I am looking into buying my first laptop, I was just wondering if I should buy it from someone Like dell or if buying one from newegg is good also.

The only reason I would really buy from someone like Dell is for technical Support, can anyone tell me if laptops usualy have enough problems that I would need replacement warranties and customer support for?


Any heads up on a good place to get a laptop for around 700ish bucks would be greatful TY!

Go to newegg, Fuck dell, they want too much for their laptops. You can get a much better deal with newegg.com

Personally I'm rather fond of Dell laptops, I've had an inspiron 8500 for 3 years now. I wouldn't say that it has superb build quality or anything, but it's managed to get me by for productivity and the gaming I do (WoW, EQ1 and CS mostly). I can't say wether they want "too much" for their machines at present and don't have the time to look, so I won't dispute that point.

The only point of advice I will give is this: Whatever you do, get the best warranty possible. So many laptops use proprietary parts that it will likely pay off within the first problem. I had to pay 80 dollars for a 40 gig hard drive when my laptop was out of warranty, which is probably twice what it would cost you to replace a similar hard drive in a desktop.

I have also found that Dell service is very good, as long as you are smart enough to say "I've done this, this, and this. I know the problem is this.". Another example: The little nub on my NIC card where the RJ45 clips in had either worn away or broken off, so my internet cable kept slipping out. Dell sent out a new motherboard and a tech within 2 days. They overnight all their parts too, I've had multiple keyboards replaced (not because they're bad quality, but because I abuse them).

This all being said, I'm sure there are other vendors out there that can equal or exceed Dell in these areas, and I had an incident or two where I was dealing with people in India or somesuch before I learned to cut through the BS to get my problems fixed.

Soo... just remember, warranty!

As far as service goes, I'd never buy a desktop system from HP, but I'd buy an HP/Compaq laptop any day. Every time Ive had an issue with mine I had a new part overnighted to me. And when I needed it, instructions on how to replace the offending part.

I'm still a bit angry with Dell over a laptop I bought, then waited 3 months for because they lied to me about how they shipped it, etc. And they forced me to buy an on-site service contract because I was overseas...

Mind you I was in a combat zone, so I somehow doubt they'd be flying one of their reps over to fix it.

But I digress, for the same amount of money, you can get a better laptop, and the same/better service.

A co-worker just bought a top of the line Dell Laptop and about a month after she got it the video went out. It was an nVidia card, and a very good one. The following month when she called for service and they came out yada they told her oh... we can't get you that same card now. Apparently month to month or some frequency (I don't know what) they sell certain parts for certain systems. One month it might be nVidia the next month it might be ATI. It took a while but she eventually got a brand new laptop shipped to her with the ATI card of similar specs. I would have been pissed if it were me though.

I have a Dell laptop at home that I've never had any issues with so I just don't know. I'm inclined to go with Ele though Compaq and HP do make good laptops but it'd be a cold day in hell before I bought a desktop from them.

Why not look at building your own?

DYI isn't that hard anymore. You can get bare bones laptop chassis from companies like ASUS. The parts you can pick up from your local computer store or order from companies such as newegg.com (or for Canadians, Tigerdirect.ca or NCIX)

This allows you a LOT more control. You pick the Processor, the Ram, the Hard Drive, the Wireless Card, the Video Card, etc, etc.

Just a thought ;)

I debated about trying to build one once, I did build my desktop but I am just worried how freaking small of a space you have to work with it might be alot harder to build.

I actually looked up some DIY barebooks and they are 700 bucks by themself, I think its going to cost to much for me to build my own, i'd be safer to just go with either a new egg laptop or a dell because dell has a free dvd burner and screen upgrade atm, and considering people are saying that laptops are something I really should get a warranty for i guess it would be safer with dell. The biggest game I will prob ever play on my laptop is everquest 2