Any good deals on .Mac renewals?

Amazon has it for $78.98 currently. Here's the link:

http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Mac-4-0-Online-Service/dp/B0007LW230/sr=8-1/qid=1159373557/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-8910058-4319156?ie=UTF8&s=software

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Andrew Laurence <atlaurenes.nacs.uci.edu>
> My .Mac is up for renewal. Anyone know of good deals out there in
> the internets?

At 10:12 AM 9/27/2006, Andrew Laurence wrote:
>My .Mac is up for renewal. Anyone know of good deals out there in
>the internets?

I bought a sealed box off eBay for $56 delivered a few weeks back and
set up my renewal successfully. I was initially a little concerned,
but the seller (a pawnshop in Maryland!), had over a 99% feedback rating
on almost 20,000 transactions and guaranteed that it would activate.

Prices on eBay now seem to be going up as time gets closer to the
renewal date in October for all of the formerly free .Mac users, but
you may still be able to find a good deal. Also, Amazon (see link on
Macintouch.com) is selling the boxed copy for $79.

-Jim

On Sep 27, 2006, at 10:12 AM, Andrew Laurence wrote:
> My .Mac is up for renewal. Anyone know of good deals out there in
> the internets?

www.nextag.com shows www.bargains101.com to have it for $49.00!
PriceGrabber.com gives them a good customer rating, though I can't
vouch for them. Their price is far below the next higher price found.

Hope that helps.

Geoff Odhner

On Sep 27, 2006, at 7:12 AM, Andrew Laurence wrote:

> My .Mac is up for renewal. Anyone know of good deals out there in
> the internets?

My friend and I both recently found great deals on .Mac using
PriceGrabber. I managed to snag a renewal for $41 total, and she got
one for $47. Here's the best deal currently listed:

<http://www.bargains101.com/utilities/7365.html?pg>

There's the normal Amazon.com deal, now at $79 <http://www.amazon.com/
exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007LW230/> or use your favorite referral link.
Unfortunately, you need to get the physical package to get the code.
Hopefully, you have a few weeks so that you can get by with free
shipping.

Alan Forkosh Oakland, CA
aforkoshmac.com

On 9/28/06 6:38 AM, "Geoffrey Odhner" <GeoffreyOdhner.net> cleverly wrote:

> On Sep 27, 2006, at 10:12 AM, Andrew Laurence wrote:
>> My .Mac is up for renewal. Anyone know of good deals out there in
>> the internets?
>
> www.nextag.com shows www.bargains101.com to have it for $49.00!
> PriceGrabber.com gives them a good customer rating, though I can't
> vouch for them. Their price is far below the next higher price found.
>
> Hope that helps.
>
> Geoff Odhner


I just ordered it from the for $49, so I'll be finding out how good they
are. Thanks for the tips.

Bruce

On 9/28/06 9:38 AM, "Conrad Hirano" <tidbitshirano.fastmail.fm> deftly
typed :

> My friend and I both recently found great deals on .Mac using
> PriceGrabber. I managed to snag a renewal for $41 total, and she got
> one for $47. Here's the best deal currently listed:
>
> <http://www.bargains101.com/utilities/7365.html?pg>

My Price Grabber cost $49 w/free shipping.

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Conrad Hirano <tidbitshirano.fastmail.fm>

> My friend and I both recently found great deals on .Mac using
> PriceGrabber. I managed to snag a renewal for $41 total, and she got
> one for $47. Here's the best deal currently listed:
>
> <http://www.bargains101.com/utilities/7365.html?pg>

Great tip, great price. Just ordered one for $47. John

> > My friend and I both recently found great deals on .Mac using
>> PriceGrabber. I managed to snag a renewal for $41 total, and she got
>> one for $47. Here's the best deal currently listed:
>>
> > <http://www.bargains101.com/utilities/7365.html?pg>

How do these actually work? Apple doesn't know I bought a renewal
at bargains101.com, do they? So they renew me for $99 automagically
on the credit card they already have on file?

[If you're buying .Mac in a retail box, you should immediately turn OFF the auto-renew option on the .Mac Web site. Then, once you get the box, log in again and click the Choose Your Renewal Settings link. There's a field on that page to enter the activation code that came in your .Mac box. -Joe]

-- KDawson

On Sep 28, 2006, at 6:38 AM, Geoffrey Odhner wrote:

> www.nextag.com shows www.bargains101.com to have it for $49.00!
> PriceGrabber.com gives them a good customer rating, though I can't
> vouch for them. Their price is far below the next higher price found.

Just to add another data point:

Bargains 101 is where my friend bought her renewal, and her
experience was consistent with the good PriceGrabber rating. I was
actually a bit surprised when she told me a few days after placing
her order that she had already received it.

> From: Conrad Hirano <tidbitshirano.fastmail.fm>
>
>> My friend and I both recently found great deals on .Mac using
>> PriceGrabber. I managed to snag a renewal for $41 total, and she got
>> one for $47. Here's the best deal currently listed:
>>
>> <http://www.bargains101.com/utilities/7365.html?pg>

It is now saying it is unavailable :(

>><http://www.bargains101.com/utilities/7365.html?pg>
>
>It is now saying it is unavailable :(

When I click on Buy from that page, it tells me my shopping cart is
empty.

A quick Google search for "Apple .mac 4.0 Retail Box" turns up a bunch
of sites selling them. One link is to bargains101.com at a slightly
different URL ( http://www.bargains101.com/utilities/7374.html ) and
the price is $119 (!!). Newegg has it for $80 (flat $5 for shipping).

Streetprices.com turns up five vendors with prices from $73 (that's
amazon.com with free shipping) to $83. This site reveals Apple's SKU
for the item, which is MA361ZA.

