How reliable are the shipping estimates @ the apple store?

For instance they're quoting "1-2 weeks" for the 20" iMac and then
"about 5 business days" w/ standard shipping. I've heard some
horror stories about it really taking months sometimes when they
say that - is that the norm?

When should I *really* expect to see it?

Thanks

j.ester@hehxduhmp.org wrote:
> How reliable are the shipping estimates @ the apple store?
>
> For instance they're quoting "1-2 weeks" for the 20" iMac and then
> "about 5 business days" w/ standard shipping. I've heard some
> horror stories about it really taking months sometimes when they
> say that - is that the norm?
>
> When should I *really* expect to see it?
>
> Thanks
I've had positive experiences.

--
http://homepage.mac.com/mkatzman/

Marshall wrote:

> j.ester@hehxduhmp.org wrote:
>
>> How reliable are the shipping estimates @ the apple store?
>>
>> For instance they're quoting "1-2 weeks" for the 20" iMac and then
>> "about 5 business days" w/ standard shipping. I've heard some horror
>> stories about it really taking months sometimes when they
>> say that - is that the norm?
>>
>> When should I *really* expect to see it?
>>
>> Thanks
>
> I've had positive experiences.
>

It would depend on if the machine is in stock. Apple is very good about
meeting the dates they say something is going to arrive.

j.ester@hehxduhmp.org writes:
>
> How reliable are the shipping estimates @ the apple store?
>
> For instance they're quoting "1-2 weeks" for the 20" iMac and then
> "about 5 business days" w/ standard shipping. I've heard some
> horror stories about it really taking months sometimes when they say
> that - is that the norm?

For products that are currently in production, I would trust their
estimate.

The long delays usually only happen with pre-orders. If you order
something that hasn't been released yet, you take a chance that Apple
wasn't able to manufacture enough to keep up with the initial
demand. Sometimes this is due to manufacturing issues (like lack of
2.5GHz G5 chips in sufficient quantity from IBM) and sometimes due to
unexpected customer demand (like the iPod minis.)

But once a product has been shipping for a few weeks, Apple can judge
supply and demand and usually comes up with a pretty good estimate.

-- David