A Beginner's Guide To Internet Mac Shopping, Part II March 17th, 1999 Welcome back to the second half of our discussion and review of on-line shopping for Mac related items. We are searching for an iMac 233Mhz and a Hewlett Packard printer of reasonable cost. We have a couple of sites that didn't get covered last week, plus some great suggestions from readers. First, as a recap, last week we reviewed Outpost.com, Mac-O-Rama, and Macmall.com. Of the three I noted that Mac-O-Rama was strictly a game site. Outpost.com was the most business-like in their presentation and set up, emphasizing the security of their on-line ordering. This site had a good supply of iMacs, but their printers were limited and all pretty high end (meaning costly). My favorite of the three from last week was Macmall.com . The site was easy to move around in, the iMac's were plentiful, and their assortment of printers was diverse. Overall prices at the two sites were fairly comparable depending on what they had on sale which means that it would probably pay to shop around between all the sites when you want something in particular. First out this week is The MacZone. Multiple Zones, Inc. has two "stores" on line. One is for the Mac and the other is for those other kinds. This makes it easy to see only what you are interested in. The company is based in Renton, Washington and they note in their information they they have received two awards recognizing their excellence.Their home page is colorful and hits you right up front with specials, including a iMac for $898. They also link to what they call their Partner Stores - Apple, 3Com, Hewlett Packard, and Microsoft support. Their home page includes their trademarked motto "Expect the Best!" and a 1-800 number for telephone contact as well as a link to immediately purchase and download software packages. Apparently they also present products in catalog form as well as on the net and you can easily link to an area where you may request a catalog. By clicking on the iMac icon I was sent directly to the page for ordering both the machine and any extras I might want bundled with the computer. The extras included a choice of a Hewlett Packard Deskjet 97C for $229.98 or an Epson 740 Inkjet for $249.98. What I didn't find was a list of the software that would be included with the machine. Looking for other printers, I found a Hewlett Packard LaserJet 6MP printer for $879.98. The specifications include all the information I would be interested in except the cost for shipping. Even better for my pocketbook, was a refurbished version of the same machine for $649. To order one must register with name, a username and password of your choice, your e-mail address and your platform of choice. You are not asked to give any credit information at this point. It may be that had I actually submitted the personal information that was requested and then been allowed to move forward and 'purchase' my bundled package that I would have found both a listing of software included and the cost of shipping. This is a well set up site and one I recommend that you investigate. Jacob Rubinstein wrote with both a recommended site and more good hints for searching for specific information. Jacob primarily uses Altavista, but he thinks this tip will work with other search engines as well. He says that if you put the phrase you are searching for in quotes, it will return only sites which have exactly that phrase. I tried this and it really works. Jacob also passed on the information that when using Booleans (see last weeks column) you can put '+' marks between your words such as blueberry+apple+iMac (don't add the quote marks with this kind of query). Jacob says that this will make the Boolean search look for words in the exact order you enter. I didn't know either of these tips and really appreciate Jacob sharing this information. In addition to his search hints Jacob suggested that I check out www.Classmac.com. This is a classified web page that only carries Mac items and the ads are free. Jacob has used this site and been very pleased with the prices he found. The classified ads are broken down by computer type, hardware type, software, and items wanted. Another big retailer on line is Club Mac. This site did not readily provide information about the company other than the name is copyrighted by Pacific Business Systems, Inc. Their listing of available merchandise was clean and easy to follow and they include a complete listing of what is included in the deal. They sell an iMac 233 Mhz for $979. It is easy to track the ordering process and the information requested is similar to that of the other on-line companies. When I asked for Hewlett Packard printers I was only given one option - that for a LaserJet 4000N at $1,448. However when I asked for Epson's I found several ranging in price from $100 to $500. I also found a site called deal-mac. This site advertises that it searches the net daily to find the best deals on all Mac equipment as well as noting what is available in the traditional shopping venues. There was a pretty good listing of various products and it might be worth your while to check it out is you are counting pennies. Finally we have another reader recommended site. This one comes from John Braun who writes Monday's Mac Gadget for this publication. John reminded me of a very important fact - price is not the only thing that can be considered, service is equally important. John likes to shop at the CNET site called Shopper.com and he even "shopped" for us, finding some good iMac deals starting at $789. This site is easy to read, has products defined by category (computer systems, memory, hardware, software, printers, etc.) Right up front I saw an Epson Stylus color printer for $350. Actually it took me a while to figure this site out. When I asked for iMacs I was linked to a Visa site offering iMacs. Then I experimented some more and finally figured out that this is a referral site, but the way it is set up, you can get information on a multitude of products at once. For instance when I asked for the generic category of printers I was linked to a whole list of products and companies and had only to click on a product that looked interesting to be sent straight there. Of all the sites I visited and "shopped" I think I liked the Mac Zone best. I liked the option of getting bundled products since this limits how much expertise I have to have concerning the technical aspects of the equipment. I also liked their prices and their set up. At this point, if I was really going to purchase an iMac and a new printer (and did not have a wonderful, six foot tall computer expert son to take along for advice), I would first check out the products at a local retail store both to check their prices and to hear the sales pitch to help me decide what I really want and need. It is important to remember that when ordering on-line you will be paying shipping of at least $50 and you will want to factor that in your total cost. Will a 233 Mhz suit, or will I not be happy unless I get a 266 Mhz? How fast will a printer print, how much does the ink supply cost, and do I get enough memory to make it work smoothly with either machine? If I want more memory, how much does it cost? Can I order it already installed? What about a scanner or a zip drive? Once I had all those answers then I could really shop for the best deal. I would love to hear what kind of experiences readers have with ordering. Please write and tell me your experiences and I will share them. If you have any tips, hints, or thoughts on these topics, make sure you write me so that I can share your thoughts with other readers.