: »

Ram and HDD arent soldered in.

The RAM is soldered on the motherboard. It can't be changed.

garyskeepers

it is or it isnt


calling an expert please

im assuming the macbook pro RAM can be upgraded by just popping in another stick ?

Doodah7

Go to ifixit.com and put in the model number of the Macbook you are interested in. You will see instantly what can and cannot be modded for any particular model, the difficulty of the mod, the parts and tools needed and how long it will take.

Simples.

Alanstrainor

garyskeepers wrote: »

it is or it isnt


calling an expert please

im assuming the macbook pro RAM can be upgraded by just popping in another stick ?

No it cannot. None of the Macbook (laptop) line up can be upgraded. All of them have RAM soldered to the board. Storage is possible to upgrade, but it's costly. It uses weird proprietary connectors which are not readily available.

I wouldn't go into any Mac purchase with a need to upgrade storage right away. I would want it to be out of any kind of warranty before I went opening it up.

beauf

garyskeepers wrote: »

...

calling an expert please

im assuming the macbook pro RAM can be upgraded by just popping in another stick ?

You'd have to be more specific about which exact model.

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/index-macbookpro.html
https://everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook-air/index-macbook-air.html

Pelvis

Alanstrainor wrote: »

No it cannot. None of the Macbook (laptop) line up can be upgraded. All of them have RAM soldered to the board. Storage is possible to upgrade, but it's costly. It uses weird proprietary connectors which are not readily available.

I wouldn't go into any Mac purchase with a need to upgrade storage right away. I would want it to be out of any kind of warranty before I went opening it up.

This must be a new thing? I had a 2008 Macbook and was able to upgrade the ram.

Damo 2k9

Pelvis wrote: »

This must be a new thing? I had a 2008 Macbook and was able to upgrade the ram.

Early Macbook Pro's can be upgraded, both HDD and RAM. The macbook air cant.

beauf

Pelvis wrote: »

This must be a new thing? I had a 2008 Macbook and was able to upgrade the ram.

Since the end of 2016.

Farmer Bob

garyskeepers wrote: »

it is or it isnt


calling an expert please

im assuming the macbook pro RAM can be upgraded by just popping in another stick ?

MacBook Air RAM hasn't been upgradeable since the Core2Duo days. MacBook Air != MacBook Pro.

Alanstrainor

Pelvis wrote: »

This must be a new thing? I had a 2008 Macbook and was able to upgrade the ram.

That was 10 years ago... lots of things have changed since then!

The RAM issue has been present for years. All Macbook Pro Retinas as they were known were like this (since 2012). And even the SSDs they came with weird connectors from this time. There's nothing new here.

trompele

As I promised I will give you an update on buying Air via www.tobydeals.com.
I ordered Macbook Air 2017, 128 GB via them on 19 of Jan. It was 615£ including insured delivery.
For over two weeks status on the order was showing "processing". I checked with them via email at some time to get some update, they said that device is in transit. On Feb 1st, I got email update from them that item is being "packed". Next day got email with DPD tracking number. Device arrived today (7th) and it is exactly what I ordered. MacBook Air, US keyboard, 128 GB. Charger has Asian plugs, but not an issue for me.
In the end I saved more than 400E considering RRP.
What is important that I did not pay any extra charges, duties etc.
I believe they ship items to their warehouse in the Uk and relabelling it to ship locally.
I won't tell you whether you should use them or not, it worked out pretty well for me. I wasn't in the hurry and I was ready to accept 1 month of delay in delivery.

garyskeepers

trompele wrote: »

I won't tell you whether you should use them or not, it worked out pretty well for me. I wasn't in the hurry and I was ready to accept 1 month of delay in delivery.

wow,,, thats an amazing site,, for instance,,, this is more or the less the same machine.. and the difference in price is crazy...

In argos its €3399.00 - ARGOS

and on Tobydeals its 2206.00 Tobys

thats almost 1200 quid savings

yoshimitsu

trompele wrote: »

As I promised I will give you an update on buying Air via www.tobydeals.com.
I ordered Macbook Air 2017, 128 GB via them on 19 of Jan. It was 615£ including insured delivery.
For over two weeks status on the order was showing "processing". I checked with them via email at some time to get some update, they said that device is in transit. On Feb 1st, I got email update from them that item is being "packed". Next day got email with DPD tracking number. Device arrived today (7th) and it is exactly what I ordered. MacBook Air, US keyboard, 128 GB. Charger has Asian plugs, but not an issue for me.
In the end I saved more than 400E considering RRP.
What is important that I did not pay any extra charges, duties etc.
I believe they ship items to their warehouse in the Uk and relabelling it to ship locally.
I won't tell you whether you should use them or not, it worked out pretty well for me. I wasn't in the hurry and I was ready to accept 1 month of delay in delivery.

Mixed reviews on TrustPilot (I spotted yours by the way )... it's clear these guys are not the masters of logistics but I wonder if people write bad reviews because they havent received their order, then eventually they do but never go back to update it.
There are few reviews of products breaking/not working property but dont know how much this is TobyDeal's fault or not.
I'd like to buy an iPhone 7 from them but not clear what version you're getting and if 4G will work here in Ireland.
Would paying with Paypal cover your purchase even if it takes them 4 weeks+ to deliver?