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My girlfriend and I are hopefully going to start going to school in the near future. We will be doing all of our classes online since we both work full time. We both desperately need new laptops as right now we only share an outdated and rage inducing desktop. I've always kind of avoided buying computers from Wal-Mart because it's a store that doesn't really specialize in one specific product. Where as a store like Best Buy, they are known for electronics and computers and such. If the computers are the same brand, does it matter where you buy it? Also what are your thoughts about purchasing a laptop from an online retailer like Tiger Direct, New Egg, or even Amazon? Any insight will be helpful. |
The question has been closed for the following reason "The question is answered, right answer was accepted" by Mattophobia Sep 11 '12 at 19:19
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Here is the advice i give everyone: Get a laptop directly from the manufacture, Yes you probably will pay more up front, but they generally support them better. To the best of my knowledge who do you talk to when your computer is broken when you buy it at Walmart? You will probably end up going to the manufacture anyways. As for best buy, They may be known for electronics, but the people there I find don't really know what they are talking about, their warranties are probably the worst, sites have been created just to tell stories about their Geek Squad, and they never seem positive. There you can expect your computer to sit on a storage shelf for a week before they ship it out (which takes a week to get to the manufacture) where they will sit on it for a few days fix it and ship it back to the store where it will sit there until they get around to calling you. I could go on for hours about them, but that is not the point. So I guess what im getting at is doing it directly from the manufacture is IMO the best way of going. Most sites offer an online chat to answer sales questions, and the best part is, those are written so if they tell you something that is not true, well you have a log of what you talked about. But if money is tight there is always NewEgg and Amazon. They are both great retailers, and the best part is you don't have to pay for a flashy store that is well lit and people standing around waiting for customers. One more thing I should add, If you get a laptop at walmart or some other department store who is known for their low prices, and at time setting the price of how much the manufacture will sell the product to them for, you can expect that there may be special models that only walmart has (much like on black friday ads) that are designed with a cost in mind. No stainless steal hinges, no sturdy frame, cheap plastics, and just low quality everything. Here is what I think you should do: Go online to manufactures websites, look at their models, write down their specs and price, compare several brands (Dell, HP, Lenovo, Asus, Acer) Also with laptops look for USB ports, you should have at least 3. If you go with a professional model spend the extra money and get a docking station, you will be glad you did. |
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Amazon, Tiger Direct and New Egg are fine. WalMart, not so much. Wal-Mart's PCs are cheap, and don't last long. |
