Plenty of ways for frugal Mac users to save on products

Believe me, I've heard all variations of "Macs are too expensive" over the years. Even when you point out to someone that Macs are often cheaper in the long run (less maintenance, longer functional life, no need to buy additional anti-virus or security software, etc., etc., etc.), many people can't seem to get over the initial cost vs. Windows computers.

OK, fine. You can't buy a new Mac laptop for $500. However, there are plenty of areas where frugal Mac users can save money on Apple-related products and services. Here are some suggestions.

Computers. Unlike most computer companies, Apple doesn't list one suggested price while retailers offer a drastically discounted one. Typically you can buy directly from Apple, or you can buy from a reseller and save a few bucks (sometimes only $5). There are exceptions and special sales, of course, so it's worth checking out online merchants before you buy. For example, the MacBook costs $999 when ordered from Apple online or purchased at an Apple retail store, while Amazon.com currently sells it for $954.59 (as of this writing).

Definitely check out Apple's refurbished and clearance options (store.apple .com/us/browse/home/specialdeals), which are often overflowing with suddenly older discounted equipment after Apple announces new models. Depending on your needs, last year's specifications are perfectly fine and are worth saving a few hundred dollars.

MobileMe. An annual subscription to Apple's MobileMe service costs $99 for an individual, or $149 for a family account. Renewing the account through Apple costs the same.

When my family account came up for renewal this month, I bought the upgrade from Amazon.com for $103.49, saving $45.51; the individual version currently costs $71.49.

You may be able to find still cheaper versions using a price comparison site such as Pricegrabber.com. The secret is that buying MobileMe just gets you a code number (which you enter at www.me.com/activate), and any unused code, even from an "older" version, still works.

If you don't need all that MobileMe offers, you can replicate some of its features. For example, Google Gmail accounts are free (www.gmail.com), and Dropbox (www.dropbox.com) is a free (and better) method of sharing files between machines.

Music. iTunes is now a dominant force in the music industry, with more people buying their music electronically instead of on CD. Apple offers a Free Single of the Week (www.apple.com/itunes/freesingle/), which lets you sample up-and-coming bands.

To really save money on more music, though, look to competing services. Amazon (mp3.amazon.com) does a good job of undercutting iTunes prices for special deals. For example, new albums often appear for $3.99 or less for limited times, and there's a wide range of new and old albums for $5. It's worth subscribing to the Amazon MP3 Twitter feed (twitter.com/amazonmp3) to see what deals pop up.

I've also purchased music from LaLa.com, which often saves a buck or two on an album. (There's also a streaming option that's much less expensive, but I prefer to have the music files.) I like LaLa because you can listen to an entire song or album once to preview it. Apple recently bought LaLa, so I don't know how long these features and pricing will apply.

Movies. Apple makes three movies available each week as 99-cent rentals via iTunes, which often tempts my impulse-buy instinct. (I'm sure that's an instinct left over from the caveman days.) To stay abreast of what's new, I subscribe to the RSS feed for www.99rental.com, a service that updates the week's selection.

Of course, there are lots of other options for movies now. If you have a fast Internet connection, Netflix's catalog of 12,000 movies available for streaming continues to improve (www.netflix.com); unlimited streaming is included with a membership.

iTunes Gift Cards: Speaking of media, if you're looking to buy iTunes Gift Cards, head to Costco (www.costco.com) to buy cards for less than their face value. Looking at Costco's Web site right now, I see $50 gift cards available for $46.99.

Memory and hard drives. If you need to upgrade your Mac, you'll find much better prices online than if you turn to Apple. I've purchased memory (RAM) from Crucial (www.crucial.com) and 1-800-4-Memory (www.18004memory.com). For hard drives, I turn to NewEgg (www.newegg.com), where internal 1 TB drives are less than $100.

As always, it's worth shopping around to save some money on your Apple-related purchases. Another good source of hardware and software is DealMac (www.dealmac.com), which locates deals from many providers. You don't have to pay full price for full quality.

Jeff Carlson and Glenn Fleishman write the Practical Mac column for Personal Technology and about technology in general for The Seattle Times and other publications. Send questions to carlsoncolumn@mac.com. More Practical Mac columns at www.seattletimes.com/ columnists.