Searching for "MA361ZA" yields a bunch of sources. One, lacc.com, is
selling this box for $173. Not the family pack! And you can even buy
an extended warranty for the box for only $38! Sign me right up!

I ended up bidding in an eBay auction until I was high bidder at $63
with $8 shipping. If I get outbid, I'll let it go.

-- KDawson

P.S. For some reason a search on eBay for "MA361ZA" comes up empty.
     Add a slash -- "MA361Z/A" -- and you find lots of them.

On Sep 30, 2006, at 5:11 PM, Keith Dawson wrote:

> One link is to bargains101.com at a slightly different URL ( http://
> www.bargains101.com/utilities/7374.html ) and the price is $119 (!!).

That URL and price are for the family pack.

> P.S. For some reason a search on eBay for "MA361ZA" comes up empty.
> Add a slash -- "MA361Z/A" -- and you find lots of them.

MA361Z/A is Apple's model number for the .Mac 4.0 retail box. Many
retailers omit the slash, probably because their systems don't allow
that character in a model or part number.

At 5:11 PM -0700 9/30/06, Keith Dawson wrote:
> >><http://www.bargains101.com/utilities/7365.html?pg>
> >
> >It is now saying it is unavailable :(
>
>When I click on Buy from that page, it tells me my shopping cart is
>empty.
>
>A quick Google search for "Apple .mac 4.0 Retail Box" turns up a bunch
>of sites selling them. One link is to bargains101.com at a slightly
>different URL ( http://www.bargains101.com/utilities/7374.html ) and
>the price is $119 (!!). Newegg has it for $80 (flat $5 for shipping).

Though, the $119 price is for the Family Pack which retails for $180.
It has about 2x the disk space of the standard .Mac subscription:

You'll get one main .Mac subscriber account with 1GB of storage space
and four additional .Mac accounts with 250MB of storage space each.
That means every family member gets their own email account as well
as their own iDisk for publishing personal web pages, backing up
files, syncing bookmarks and contacts, and more. And, there's a
shared iDisk folder for when you want to share items like family
photos and key information with your family members.

Previously written: [If you're buying .Mac in a retail box, you should immediately turn OFF the auto-renew option on the .Mac Web site. Then, once you get the box, log in again and click the Choose Your Renewal Settings link. There's a field on that page to enter the activation code that came in your .Mac box. -Joe]

I had several exchanges with .Mac support over this and they reassured me that if you enter a coupon code ahead of your renewal date it will use the coupon in preference to debiting the card. I tried it and it worked. I then got an automated receipt from Apple, which I thought was because they had also collected from the card - but further examination showed not - it was a receipt for the coupon renewal. This did work correctly for me and I will use it again next time.

[Glad to hear it! I mentioned turning off auto-renew because you could have problems if your retail box doesn't arrive (or you forget to enter the code) before your renewal date. -Joe]

Tony

[If you're buying .Mac in a retail box, you should immediately turn OFF the auto-renew option on the .Mac Web site. Then, once you get the box, log in again and click the Choose Your Renewal Settings link. There's a field on that page to enter the activation code that came in your .Mac box. -Joe]

I cannot find the "Renewal Settings link" Any help please.

[Paul: Go to www.mac.com. Click the "Log In" link on the blue bar running across the top. Enter username & password and click Login. Then, in that same spot on the page, there'll be a little bubble with your .Mac username in it. Click that, and log in again (annoying, I know). You're now on the Account Settings page, and toward the top you should see the "Choose your renewal settings" link. If not, click Credit Card Info, and then uncheck the Auto-Renew box at the bottom. -Joe]

Paul

.mac 4.0 is back on Bargains101 as of today for $49 at this URL:

<http://www.bargains101.com/utilities/7365.html?pg>

That time of year again and, unfortunately, I didn't jump on the specials when they were noted last year. Best I can find is $72. Anything cheaper?

Kraye.

At 6:14 AM -0400 9/30/06, Johann Beda wrote:
> You can save on shipping charges (or get around shipping
>restrictions - Amazon.com will not ship this order outside of the USA for
>example) by having the box sent to a friend close to the seller and have
>them email you the activation code - that allowed me to save significantly
>over the price that Apple Canada wanted.

        It is that time of year again - and what with the slide of the US
dollar against most other currencies, the price of .Mac is even more
significantly cheaper in the USA than it was last year.

        In searching for good prices on a family pack, I googled the
product numbers for .Mac 4.0 (MA362Z) and .Mac 5.0 (MA928Z) family packs
and found a variety of sources all in the $145US range. One of them turned
out to be Amazon ($150), even though most searches on Amazon give prices
more like $175, compared to $180 directly from Apple:

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000V053LU/johansbooksparto/>

        Anyone know of any pricing for a .Mac family pack below $145?

        Searching for the .Mac 4.0 single user product (MA361Z) or the new
5.0 product (MA927Z) via google gives a few hits below $80, including
amazon at $79.99, compared to $100 directly from Apple.

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007LW230/johansbooksparto/>

        The older "4.0" products should still give a full year of
subscription, shouldn't they?


--
* Johann Beda - contact link: <http://xri.net/=j-beda> *
* Johann's MostlyMac Computer Consulting - <http://mmcc.beda.ca/> *

I don't see any difference between .Mac 4.0 and .Mac 5.0 unless they have updated manual in the box to show all the features in iLife 08 and how they integrate with .Mac. I don't recall there being a CD in the box.

Amazon sells both for same price.

Apple offers a $30 discount--if you buy a new Mac.

Be very careful about used copies. If somebody used the registration number and then sells box, its worthless.

--Jim