Apple Accepting Trade-ins

zaren writes "Apple Computer has kicked off a trade-in program that apparently is covering all of Europe (I first heard about it on apple.ru, but there's now a link at euro.apple.com as well). Apple is accepting any Power Mac (from the 6100s on up) for a credit towards the purchse of a new G4 tower. Seems like they're a) pushing for more people to upgrade to Mac OS X, and b) pushing to clear out their G4 inventory before MacWorld New York." It looks like it is not any Power Mac, but old ones (I don't see iMacs listed). Still, I wish they would do the program in the US.

Comments

what are they going to do with them?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd be interested in what they are going to do with all of those machines. Are they going to transfer - give, sell, etc. - them to one of the Mac refurbishers like datatech [datatech-rmkt.com]? Recycle the component materials? Or are all of these machines just going to end up in some landfill? - since this is Europe and not the US it seems less likely that this one would happen.

Re:what are they going to do with them?

[HughsOnFirst]

Well To quote "With the exception of Power Mac Central Processing Units (CPUs) with an integrated monitor, no peripherals such as a display, mouse, keyboard, cable or extension card should be handed in to Apple as part of this promotion. No product substitutions are permitted."

So they look like landfill to me.
Wish this was a usa promotion, I see qualifying power Macs left on the sidewalk all the time in my neighborhood.

Re:what are they going to do with them?

[Zo0ok]

On a swedish vendor page (www.macforum.se) it says the old machines are being recycled.

Environmental win

[crow]

Considering that it is now illegal in many places to throw away used computers due to the various toxic components (lead in the CRTs and such), a trade-in program is a great way of handling the problem.

Sure, some people will pay $50 or so to have the computer recycled, but most will just leave it in the attic.

Now the question is what happens to the old computers. Will Apple recycle them, or will they refurbish them and send them off to the Third World?

Time to buy used Macs?

[DaphneDiane]

At the local flee market, there is a little shop that sells old computers (mostly school computers that were replaced during upgrades) including older PowerMac's for like $25 a pop. (I got my first Mac there to play with before I committed to getting my G4). If this was offered in the states, it might well be worth buying a used Mac and trading it in.

I actually did something similar when I brought my Commodore 64. The had this $100 discount if you traded in an old electronic pong game, so I found one cheap and got the trade in.

Another reason for the trade-in program

[c.r.o.c.o]

I know many people who prefer to buy older PowerPCs and just plug in a G3 upgrade card. A friend of mine bought a 9600 and upgraded it to a G3 500Mhz. The entire system, including the upgrade cost him CA$750 (US$500), which was significantly cheaper than any other new Mac at an equivalent speed.

So Apple is being able to get rid of their G4 overstock, while taking off the market a large number of old, but still functional systems.

I could be wrong in this assumption, but it seems like a reasonable one.

Call me a spammer, but. . .

[Laplace]

Powermax is an Apple dealer. They've been accepting trade-ins for quite a while. I recently sent them a Blue and White G3 in trade for a refurbished iBook. I essentially upgraded all the components on my machine (memory, CPU, ports), retained compatibility with the system I traded in, and gained the portability of a laptop for about $400 out of pocket.

The only problem with the deal is that it takes about a month to have the computer examined and the credit applied to your credit card.

imagine the possibilities

[paradesign]

what will apple do with their abundance of antiquated computers? anyone?

cluster computing (beware of the B word) maybe. education? maybe theyll repack the procesors in some new box and give them to kindergarteners as the new iMac jr.

i dont know im just guessing.

Re:Not the first time

[zaren]

I think the Powerbook program was to get those machines out of circulation. The trade-in was for 190s and 5300s (if I remember corectly), which were covered under a special extended warranty as part of a class-action lawsuit settlement there were multiple design flaws in those machines, easily the worst quality products to ever escape from Cupertino.

I still have my 190, since I still couldn't afford a new machine, even with the trade-in :p

BTW, my first accepted submission! Yay me! :)

----
Apple hardware STILL too expensive? How about a raffle ticket?

Re:Take my cube! Please!

[rgraham]

I'll give you two bucks for it now and if you invest the money wisely you could probably turn it into $10 in a decade or so. =)

Why don't you like your Cube? I would love to get one but I haven't seen one in my price range. I think they're great little boxes. Apple's mistake with them was that they charged too much of premium for them, even by Apple's standards. People have long been clamoring for G4 based Mac's that they can use with their own monitors (like the G4 desktop) but who don't need a lot (any) internal expansion capabilities (like the iMac).

Re:I wish they would do this for PowerBooks

[ColdCuts]

Really? Then do it. Go to ebay.com, search for your model 'on completed auctions" (or whatever). This should give you an idea of what like machines are selling for. Take a $100 off that price (but hope you get lucky) and *now* decide: if I could sell for this price, would I?

Extra credit: Look up the 'completed auction' price of recent 6100 and 8100s. Wait for this offer to be extended to the US, watch for jump in price.

Re:Anything about the G5?

