Laptop advice?

[shereec]

I think this topic may have been covered some time ago, but since things seem to change quickly in the computing world I wonder if any of you would care to weigh in. I'm going to buy a laptop and welcome advice on which way to go.

I went to Best Buy last weekend thinking I could treat it like Car Max and test drive several different models while talking with someone who supposedly knows what they're talking about. I was never able to get anyone to help me and ended up making some notes on various models and leaving.

I'm going to use the laptop primarily for work and will need to run MS Office (Word, Excel) plus Visio and probably Project. I don't want it to weigh a ton (would prefer to be able to carry in a hand-held or shoulder bag as opposed to a back pack or wheeled case). I will use it for being online (have to be able to plug into Section 21 in front of the tv during games instead of running back and forth from room to room to "holler" YIPPEE during National Championship games...) and I love to do online jigsaw puzzles... I'm not sure that battery life is a big consideration because I just don't see me using it too much when I'm not near a plug. However, I would like to know if anyone knows anything about MyFi because I DO see myself using the laptop when we're at the River house where there's no internet connection. And I don't want to spend over $600.

Any thoughts?

[ArkieDukie]

I've had 2 Toshiba Satellites and have been quite happy with them. The LCD went out on the first one, and I dropped the second one and broke the LCD. The broken LCD was so easy to replace that I'm going to try fixing the first one. I've had horrible luck with Dell customer support for my PC, so I wouldn't go with them.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Have you checked out recommendations from Consumer Reports? It's easy to check it all out online. I've come to prefer that to the printed reports because online version is updated more frequently.

[Ima Facultiwyfe]

More knowledgeable brains than mine will, no doubt, give you good advice here. But, have you checked out Tiger Direct? A repair guy sent me out there one time to get a new monitor, saying I wouldn't be able to beat their prices anywhere. So I went. Man! Do they ever have a LOT of stuff! Although I didn't need much help, they were available and attentive. There is the store at Northgate in Durham, where I went. I googled them and they only list one on Capitol BLVD in Raleigh. Don't know what that's about. But, it looks like their online store has everything in the world. At least, after you've decided what you want, perhaps you should compare prices there.
Love, Ima

[OZZIE4DUKE]

More knowledgeable brains than mine will, no doubt, give you good advice here. But, have you checked out Tiger Direct? A repair guy sent me out there one time to get a new monitor, saying I wouldn't be able to beat their prices anywhere. So I went. Man! Do they ever have a LOT of stuff! Although I didn't need much help, they were available and attentive. There is the store at Northgate in Durham, where I went. I googled them and they only list one on Capitol BLVD in Raleigh. Don't know what that's about. But, it looks like their online store has everything in the world. At least, after you've decided what you want, perhaps you should compare prices there.
Love, Ima

The Tiger Direct stores are now CompUSA - Tiger Direct bought the name when they went bankrupt (they also have CircuitCity.com). I have bought a refurb laptop and my desktop in the Raleigh store. Their Durham store is at Northgate on "the back side". But also look at Costco and Sam's Club - their return policies can't be beat on technology purchases.

[TillyGalore]

More knowledgeable brains than mine will, no doubt, give you good advice here. But, have you checked out Tiger Direct? A repair guy sent me out there one time to get a new monitor, saying I wouldn't be able to beat their prices anywhere. So I went. Man! Do they ever have a LOT of stuff! Although I didn't need much help, they were available and attentive. There is the store at Northgate in Durham, where I went. I googled them and they only list one on Capitol BLVD in Raleigh. Don't know what that's about. But, it looks like their online store has everything in the world. At least, after you've decided what you want, perhaps you should compare prices there.
Love, Ima

The Tiger Direct stores are now CompUSA - Tiger Direct bought the name when they went bankrupt (they also have CircuitCity.com). I have bought a refurb laptop and my desktop in the Raleigh store. Their Durham store is at Northgate on "the back side". But also look at Costco and Sam's Club - their return policies can't be beat on technology purchases.

I thought CompUSA and Circuit City went out of business.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

More knowledgeable brains than mine will, no doubt, give you good advice here. But, have you checked out Tiger Direct? A repair guy sent me out there one time to get a new monitor, saying I wouldn't be able to beat their prices anywhere. So I went. Man! Do they ever have a LOT of stuff! Although I didn't need much help, they were available and attentive. There is the store at Northgate in Durham, where I went. I googled them and they only list one on Capitol BLVD in Raleigh. Don't know what that's about. But, it looks like their online store has everything in the world. At least, after you've decided what you want, perhaps you should compare prices there.
Love, Ima

The Tiger Direct stores are now CompUSA - Tiger Direct bought the name when they went bankrupt (they also have CircuitCity.com). I have bought a refurb laptop and my desktop in the Raleigh store. Their Durham store is at Northgate on "the back side". But also look at Costco and Sam's Club - their return policies can't be beat on technology purchases.

I thought CompUSA and Circuit City went out of business.

They did, and the guy that owns Tiger Direct bought the names for next to nothing in bankruptcy court. He renamed the retail stores CompUSA last year and sells online as both Tigerdirect.com and Circuitcity.com, which still has a loyal following of customers (folks who would never have considered buying from Tiger Direct, but now are!) Good business strategy. I'm on all their email lists.

[shereec]

Thanks for all the advice. It's a bit overwhelming - all the choices...

Ozzie - would you say that a benefit to buying a refurbished laptop is that they tested it thoroughly before putting it up for sale again and a new one might just be the lemon?

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Thanks for all the advice. It's a bit overwhelming - all the choices...

Ozzie - would you say that a benefit to buying a refurbished laptop is that they tested it thoroughly before putting it up for sale again and a new one might just be the lemon?

No, the benefit of buying a refurbished laptop is that it is/was cheaper. It only came with a 3 month warranty instead of a year, but other than dropping it and breaking the battery compartment ($244 to fix it, drops weren't covered by any warranty, although AmEx picked up the tab under their buyer protection plan!), we've had no problem with it in the 3+ years we've had it (bought it in May 2007). Mrs. Ozzie uses it as her home computer now, and we do take it on trips with us.

PM me your phone/cell phone and we can talk about a couple of other things I'd recommend.

[colchar]

I've had 2 Toshiba Satellites and have been quite happy with them. The LCD went out on the first one, and I dropped the second one and broke the LCD. The broken LCD was so easy to replace that I'm going to try fixing the first one. I've had horrible luck with Dell customer support for my PC, so I wouldn't go with them.

I love my Toshiba Satellite and when it eventually comes time to replace it (not any time soon) I am quite certain that I will buy another. Also, Consumer Reports gives them quite a good rating and, IIRC, one of the Satellite models was rated as one of the magazine's 'Best Buys'.