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boobnewb
Dec 3rd, 2008, 08:53 PM
Hello,

I am looking into purchasing a laptop on boxing day. I would like to try and buy a laptop online as i've made purchases online before and i noticed boxing day deals have been on christmas eve on places such as best buy and futureshop and seem to avoid the hassle somewhat with people at the stores themselves on boxing day. Let me first tell you my current computer:

Sample stats: 2ghz processor
less than 1 gb of ram
nvidia video card
80gb and additional 250 gb hd purchase
lg dvd burner
samsung sycmaster 750s tube screen
no-name/average keyboard/mouse

After being in university and having to spend long hours at school and the fact that my computer is getting old, I need a new laptop. While i'd like to get a 1000$+ laptop; money is short and my budget is between 500-800$. I'd like to know a bit of information about getting a laptop on this day. What sort of price drops do most name brand laptops usually drop by? I'm looking in particular at either Sony/HP/Toshiba/Gateway/Dell. (no acer,compaq or E-machines). What date does the laptop arrive at your house from the day you purchased it on boxing day? (1 week,2 weeks? I realize it's the holidays but a time frame would be great).

Where do you purchase your laptop from online or not online? (i generally look at futureshop or best buy having purchased online before and trust them a bit more with security then another online retailer but suggestions of other sites would be great or major canadian retailers in quebec province). I also recently got a wireless modem/router from bell which does the job so a good laptop with strong wireless capabilities and bluetooth if possible. I do play computer games but not so much recently but the laptop should be able to play world of warcraft or red alert 3 (it doesn't have to be able to play crysis or advanced FPS).

A laptop with a ATI or Nvidia graphics card would be good but i also realize that at my price point; it will more or less be a generic graphics card. Hard drive space isn't much of a concern as i'll be using my desktop computer still and plan on purchasing a 1tb hard drive soon that will be filled up in a day as a entertainment/storage area. Another important factor is battery life as lots of students i notice need to constantly find a plug at school to recharge their laptops. I plan on using this laptop for a long time as i generally don't buy new electronics unless necessary and don't buy the latest ipod/cellphone every year the day that it comes out. I want a decent laptop that will be good for a couple of year and to be possibly future proof by anticipating a couple of trends that won't make the pc obsolete in the near-future (Wireless N standard for wireless as an example or PC Card capapbilties) .

I've owned a thinkpad laptop 3-5 years ago and have had HP and gateway desktops so i'm inclined to look at HP or gateway having good experiences with those companies before. If there's any suggestions or questions that i missed or any other things i should look into then let me know and i'll try to answer them. I haven't mentioned much about ram or processor speed but i noticed the majority being now 2-3 gb and 2ghz but an update on a good intel or amd chip would be helpful also.

I know i may seem to be asking for too much but any suggestions or information on boxing days/laptops and experiences on this day would be helpful.

boobnewb
Dec 5th, 2008, 10:55 AM
anyone? too early to discuss before boxing day?

FenixReborn
Dec 5th, 2008, 02:20 PM
Not too sure about which brand has sales at which locations, but here is a Gateway laptop within your budget.
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=667732

I have had my eyes on this one for the past week, but have been unable to find any feedback on it =( So, not sure how good or bad it is.

matkun
Dec 5th, 2008, 04:56 PM
Paragraphs are your friend. I tried to make it through that BLOCK'O'TEXT but couldn't.

akbar_k
Dec 5th, 2008, 06:03 PM
The best time to buy is end of august, beginning of september: back to school sales.

Boxing day is hit or miss in my experience, apart from back to school sales, I would just watch the hot deals forum, a decent deal on a laptop can come at any time. Case in point: I bought a great laptop in May for 400$ and another in Oct for 450$ by watching the hot deals forum when I was looking for one.

Boxing day is way too busy for me and you're competing with 1000x more people.

pitz
Dec 5th, 2008, 06:08 PM
Just my 2 cents, but I think a person is dumb to buy something like a laptop, as a boxing day, impulse purchase.

Sit down, figure out what you need, research it, determine whether you need a business laptop or whether a cheap 'consumer' one would work -- and then find where you can buy one.

I recently bought another laptop as a backup to my main one. Cost me less than $800, and this is what I got:

Dell Latitude D630
2gb DDR2-667 SODIMM
Intel T7500 CPU
80gb 7200rpm HDD
Intel 4965a/g/n Wi-Fi
Broadcom 1gbit Ethernet
Dual-Layer DVD-RW burner
14" WXGA+ screen
9-cell battery
Windows Vista Business
Intel X3100 graphics
3-year Next Business Day warranty

If you're a non-gamer, and looking for something solid for school, I suggest that you look at a Latitude instead of the random cheap plastic junk that is sold on Boxing day at those big-box stores. And if you're strategic about shopping around, you can get a deal like I did, on some top-notch gear.

samab
Dec 5th, 2008, 06:14 PM
In terms of laptops, the biggest problem is the availability of driver updates.

Unless you know how to edit inf files, a video card driver (or any other kinds of drivers) for one laptop from brand A will not install on another laptop from brand B ---- even though they both have the same chipset.

Out of all the laptop brands, Toshiba is the most willing manufacturer to actually post driver updates.

jumran
Dec 5th, 2008, 06:40 PM
Out of all the laptop brands, Toshiba is the most willing manufacturer to actually post driver updates.

My experience with Toshiba was the exact opposite. They never updated a single driver on my notebook. For example the laptop’s video card supported vista aero but Toshiba would not release the updated drivers to eable it.

boobnewb
Dec 7th, 2008, 07:16 PM
Thanks for all the replies so far. I usually use paragraphs but was writing late and didn't think there was much of a forum writing etiquette. I'll fix the paragraphs soon for those that wish to read it better. I appreciate the tip on the back to school issue but as i checked for sales but needed the money at the time for textbooks and tuition.

The comment about the bargain bins or clearance items I think is something that i want to avoid. I'd prefer to find a laptop that is perhaps in the 700-1000$ range that perhaps dropped in price somewhat down to my level rather than one that is always in the same price range and is being given away as a potential boxing day deal for those that aren't aware of its average price. Thanks to those who gave the tips on their own current purchases to help give me some insight. Any more comments or questions are appreciated.

Tha DraGun
Dec 7th, 2008, 08:09 PM
Not too sure about which brand has sales at which locations, but here is a Gateway laptop within your budget.
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=667732

I have had my eyes on this one for the past week, but have been unable to find any feedback on it =( So, not sure how good or bad it is.

I just bought this one today. I should get it on tuesday. I'll try to post some feedback on it later. Without seeing it or using it yet the one thing I dont like about it is Vista 64Bit (Which you do need because its 4gb, or there is no point in having that much ram)... but Some programs wont run on 64bit. I think I'll set up dual boot with XP 32bit as soon as I get it.

redbimmer
Dec 7th, 2008, 10:43 PM
Just my 2 cents, but I think a person is dumb to buy something like a laptop, as a boxing day, impulse purchase.

Sit down, figure out what you need, research it, determine whether you need a business laptop or whether a cheap 'consumer' one would work -- and then find where you can buy one.

+1.

CNET has a handy notebook buying guide to get you started:

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptop-buying-guide/?tag=rb_mtx;contentNav

Once you figure out what you need, you can look at their top 5 lists by category and read reviews:

http://reviews.cnet.com/best-laptops/?tag=rb_mtx;contentNav

And finally, PC Magazine has an annual survey of manufacturers that's widely considered the industry benchmark:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2326611,00.asp

Between CNET, PC Mag, and other tech sites, and reading consumer reviews on Amazon, Newegg, etc, you can form an educated decision. Good luck!