[Alan Partridge]

Motorola are already anufacturing several MPC 85XX parts, none of which is suitable as a desktop CPU - check out Moto's site, all else is speculation.

Re:Not the first time

[GORDOOM]

I specifically remember such a program in late 2000, but it wasn't just a trade-in for cash discount. It was an actual exchange; ie., exchange your 5300 or 190 for a working Pismo, free of charge. Bear in mind that the Pismos were, at the time, the professional models, as this was after the release of the first iBooks.

And, of course, now all three models of G3 PowerBooks (Wall Street/Main Street, Lombard, and Pismo) are developing display hinge problems, which Apple won't fix even under AppleCare... *sigh*

It's *STILL* a complete ripoff!

[@madeus]

The maximum rebate of '240' UKP applies only to a Dual 1 Ghz G4 sytem.

Hmm now a a Dual 1 Ghz G4 system is 2583.83 UKP (which is 3752.91 USD).

The SAME system in the US costs only 2,999.00 USD. So, even WITH the discount it's *still* over 550 dollars cheaper in the US (and I'm one PowerMac down)!

It's cheaper just to fly to the US!

If they want to knock off 500 UKP off the system then I'll consider it, otherwise I'll stick a G3 upgrade card in my 7100, an $5 extra SCSI card, an extra $10 NIC and use it as a NAS.

Re:It's *STILL* a complete ripoff!

[mcwetboy]

Bear in mind that European prices include VAT (value-added tax or sales tax), which can be as high as 20 per cent or thereabouts, whereas U.S. (and Canadian) prices do not. (For example, the dual-gigahertz G4 costs C$4,800 in Canada, but you've got to add 15 per cent or so to cover GST and provincial taxes, in most cases.) The presence of the VAT in the price might not account for all of the difference in price, but it's a part of it -- could add about US$600 or so.

Re:It's *STILL* a complete ripoff!

[@madeus]

Good point (and your right about the tax about - it's' about 20% in Europe).

It's 17.5% here in the UK, but the average is higher (20-25%) apart from Switzerland, which is only 7%, the minimum allowed by the EU is 15% (one of the reasons they are not members).

I know the laws about displaying taxes on goods differs in the US (here in the UK/Europe all prices aimed at consumers included VAT, though products aimed at business users may omit VAT as long as they state that's the case).

I had assumed that a 'Federal' level of tax would be included and that the only tax left to pay would be 'State' tax (which they might be ignoring or charging at a the rate of the where ever Apple's dispatch point is) because it's a web site (and as such their is little/no strict regulation enforce yet).

Is this correct?

Re:It's *STILL* a complete ripoff!

[osolemirnix]

20-25% ? Nah. In Germany it's 17%. But considering that the 10 GB iPod for example is about 120 $ cheaper in the US (compared to Germany) and sells for 500$ that still leaves a gap of 35$. For the Macs this is usually even more as already observed.

Now you may say I shouldn't complain about 35$ with a product price of about 500, but in other industries (e.g. cars for example) manufacturers actually lower their price for countries with higher taxes so the price after tax is about the same.
Because if they didn't, people would just drive over the border into a neighboring EU country and buy their car cheaper there, which they actually do as soon as its worth it.

This trade-in deal stinks, just as former offerings of this kind did, just as Apples price policy in Europe always did (not their products though). They're not really known for being a bargain and I guess they have no intention to change that. Sigh.

Re:Take my cube! Please!

[augros]

Alright, maybe that was too pithy a comment. Here is why I don't like my cube (along with what I like about it):

First off, it cost me an arm and a leg (as mentioned earlier).

But I no longer feel that pain. I got a pretty Studio Display on it, and was in awe of OS X . . . but couldn't commit myself to it - so I put Linux/ppc on it (I now am running some sort of mutt between Linux/ppc, YellowDog and Mandrake) But it seems Linux just can't be very fast on it. Not taking advantage of Altivec maybe? Or was OS X just as slow?

Anyway, under Linux I have no control over the backlight (I put it on a resolution it doesn't support to shut my monitor "off" but those glowing buttons stay on alllllll night, no fun in bedroom) It's total silence (apart from the hd) is amazing though.

Still, since I'm doing framebuffer programming I have to work with what I have (aty128) and there's really no way to put a Matrox G400 (very open and clear specs on that, not so on ATI cards) And I really don't feel like shelling out the cash for a VGA-DVI and then a DVI-ADC adapter. Not so much problems with the cube, but with my own setup.

Nevertheless, I'd like to part with it and get something faster with Linux, cheaper overall, and with hardware that can be changed. I knew I'd run into this when I bought the thing, so I guess I'm just a total idiot. :)

My old 5200! Finally!

[Hollinger]

Well, I can finally get rid of that old 5200 I have sitting in my attic. I'm not even sure if it boots, but last I heard, they were going for less than $50US on ebay. If I can get $575US for it, I'd gladly take the plunge on a new system. Steve! Bring this deal across the pond!