Wait or buy now?

[inflames988]

Is there any reason to wait to buy my laptop for an extra couple months besides maybe a small price drop? The laptop i decided on is here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220158

has a few minor inconveniences that i dont like (non-glossy screen, and that goofy webcam), but TONS of good features in a small package, like a 9 cell and extra 6 cell battery, available dock, which i am also buying, dedicated graphics card, a fairly large hdd that is sATA, and finally 2 years warranty parts/labor.

If I wait a month or two on it, i cant see the price dropping drastically, so im thinking of buying it now so i can get used to vista (or if that fails, reformat with XP pro ), have the laptop set up how i want it, and be ready to go when college hits. Any reasons i should wait? Thanks for the input.

[Stuey]

Well, I'd say wait until you're ready for it. When I went away to college, my parents bought me and my sister each a laptop in July, and that left us with plenty of time to get used to the systems.

Are you definitely set on that particular laptop? For the price of that system on Newegg, you could get both a desktop and a laptop. Disadvantage: that would take up a lot of space. Advantage: less wear and tear on the laptop which might give it a longer life.

Back to your inquiry - the price may or may not drop between now and when you really want it. If you use it between now and then, then the extra cost will have been justified. I bought a digital camera back in Novemeber. I can now get that same camera for cheaper. But in the time since, I've used the camera for a few hundred photographs. Long story short, even if the price does drop, you would have gotten use from the system so it's not all that bad. If all you plan on doing is leave it in a drawer somewhere, then by all means wait and see if the price drops. If that model is discontinued, it shouldn't be too hard to find a suitable substitute.

Again, I'll have to reiterate. Expensive laptops aren't the best option for some college students. Instead of spending $1800, I'd either buy a desktop and a cheaper Dell laptop, or buy a cheaper but still decent laptop and put the rest of the money away for an upgrade in two years.

You're not going to be able to play today's intensive games too well on a x1450 mobility chip. I'm not trying to criticize you or your choices - I just want to put my two cents in, in a hopefully helpful manner.

[inflames988]

Originally Posted by Stuey Well, I'd say wait until you're ready for it. When I went away to college, my parents bought me and my sister each a laptop in July, and that left us with plenty of time to get used to the systems. Are you definitely set on that particular laptop? For the price of that system on Newegg, you could get both a desktop and a laptop. Disadvantage: that would take up a lot of space. Advantage: less wear and tear on the laptop which might give it a longer life. Back to your inquiry - the price may or may not drop between now and when you really want it. If you use it between now and then, then the extra cost will have been justified. I bought a digital camera back in Novemeber. I can now get that same camera for cheaper. But in the time since, I've used the camera for a few hundred photographs. Long story short, even if the price does drop, you would have gotten use from the system so it's not all that bad. If all you plan on doing is leave it in a drawer somewhere, then by all means wait and see if the price drops. If that model is discontinued, it shouldn't be too hard to find a suitable substitute. Again, I'll have to reiterate. Expensive laptops aren't the best option for some college students. Instead of spending $1800, I'd either buy a desktop and a cheaper Dell laptop, or buy a cheaper but still decent laptop and put the rest of the money away for an upgrade in two years. You're not going to be able to play today's intensive games too well on a x1450 mobility chip. I'm not trying to criticize you or your choices - I just want to put my two cents in, in a hopefully helpful manner.

thanks, i really like that laptop, but yeah, the price is a little high. I do have a desktop - an X2 4400+ system thats quite capable for gaming, and has tons of storage for dvd backups, music, photographs, and all my "media" stuff; I'll be bringing it as well. As for the laptop though, I want something that will also be pretty fast, have a docking station (if possible), and also be SMALL. Im not sure theres much else in the 13.3"-14.1" category that will suit my needs. Im really having trouble finding EXACTLY what I want in the laptop, because i have so many things I want and its hard to get it all. I like that asus one alot though, not 100% sure yet.

[inflames988]

Also, the laptop definitely wont be just sitting around. I do alot of computing and it would be great to have around to use when im not in the room where my computer is, or while im multitasking with something else somewhere else in the house, or even for using on my lunch break at work...etc. I just wasn't sure if there would be anything new and great coming out soon, or if there would be a significant price drop...I don't think either are on the horizon. I found the laptop for $1696.99 and free shipping (I'd save $115 or so) on Buy.com, dunno if thats a good site or not, but they have a 30 day warranty for no defects on it, plus the 2 yr asus warranty that comes with it...

