Where to buy a macbook pro?

Question

I will be buying a macbook pro very soon( cant wait anymore).So where do you think i should buy it from apple walk in store or a compusa store?.I dont know which of this stores get the latest week macbook pros.
Any ideas guys?
cheers

Answer 1

Well, I am afraid no one really will know the answer to your question, so your best bet is to look at the serial number on the box before you make your purchase (explanation below). From what I can tell from these boards, week 12 MBPs seem to be fairly trouble free, and for the most part whine free.
Now I wouldn't be surprised if they get a little ticked at you if they bring up a MacBook to the checkout counter, only to have you inspect the box and then tell them you don't want to buy it after all... but it is a lot of money so I'd say your within your rights.
Anyway, I would hurry down to the Apple SOHO store (prince and green). They had them in stock last weekend. Assuming your going with the full 2 GB of ram, you may have to pick up your machine with 1 GB and wait for the 2nd GB to arrive a few days later. But if you buy it at the Apple store you can just bring your MacBook back in when you go to pick up the extra ram and they will install it for you on the spot.
I'd get there as early as you can tomorrow (saturday), before the weekend crush. And I would highly recommend the 2GB of ram since your going to be running a lot of Apps through Roseta for awhile. I actually think having 2gb of ram is more important than processor speed.
And as far as CompUSA is concerned, I wouldn't bother (the customer service is sooo bad in manhatten CompUSAs). I guess if the Apple store doesn't have a MacBook that is week 12 or later, you could go check CompUSA, but either way, you are going to have to manually inspect the serial number to know which week it is. I doubt anyone on these boards has information on which production week stores are receiving.
OK so regarding the serial number, it is actually really easy to tell which week your mac was made in. Here is how it works.
The first part of the serial number tells you which factory the Mac was made in. I believe all MacBooks are being made in Shanghai so it should start with"W8". The full list of factory codes can be found here:
http://www.tuaw.com/2005/04/14/when-was-your-mac-born/
The next number is the last digit of the year it was made (which should be 6 since they were all made in 2006). So basically all MacBooks made so far should all have serail numbers that start with "W86"
The next 2 number are the production week!
So to sum it all up, look for a serial number that starts with:
W8612....
or higher (like W8613...)
You know, it occurs to me that if you go to the Apple store, and you are really really nice, you might even be able to talk your sales rep into inspecting the serial number for you when he goes to pick up your machine. Its should be easy enough to explain, since they all start with W86, and I think they get some sort of commission or are somehow rewarded for sales, so he should be motivated to help you.
And if you want to double check what I have said, grab a spare mac at the apple store and manually type in the serial number into this site which will also tell you the production week:
http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html
good luck