<p>Anyone else disappointed with Apple cutting back on their back to school deal? Every other year they have given a free printer, an Ipod, and a nice discount for students before they go off to school This year it is a 100 credit at the app store. Wow, not very impressed. </p>
<p>We have always been PC people but the kids want macs. The deals they used to offer made them a little more palatable to spend the extra money, now.....not so much. There are so many nice PC's now like some of the Dell's that I really can't justify spending the extra on a product that doesn't seem better to me, is proprietary and the customer service people tick me off every time we try to deal with them. </p>
<p>Not me. 100 off at the app store sounds like a good deal. We are a Mac family - way less trouble, viruses, issues with macs, and I think they are worth a premium over non Mac products. JMHO!</p>
<p>I don’t. I’ve used Macs and PCs nearly every day for years, and far prefer the Mac. Since the Apple Stores opened, the level of customer service has been fabulous (compared to other products, anyway.) Recently the harddrive in my wife’s MacBook died after years of use. She just took it into a local Apple Store where they replaced it on the spot.</p>
<p>Another Mac fan here. So maybe the deal isn’t as good this year, but I wouldn’t be buying or not buying based on that. (But, since I got the free iPod when we bought S a new Mac last year, I am glad we bought when we did!)</p>
<p>We are holding off on our Mac purchase. I believe July/August is when the deals have come out in years past…We too are hoping for the free printer :)</p>
<p>Apple IS still offering the printer deal. You pay for the printer up front and then submit your rebate for $99 towards the printer.</p>
<p>From the Apple Store (Educational) Site:</p>
<p>“Buy a printer with your Mac. Save up to $100.
Complement your new Mac with a high-performance printer. You can save up to $100 via rebate, which means your printer could even be free after the rebate. To qualify, just purchase both the Mac and printer on the same invoice, then submit your rebate with our online form.”</p>
<p>My youngest was bummed. She had been saving for a MacBook Pro. H was willing to cover the cost of a PC. She put off buying it for a month thinking she would get an IPod (which she wants). Everyday in June she checked the Apple website waiting. So bummer to wait and not get the IPod but she will use the $100. I figure it is $100 for the app store that she wouldn’t have got if she had bought it one month earlier.</p>
<p>I think it’s a pretty good deal, there’s a lot of useful applications you can get for school with that $100, plus $100-$200 off the laptop and the $100 printer rebate. I’m looking to upgrade my 13" MBP (09) to a 15" w/ a high res screen. I’m looking to major in Physics or Bio so I want the larger screen and enormously more powerful processor. One of the best things about Macs is that they hold their value so well, because people are always looking for a cheap mac to buy.</p>
<p>The disappointing part is that the deal is not as good as it has been in the past several years. 100 off may sound good compared to nothing, but not compared to what the deal has been and we were hoping would be again this year. </p>
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<p>We were also waiting for the promotion to be announced and were not happy that it was much less this year. They announced it last week or so.</p>
<p>Be sure you buy from the educational store and not the regular apple store. You get a discount on the bigger things (iMacs, Macbooks) just not the iPads and iPhones</p>
<p>I was a little shocked by the PC promotion of a free X-box. I really think Apple is missing a golden opportunity to do a comparison of student outcome with an X-box vs. a printer at college…</p>
<p>We were hoping for an iphone discount or something, but it won’t change the decision regarding which machine to purchase. We have a long list of repair bills for our PC’s - none so far for the Mac.</p>
<p>D has a bunch of itunes gift cards from graduation and really doesn’t need the $100 credit to the app store especially since she has an android phone.</p>
<p>We will still be upgrading, but it is not the deal it was the past few years. D will probably try and sell the gift card- that is assuming you actually get a card… or is it a credit to your account?</p>
<p>I’m pretty happy with Apple at the moment. Yesterday morning, my 13-year-old daughter accidentally dropped her cousin’s iPod Touch and the screen cracked. They are in Texas, 2,000 miles away from me. My mom took the girls to the Apple store. At first the woman said it would cost $199 to repair the iPod. When my mom looked upset, she went to speak with the store manager. She came back and said they would replace the unit at no cost! So Apple won two customers for life, and I’ve been putting in a good word for them on Facebook and CC!</p>
<p>“When you buy a new qualifying Mac with Apple education pricing* from June 16, 2011, through September 20, 2011, youll get a $100 Back to School Card to use on the Mac App Store, the App Store, the iTunes Store, and the iBookstore…When you buy a qualifying Mac at the Apple Retail Store or Apple Online Store, well include your Back to School Card with your order. If you buy at a campus store, you’ll submit your claim online and get your code via email.”</p>
<p>It sounds like this rebate includes an actual card.</p>
<p>I’m a little disappointed as well. We are a long-time loyal Mac family, but we were hoping to get an iPod touch with a laptop purchase for my son this summer.</p>
<p>Gibson, The App store isn’t the same as the iTunes store and the Apps can easily be downloaded onto the new MacBook you purchase. You can use the $100 at the App store to download a bunch of fun stuff onto the MacBook. There are games, educational programs, photography programs, etc.</p>
<p>Now I’m confused! Today actually I bought a laptop at the Mac store, along with their $119 wireless printer (the price here in Canada). I was given a $100 card to use later, and a rebate form to send in as well. I also got a $124 educational discount (because I’m a prof). But because I wasn’t expecting anything, I was very pleased with the whole thing.</p>
<p>^Be Happy. It’s a good deal. You got the Educational Discount for the laptop, a $100 card to be used later, and a rebate form probably towards the printer (I’m assuming, a $99 rebate).</p>
<p>In Short: </p>
<p>–discount on the laptop
–Gift Card towards the App Store
–rebate towards the price of the printer (I think it’s a $99 rebate) when you buy the printer at the same time as the laptop</p>
<p>The only difference this year is that you get a $100 card to the App Store instead of a rebate towards the cost of an iPod touch.</p>