Costco selling iMac G5s

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Thought I'd let people know: Most Costco's in Northern California, and probably elsewhere, have received shipments of iMac G5s. My guess is stock pulled from Apple Stores.



Specs:



iMac G5 20-inch 2.1GHz SuperDrive

512MB memory (533MHz DDR2 SDRAM)

250GB Serial ATA hard drive

ATI Radeon X600 XT (128MB DDR video memory)

Front Row with Apple Remote

Built-in iSight camera

Airport Extreme

Bluetooth 2.0

3 Year Applecare



$1479.99



Pretty nice with the Applecare thrown in.
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 25
    That is a nice deal. Nice to hear they are being sold through another retailer.
  • Reply 2 of 25
    Also in the pipeline..



    Apple Mac Mini

    1.42 GHz PowerPC G4

    512MB DDR333 SDRAM

    80GB Hard Drive

    SuperDrive

    DVI to VGA Adapter

    Wireless Keyboard & Mouse

    Bluetooth

    3 Year Applecare



    $699.99



    Seeing as this is not yet on order for Costco, but IS in the system, it could point to an Intel Mac Mini very, very soon. After the announcement of the Intel Mini, expect to see these in Costco's.
  • Reply 3 of 25
    iposteriposter Posts: 1,560member
    Not available on their online store, unfortunately!
  • Reply 4 of 25
    mbg5mbg5 Posts: 36member
    i dont like that macs are being sold in other places.
  • Reply 5 of 25
    cubitcubit Posts: 846member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mbG5

    i dont like that macs are being sold in other places.



    Excuse me? Where, pray tell should they be sold? When they are dropped should they go immediately to the antique dealers? The Apple Stores and the online Apple store has always "moved out" inventory (and often all supporting gadgets or parts) very quickly. Anyone seen a PB G4 battery on sale?
  • Reply 6 of 25
    I think this is a good thing. Anybody who is a Costco member loves the place--its just the best retail experience out there. People trust Costco merchandise so this can only bolster the reputation of Apple. It may help a wee bit in making the iMacs and Apple in general seem more approachable to the PC crowd. There is a lot of mystery and misconception surrounding Macs. Anything that gives Macs more positive exposure may contribute to increasing market share. And we still need that.



    This news comes too late for me, personally. I just bought the G5 iMac from Amazon. Didn't get the Applecare but it was tax free plus a $150 rebate at the time so I did OK.
  • Reply 7 of 25
    this thing still going on?
  • Reply 8 of 25
    Quote:

    Originally posted by _ alliance _

    this thing still going on?



    As far as I know, yes. Most Northern California Costcos are going to recieve another shipment of iMac G5's this week or next week.



    And now available on costco.com:

    http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...v=&browse=&s=1



    With the Mac Mini showing in the systems at Costco, but not yet on order for the stores, I'd say it might be a good guess that Apple is using Costco to clear out the "old" models of comupters. Bundled with Applecare, and slighly bumped specs for the machines, could be a good outlet for costco members.
  • Reply 9 of 25
    hmm...sounds like a great deal. even better than education pricing, plus the perk of applecare...

    of course, the houson costcos probably wont have the abundance of options that you guys have in california, but there is always the online option...

    shipping and handling could be the deal breaker...
  • Reply 10 of 25
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mbG5

    i dont like that macs are being sold in other places.



    You're right, they can only be sold in certain locations or else they lose their magical powers.
  • Reply 11 of 25
    jamiljamil Posts: 210member
    We have 'em here in utah.
  • Reply 12 of 25
    just checked and nada in houston. this city sucks anyway...

    i've learned not to expect (or hope for) much here...
  • Reply 13 of 25
    mmmpiemmmpie Posts: 628member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by reynard

    I think this is a good thing. Anybody who is a Costco member loves the place--its just the best retail experience out there. People trust Costco



    They have the iMac instore at the Kirkland store. Its the first time I have seen people crowded around a computer in the shop. I nearly bought one, then realised it was a G5, and not intel. I hope that when the G5 stock runs out they continue selling current models.
  • Reply 14 of 25
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mbG5

    i dont like that macs are being sold in other places.



    Yeah, because Costco doesn't also sell the Apple Kool-Aid (tm). Getting these things out to other stores is what raises visibility of the Apple product. While a lot of Costco members may know what Apple is about, a lot probably don't, and might not even be aware of the Mac platform, having never seen a Mac in person. I should also note that there are a lot of Costcos where there aren't Apple stores.



    I think this is a great idea.
  • Reply 15 of 25
    So they're selling the old G5 for $150 less than the new system?



    I'll pass. Now if this was being sold for $1199 you would get much more interest.
  • Reply 16 of 25
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mdriftmeyer

    So they're selling the old G5 for $150 less than the new system?



    I'll pass. Now if this was being sold for $1199 you would get much more interest.




    You ignored the cost of Applecare. Before Applecare, the cost difference is $220. Then that really becomes about a $389 difference between the Costco deal for the G5 with APP and the Duo version + APP.
  • Reply 17 of 25
    Quote:

    Originally posted by JeffDM

    You ignored the cost of Applecare. Before Applecare, the cost difference is $220. Then that really becomes about a $389 difference between the Costco deal for the G5 with APP and the Duo version + APP.



    I was going to drop the price lower. I took the Apple Care into consideration.



    The difference in system performance, market options with GigE, differing GPUs, and the Intel platform which when I'm done with it I know will have Linux development going strong.



    Now from Apple's website:



    Refurbished iMac G5 20-inch 2.1GHz SuperDrive



    512MB memory (533MHz DDR2 SDRAM)

    250GB Serial ATA hard drive

    ATI Radeon X600 XT (128MB DDR video memory)

    Front Row with Apple Remote

    Built-in iSight camera

    Price: $1,299.00





    So if you add iLife 06 and AppleCare Costco does beat this system, but then again for $1699 I'll gladly spend the price for AppleCare and have a much more robust system.
  • Reply 18 of 25
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mdriftmeyer

    I was going to drop the price lower. I took the Apple Care into consideration.



    Now from Apple's website:



    Refurbished iMac G5 20-inch 2.1GHz SuperDrive



    So if you add iLife 06 and AppleCare Costco does beat this system, but then again for $1699 I'll gladly spend the price for AppleCare and have a much more robust system.




    Are you saying that the Costco systems are refurbished? If Costco's systems aren't refurbished, then they aren't so directly comparable as if they were necessarily equivalent.



    BTW: it may not be obvious, but the latest iLife is included with refurbished systems too.
  • Reply 19 of 25
    slugheadslughead Posts: 1,169member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Placebo

    You're right, they can only be sold in certain locations or else they lose their magical powers.



    how fitting that your name is "placebo"
  • Reply 20 of 25
    Quote:

    Originally posted by JeffDM

    Are you saying that the Costco systems are refurbished? If Costco's systems aren't refurbished, then they aren't so directly comparable as if they were necessarily equivalent.



    BTW: it may not be obvious, but the latest iLife is included with refurbished systems too.




    With iLife '06 being included with the refurbs (it mentioned '05) it makes it even less attractive.



    Regarding refurbs. My iBook purchased brand new had to be "refurbs" three times by Apple replacing the LCD, logicboard, DVD drive, HDD twice and some other crap. AppleCare is a must for any Mac.



    Now if I need to write Universal binaries having a refurbed iMac G5 and the new iMac Intel would suit my needs. Make them optimal for these systems will only benefit PowerMac and future Intel versions which have heaftier hardware available.
Sign In or Register to comment.