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General discussion

BUYING A NOTEBOOK

by JERMAINE Nov 13, 2004 9:03PM PST

I HAVE NARROWED MY CHOICE DOWN BETWEEN HP AND TOSHIBA. SHOULD I BUY FROM CIRCUIT CITY OR BEST BUY, OR SHOULD I ORDER FROM THE COMPANY'S WEBSITE. MOST ELECTRONIC STORES DO NOT HAVE THE ACCIDENTAL COVERAGE.

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2 Posts
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Re: BUYING A NOTEBOOK
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Nov 13, 2004 10:46PM PST

All capitals is like shouting. Please reserve that for shouting.

In my travels, HP and Toshiba's have been fine. But which models are you referring to?

In closing, Toshiba has been making good progress to reduce service center turnaround time. It used to be 6 to 8 WEEKS! Today they claim its in a few weeks. (Note not exact?) They partnered with UPS for service which gave them a fast pipeline to parts from their motherland.

Bob

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Re: BUYING A NOTEBOOK
by KenSanramon Nov 15, 2004 4:00AM PST

You are better off ordering a custom order notebook exactly as you want it from HP/Compaq (hpshopping), Dell or Toshiba (some are custom order, some are not) especially as there are many discounts out there this way (HP/Compaq has $100 custom order rebate through 12/1/04 at rebates link on hpshopping home page and other offers online like free equipment upgrades).

Also, you can order less RAM and get your own later (only fill 1 RAM slot when ordering so 2nd slot is free) to save money.

The Kingston PC 2700 notebook RAM 512mb used in many of current notebooks is on sale this week at Best Buy (through Saturday 11/20/04 for 79.99 after rebate). This has a full warranty and you can check compatibility with any particular model at Kingston's website (and I have one in my Compaq X1000 series that has run fine -- I went from 512mb RAM 1 stick to 1gb but the best value is to order 256mb RAM 1 stick and add this to go to 256 + 512 == 768mb RAM)

The only reason to buy in a store is if it has a good sale and the specs are exactly what you want and you want it right away (custom order takes a bit of time to ship). You do get a 30 day return policy for any reason from hpshopping and they pay the return shipping as well (Best buy and Circuit City are 14 days only and have a restocking fee if the notebook is not defective).

Also, you can buy a manufacturer extended warranty online later even if you bought it retail but you should get a manufacturer extended warranty if you really want one past 1 year limited.

Note that you can use many Amex/Visa/MC gold or platinum credit cards to get warranty doubling from 1 year to 2 years for free ......( I have this on my Costco Amex Platinum).

Also, HPshopping has 1 year no interest financing if you are interested in that option as well .......

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