[AlienBogeyAgain]

A friend is a school employee who I assume could get the eductation discount. Anyone know how much the discount is on a G5 iMac? Can one get a build-to-order?
Thanks.

[Praxis]

Go to apple.com/store, and click the Education button on the right-hand side. You can lie if you want to about the school just see the prices, just don't buy anything under that /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Once you get in there, you can see the education prices. Now remember, almost everything has a little bit off (software is about 50%-67% off everything, so that rocks- hardware, it depends. Thinks like Airport cards get $10-$20 off, iPods get $20-$50 off, etc).
A quick synposis of the hardware:
12" PowerBook:
$200 off.
15" PowerBook:
$200 off.
17" PowerBook:
$300 off.
iBook:
$100 off.
iMac:
$100 off.
eMac:
$50-$100 off.
PowerMac:
$150, $200, or $300 off, depending on model.
Cinema displays:
$150-$300 off, depending on model.

Yes, you can use build to order, and I believe to get very small discounts on the stuff you add (hardware). If you add software, you get massive discounts on that (like Final Cut Express for $99, as an example).
For example, you can save $10 to $20 off a larger hard drive when customizing the iMac G5, $8 off an Airport Extreme card (wireless), $5 off BlueTooth, and $50 off AppleCare.
With the software, you can get MS Office for $149 instead of $399, Logic Pro for $499 instead of $999, Mac OS X Panther (which you'll get free so don't buy it) for $69 instead of $129, iLife '04 for $29 instead of $49 (you'll also get this free), Macromedia Studio for $200 instead of $900 (wow!), and any of the $300 Macromedia products for $99.

[SeaFox]

Of corse, being an edu store customer means you can take advantage of deals like Cram 'n' Jam, too.

[JohnVL]

Generally speaking, the hardware discount is 10%. I've bought my G5 built to order on it and also an ipod. If you have problems and need support, there's a separate support avenue for education customers which you must use.
You usually need to be a student or teacher or staff at a university or k-12 school. I think they limit you to one computer a year but I may be wrong--there are limits to how much you can buy in a year.
If you are an educator, you can get a discount on any software at www.academicsuperstore.com
You must fax or send them proof that you are an educator (ID, paycheck stub, etc) whereas Apple has you state you are an education employee and they can verify that with the institution. At the superstore you can buy almost anything, Mac or Windows. I bought Photoshop for less than $400 there.
Usually no one can match the 10% savings at Apple for hardware. There is also free shipping but they do charge you tax.
Hope this helps,
John VL