[Stuey]

I'm a big advocate of the Dell route for college laptops. Sure Toshibas are supposedly more durable, and Asus etc. are more featureful, but the Dell pricepoint cannot be beat.

For $931 (not including tax or shipping), I was able to configure a Dell 1405 w/ the same processor as the Asus, a gig of ram, a 120gb 5400rpm HD, two 9 cell batteries, & Vista Business. It has 1 year mail-in warranty, and only integrated video.

Dell is funky in that you can often get a better system for less money. If I configured it with only the one standard cell battery, and with Vista Home Premium instead of Business, the price would be $933. They have different discounts which you can find at different deals sites. For example, the standard discount on the Dell page might be $200 if you get the standard warranty, $300 if you get the 2 year, and so forth. If you do some browsing, you can find a $300 off $99 coupon or a $500 off $1399, etc. When I ordered my father's laptop last July I found a 35% coupon on hardforum and if I hadn't, there were still 30% coupons floating on the deals sites.

I like to check xpbargains.com first before I order any Dell system for anyone. If you call them up over the phone to order it, you can usually negotiate a slightly better price or get them to throw in an upgrade. Sometimes they have decent deals online with upgraded service but it's somewhat rare.

To go from one year mail-in warranty to two year anytime warranty would cost $300 or so for the system I just configured. If you're spending $1800, then you'll most definitely want the extra warranty. If you're only spending $950, then is it worth $300 for the extra warranty? Maybe, maybe not, it's a personal choice. A replacement HD is relatively cheap compared to the extra premium paid for the warranty, but a replacement mobo or LCD panel is not.

Haha - and so this concludes Stuey's guide to gettin' a Dell, 1st draft.

[inflames988]

I'll take a look at Dell's website, but theres no way I want to go anywhere near their inspiron line. We have 4 of them currently. The older two worked well (as did all of our old dell desktops), but with Dell's switch to focusing on price over performance recently, the newer ones we have have seen many problems. Dead mobo's, dead screens, dead hard drives....I don't want to put up with this type of stuff in college, I want something that will always be working. And even if its something I can fix myself, Dell wouldnt want me to and would probably tell me I voided my warranty. I called asus, and they said I could replace memory with no worries about the warranty--they just wouldnt cover the memory on the warranty, obviously enough, since it would be covered by the vendor.

[Stuey]

I have an E1505 and throw it into my trunk once a week. So far it's lasted me a year of heavy duty use. If it lasts me another year, I will have gotten my money's worth.

I expect a $1600 laptop to last four full years so in my mind an $800 laptop should last at least two.

Yes the laptops are made of plastic, but so are most these days. I think that a lot of the savings come from them not caring about making the laptops too portable. My 15.4" laptop isn't too comfortable to carry around, and their 14.1" model is a bit thicker and heavier than my dead compaq from sizx years ago. Less miniaturization, space optimization, and greater weight = cheaper systems.

So far I haven't broken anything (yet). In the same amount of time, I had broken my speaker jack, keyboard, and power adapter on my old Compaq.

What about Toshibas? They supposedly have much better build quality than Dells, but carry a higher premium. It would set you back for less cash than the Asus will.

I'm just trying to be helpful. In the end, if I had the cash, I'd probably go with the Asus as well. But if you already have a desktop, it might be beneficial to get a lower priced laptop and have money leftover for accessories (speakers, camera, etc).

Also, Dell's XPS line is way overpriced in my opinion. I have an Inspiron and don't think it's too bad. Except for the latitudes, the Small Business designations are just slightly modified Inspirons. Sometimes they offer better prices and/or a better warranty than their Inspiron equivalents.

[inflames988]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220115

Does this seem like a better deal? It has a much better vid card - X1700 as opposed to X1450, bigger (15.4") screen (though this is kind of a negative for me, I want portable...but then again I'm getting a laptop backpack for it and for school books. Doesn't come with the extra battery as does the V2Je, and actually probably has similar if not better battery life (windows XP as opposed to vista in the V2Je, which doesn't bother me!). It fits in the same dock as does the V2je, so i could still get the dock like i want to. It also has a feature where an extra battery pack (7 hrs batt life) OR a 2nd hard drive can be added.

