T-Shirt Ninja

I'm trying to find the best place to buy a notebook computer. I've looked so far at Dell and IBM because they seem to fit my requirements which are the following:

No more then 2000 with taxes
No celeron processors

I've found a few dells and a few IBM's that meet that criteria, but I have to pay shipping if I order it online, are there any stores you guys can think of in the GTA that would have comparable laptops?

Also do you think a store would give a discount if I get my friends to buy laptops from them the same time I buy mine? A group buy discount of sorts? TIA for any replies

imported_Joker

Most small stores will give you a discount if more than one laptop are purchased, I think when buying a laptop though go with a big name reputable company, like DELL, IBM, HP, Tochiba they have better warranties on this stuff and with a laptop a warranty is a good thing to have IMO. But in the case of a desktop, the warranties by big companies are **** thats when you go custom, I'm thinking of getting a laptop maybe next year or so

imported_D dot T

RadioShack currently has a Toshiba Satelite A10-REH note on sale for $1499 regular $1599 in their flyer.

Features:
Intel Celeron 2.0Ghz
15" TFT Display
256MB DDR 2100 Ram
30GB 4200 RPM drive
CD-RW + DVD ROM combo
32Mb shared video
V.92 56K modem
10/100 Ethernet card

For $1999
Get you same thing except for Intel Pentium 4 2.0Ghz CPU and 40GB drive.

imported_Syphon

Ugh... *shudders* Radioshack. Goto staples, they will give you a better deal if they have that laptop. I know at my staples ( im a computer guy at one here.) we have that laptop. Im not sure on the price. IF it isn't already lower, its easy to beat the price with our 150% price match!

imported_D dot T

Wow, they'll match that with the 150% price match.....hmmmm...interesting.....

T-Shirt Ninja

Do you know if you guys carry the toshiba satellite 5200 series laptops, my buddy wants one, the cheapest he found it was at the U of T store ($3100)

imported_esp

try making one from Dell, there are gonna save you the money and they don't use celeron chips. Keep in mind, a mobile celeron is still better on battery life than a non-mobile chip. Meaning, half of the laptops out there aren't really laptops(desktop replacements).

I was desperate for a laptop for school and Dell was taking to long to process my check so I went with FutureShop to get the cheapest laptop possible. I went with the Toshiba Satellite 1100 series. 2 gig celeron m chip but it's still quicker than my AMD 1 gig at home and lasts 2.5 hours on one light *** battery.

Go with Dell. Go with the 500 600M. Centrino chips are so cool cuz they last so long and run 1mb L1 cache on the processor. Very quick.

Or, if you have the money, drive to a Best Buy or Circuit City in Buffalo and buy it there, ship the box and manuals to your home and carry the laptop back.

imported_94EG6HB

Lease...

imported_Syphon

Yes, at my stapes we have a few toshiba satallite 5200's. The thumbpad is also an lcd, and you can do stuff on it, set a background, use it as a calculater, sketch pad, all sortsa crap. Its $3300 at staples. Also it has a 15" UXGA moniter, its very crisp and easy to look at but sometimes acts like a mirror, catches alot of glare. Once again, we do have a price match, but only local stores. If you want to do that, goto a local staples that is local to the place that has a better price and bring a flier, or a quote with a date on it. They then might call to confirm the costs, but then they can match 150%. Atleast we can up here (Orillia Staples)

BOND007

Greg come talk to me at thw west side meet ....

imported_gatherer

Greg let me check at work ... I might be able to get dells at a discount


(and no I'm nopt going to do it for everyone there probably limits)

T-Shirt Ninja

Will do Neil

and

MSN or PM me when you get that info Jason

I'm currently looking at the Dell Inspiron 5100
15" XGA display, P-4 2.4ghz, 512DDRram, 30gb HDD, CDRW+DVD no wireless lan card, and only 32mb of video memory (ATI Radeon 7500)

The wireless lan card will be another 100.
I saw it for 1599 in a flyer I got in the mail, seems like a good deal to me... what do u guys think?

imported_esp

Don't get me wrong, I love the 5100 and the 8500, but......I don't find desktop replacements a good use of my money.

First of all, they use PC parts and stuff em into a compact laptop style casing. It weighs around 8 pounds. batteries drain when using ROMS and games etc.

I'd rather get a laptop with mobile processor so that I know I spent my money on powersaving technlogy and lightweight compact versatility.

If you don't care about luggin a big laptop around that's heavy, and know that you'll always be near an electrical source, then go for the 5100 or 8500.

If these matter suddenly concern you consider the M series.

Oh and buying the Dell wifi card is the same as getting other ones at the store. So that is a good upgrade. I got my nortel 802.11b for 50 bucks new. They all work the same though. Unless you're on a g network, those cards are a little more expensive.

imported_BoOsTd

Dell all the way upgradeable, good bang for buck well knowen customer support...

sjwong

If you're looking for something affordable and you don't mind the name...for a good quality, affordable laptop, check out MDG. I know i might get flamed for this one...but i think they're pretty good...my buddy just got one last month...it runs pretty smoothly and he has no problems with it! Made in Canada

T-Shirt Ninja

Had problems before with MDG, my dad wont buy from them again...

sjwong

Serious? Dang. Alright.

Mugen C

One month is way too soon to say it's good....
I wouldn't touch them unless I pick my own parts...
If you look at the better quality systems...they aren't really that cheap...

Sorry to say that...but for affordable and relatively better quaility...
Dell is your only choice.

Toshiba lower-end product isn't that good IMO...

regards,
Mugen C

Brisk20

If your looking for best bang for the buck take a look at the athlon processors... You don't lose any performance by going to that over a P4 but you don't pay for all of intel's advertising

T-Shirt Ninja

That's true but majority of laptops I've seen don't have Athlon Processors.

Now after looking at pages of ads I'm more confused. The only thing keeping me back from buying the 5100 is the video card... I might play games on this notebook and the radeon 7500 w/32mb sounds a little weak to me, but I cant get the radeon 9000 in that laptop. Argh, I gotta make sure I buy a laptop thatll last me thru university.