[Scoutmaster]

"If you want to make your procurement department happy with you, get the RAM expansion from someone other than Apple post purchase... just make sure you get quality memory from one of the reputable firms. You can save a lot of $$ that way. Apple does charge a high premium for expansion RAM."

Thanks. Apple's RAM prices looked to be through the roof and reputable aftermarket RAM is much less expensive.

Does the same logic apply to hard drives? I could install Hitachi or Western Digital server-quality drives in the extra bays for much less than the cost of buying them from Apple.

[Swordmaker]

Does the same logic apply to hard drives? I could install Hitachi or Western Digital server-quality drives in the extra bays for much less than the cost of buying them from Apple.

yes.