[glc]

Why do you need such a high end laptop when you have a good desktop too? Go for low price and portability. That thing is a desktop replacement. If you are going to spend that kind of money, get a Thinkpad T60, you can't kill those.

[inflames988]

In my experience it seems that laptops tend to be really slow. I was trying to get something that would be fast even after being used for a while, and would last me at least four, if not five years (for college). It seemed to me that the asus laptops had a good warranty (2 yrs as opposed to one), and were business/portability-oriented (as least in the V1 and V2 series). I also definitely wanted docking capabilities since i tend to use alot of peripherals--that way at the end of the day when i plug it in in my room it will backup the hard drive (using syncback), and be attached to a printer and whatever other peripherals i might use. This was one of the few laptops i found that offered that. I also wanted a wide and glossy screen, as I find these to be much better on the eyes and better for watching movies (I do quite a bit of travelling, and will be doing even more with my 5 hr "commute" to school next year).

[Stuey]

Laptops are volatile creatures. Even though you plan on having it last for four-five years, it may not. The power cable might fail, the HD might go bad, the screen backlight may go bad, etc. These things shouldn't really happen but they do.

Also, batteries while better than they used to be, will degrade over time.

How many peripherals do you need? If you already have a desktop, won't the printer be conencted to that? You can expect 3-6 USB ports on a typical laptop which should be enough for most purposes.

A wide and glossy screen of the 15.4" variety adds considerable bulk to the computer even if it's an "ultraslim". I have a 15.4" and while it's convenient, it's only 32 pixels taller than a 14.1" screen. The extra horizontal real estate is convenient at times, but for your intentions the portability tradeoff might not be worth it.

A glossy screen is supposedly better for color accuracy and DVDs and such, but there's a huge tradeoff that comes with the added reflectivity. If I had known that the LCD upgrade meant a glossy screen, I might not have taken it. If you're going to be on a bus, ambient sunlight might wash out the entire picture. I've seen so many advertising people outdoors with their laptops but even with maximum brightness, working outdoors even in shade is a huge pain in the tuchus.

[inflames988]

ugh...this whole laptop thing is such a pain. i've been searching for the "right" one for a while, and it seems like there are tradeoffs for just about everything. more power = less battery life. bigger screen = less portability. more features = more weight. ill have to keep looking. i still really like the v2je based on is size though. At worst, if something terrible happened (ex. the motherboard goes), i guess i could order a new one and replace it. as for a screen problem though...erghh

[kram 2.0]

You really do have to balance a number of factors when it comes to purchasing a laptop or any portable device. Battery consumption becomes a key issue, where not only do you have to "pay" physically, the device also does get a good deal heavier with larger batteries.

From a personal standpoint, I do prefer the non-glossy screen. The glossy screen gives a much more "lively" color, but it gets dirty easily (fingerprints are more visible), and light reflectivity is much more annoying. If I can weigh in on this, I suggest you at least glance at the Lenovo Thinkpads. They are rather high-end portable machines that will give you a great deal of mobile power.

And while I'm at it, I moved this thread to Mobile Computing.

kram

[minsonngo]

Just a heads up... if you have a Micro Center in your area... they are having a really big sale. Its worth a look. The laptops are going for pretty good prices.

[inflames988]

Originally Posted by kram 2.0 You really do have to balance a number of factors when it comes to purchasing a laptop or any portable device. Battery consumption becomes a key issue, where not only do you have to "pay" physically, the device also does get a good deal heavier with larger batteries. From a personal standpoint, I do prefer the non-glossy screen. The glossy screen gives a much more "lively" color, but it gets dirty easily (fingerprints are more visible), and light reflectivity is much more annoying. If I can weigh in on this, I suggest you at least glance at the Lenovo Thinkpads. They are rather high-end portable machines that will give you a great deal of mobile power. And while I'm at it, I moved this thread to Mobile Computing. kram

sorry, it started out as a thread about newegg pricing, and shifted towards making a decision on a laptop due to my indecisiveness. thanks

there isn't a micro center around here, but theres one an hour or so away. maybe ill run up there today, but i get lost easily so ill have to wait and find a time when i can grab the car with a GPS...lol

[minsonngo]

Yeah it may be worth the trip. It their annual "Biggest Notebook Sale of the Year" deal...

http://www.microcenter.com/