What Mac Stuff Do I Need to See Before Buying?

More and more these days, I appreciate being able to do a 2 minute search on the web for a best price and just buy my item off a website. A few days later, it just shows up on my front step. No hassle, no lines, no wasted gas and most important, no wasted time and frustration. Well, OK, maybe there's a little bit of frustration at times. In fact, today I was a little bit bitter that Shopper.com listed my item on Amazon as having free shipping, but in my cart it was $8. So with a few clicks, buh-bye Amazon, hello TonerMax.

But what Mac stuff should you really see in person before buying? Actually drive to a store and try out in advance? Generally, the answer to this is hardware, the things that you will hold on your hands. Think of the shopping trip as a test drive. I even suggest that unless you need the item immediately, ONLY take a test drive in the store. Then go home and order it for cheaper on the web.

I'll list out my suggestions below in order of importance and a few reasons to not go to the store for some items. Go ahead and let us know your thoughts and tips in the forum thread at the end.

See (and Feel) Before Buying

Mice. This one is the most important because there are wide differences between mice and you interact with them continuously. I pay particular attention to weight. I love how light my Microsoft Intellimouse is and came back to it after buying a cordless mouse that had a couple batteries in it. It just weighed too much and caused strain. Also, the Logitech MX Revolution is getting good pub and really should be tried out to understand the leap they made with it.

Keyboards. For me, a keyboard is a keyboard, but I'm a 3 fingered typist. Real keyboard jockeys get very concerned with the touch of the keys. Try before you buy.

Digital Still and Video Cameras. There's two things I think you should look at in the store: how it fits in your hand and how fast the picture is taken after pressing the button. The picture quality on all of them will be fine. These issues above are more personal.

iPods. For those 3 of you who haven't used an iPod before, go to the store and play with one. The click-wheel is genius. The key here is to see what model fits your hand. Is the Nano just right or a bit awkward? Find out.

Speakers. Usually the Apple stores have a nice selection of speakers laid out for comparisons. Get the same song cued up on each and it's easy to compare. You might find you don't need the expensive ones.

Displays. This is a tougher one because you should line up the ones you are considering next to each other with the same image. That's a pretty high hurdle to find in one store. And it doesn't help to compare with Dell displays (which we like).


You Can Probably Skip the Trip to the Store

Macs. Macs are Macs pretty much where ever you buy them. The only thing to really compare is whether the 15" MBP or 20" iMac screen is big enough. This is usually more a matter of budget than anything. Don't expect to feel any differences in the speed of one Mac to another.

Software. Many software packages have demos that can be downloaded from the web and given a test drive from home. Even games will offer a free round to try out. The exception to this rule is if you need to confirm that some software will open and use files you already have and they don't offer a free demo. This will be a narrow group of software that is preloaded on a Mac at the store and doesn't offer a free demo. Don't expect to be able to buy the boxed software, install it at home and then return it.

Printers. Most every printer made by the major manufacturers rock these days. Getting a sample print at the store rarely works and doesn't really help all that much. What probably will guide your decisions are features and price points. Reading some reviews on the web is probably time better spent.

Hubs, Routers, Hard Drives, Other Boxes with Blinking Lights. These items that you set up once and ignore don't need time spent in a store. If I had my way, they would be invisible. In fact, I like to mount them under the desk out of sight. Surf for the best price online and order over the web.

So in general, if it touches one of your senses, try it out first. No, licking the iPhone doesn't count. Don't forget to see Pulling the trigger – Where to buy a Mac for our rundown on retailers.


So what did I miss? Have suggestions of your own? Let us know in the MFM Forum thread below.

Click here to go to the forum discussion of this article!
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