Re: O/T Where can i get a good laptop for cheap?
OK, here goes.....
CompUSA, BestBuy and those big discount computer stores often sell Notebooks for less then cost-watch their sales fliers and those "specials" etc are indeed below cost. You will not get a new notebook cheaper. The reason they do this is that they try to sell you an extended warranty for a LOT of money-that is actually where they make their profit. You usually don't need it as the manufacturer's warranty the units for at least 90 days and will sell you an extended warranty for alot less then the store's warranty. However, if you tell the salesperson up front that you are not buying the warranty, the unit will be "out of stock". Tell then that you indeed want the warranty and when you go to the check out, tell them you changed your mind and do not want it.
Most "top of the line" notebooks-such as Toshiba's Tecra come with a 3 year factory warranty. The warranty is on the system, not the buyer, so if you buy a 2 year old Tecra, you still have a one year factory warranty on it. To tell the "vintage" of a Toshiba is easy-the date of manufacture is encoded in the serial number. The first digit or letter is the month of manufacture... 1=January, X=October, Y=November, Z=December. The second digit is the year. Soooo X212345678
was manufactured in October of 2002 and would still be under warranty until November 2005. Note that the warranty covers system failures, NOT breakage. If the screen is cracked-sorry, not covered.
I can recommend top end Toshiba and IBM, I am not fond of Compaq/HP. Sony is OK. Dell is good for consumers provided you get a good warranty-their failure rate is higher then the top end IBM's and Toshibas.
Hope this helps you!!!
CompUSA, BestBuy and those big discount computer stores often sell Notebooks for less then cost-watch their sales fliers and those "specials" etc are indeed below cost. You will not get a new notebook cheaper. The reason they do this is that they try to sell you an extended warranty for a LOT of money-that is actually where they make their profit. You usually don't need it as the manufacturer's warranty the units for at least 90 days and will sell you an extended warranty for alot less then the store's warranty. However, if you tell the salesperson up front that you are not buying the warranty, the unit will be "out of stock". Tell then that you indeed want the warranty and when you go to the check out, tell them you changed your mind and do not want it.
Most "top of the line" notebooks-such as Toshiba's Tecra come with a 3 year factory warranty. The warranty is on the system, not the buyer, so if you buy a 2 year old Tecra, you still have a one year factory warranty on it. To tell the "vintage" of a Toshiba is easy-the date of manufacture is encoded in the serial number. The first digit or letter is the month of manufacture... 1=January, X=October, Y=November, Z=December. The second digit is the year. Soooo X212345678
was manufactured in October of 2002 and would still be under warranty until November 2005. Note that the warranty covers system failures, NOT breakage. If the screen is cracked-sorry, not covered.
I can recommend top end Toshiba and IBM, I am not fond of Compaq/HP. Sony is OK. Dell is good for consumers provided you get a good warranty-their failure rate is higher then the top end IBM's and Toshibas.
Hope this helps you!!!
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