Is Dell still the best overall place to buy a laptop from?

Considering price/service/warranty?

I've never had a laptop before, don't really know where to start looking for the best deal.

I've done a search, couldn't find anything recent to help me out...
thanks.

I like Dell, have had 3 laptops through them so far and the only problem was with a little part of the plastic bit on the mouse breaking off. It was fixed the next day.

Asus are pretty good from what I've seen as well but never used them myself.

First ask your self what purpose your going to be using it for, then start looking at features you would like, then brands.

The new HP's are really nice!

i just bought one of these from umart to be used for mainly student work:
Toshiba Satellite L10 PM-725 1.6G 512Mb 40Gb DVD±RW 15inch XGA XPPro


Internet Price: $1595.00
Retail Price: $2399.00
Stock level: >5 (in Stock)
Model #: PSL10A-01302C


http://www.umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&bid=2&id2=&sid=12761

no troubles so far. great value for money.

what are you going to be using your laptop for?

Dell have never been "The Best" place to buy laptops. They, like lots of companies in lots of markets often have good value models in certain market segments, but they aren't the be all and end all of laptops.

You should identify what it is you're going to use the laptop for, and then we can make suggestions.

I disagree, Dell are always the best.

I've had 4 laptops in the last 4 years, all Dell, all different models, all kicked total ass.

hahaha.

Thats like someone whos only ever had commodores saying that commorodres are the best car.

ferarri laptops ftw

Thats like someone whos only ever had commodores saying that commorodres are the best car

You think? I only intend on keeping a laptop I Salary Sacrifice for One Year and then selling it, doing it again

Laptops are prolly the only thing if purchased this way you can come close to keeping your resale value on...

ASUS laptop are the winnar!

I mean, I'm sorry for being traditional, but the best laptops come from HP, Toshiba and Sony.

i just got an awesome new IBM R51 off ebay for $1400 delivered.

1.8ghz, 1gig ram, 15inch screen, DVD burner etc..

looked around for ages and decided on this laptop for its awesome wireless capabilities, then found it on ebay for a bargain price.

Hi, thanks for your responses.

I don't play games, but I do use a computer quite a lot.

Mainly just net stuff, student work, etc etc. I plan on taking the notebook to uni etc. So I don't need a super-hardcore lappy, but I don't want a POS.

I'm concerned about warranty/service too. Laptops tend to be a bit more finicky than desktops when it comes to breaking down don't they?

Strex - ebay would seem like a good idea, but what if something breaks and u need it replaced? What's the warranty service?

the ebay store i got it off was really good, not some dodgy dude. everything comes with 1 year warranty.

customer service i dont give a s*** about. amazingly, i can fix things myself without dell indian support.

Dells customer service has gone to s***. IMO that was the only reason to purchase from them.

m-tech seems to be of decent quality.

i would avoid dell, but thats just based on their super s***ty desktop pcs

I can fix software stuff, I just want to be sure that if one of the parts blows up then it'll be replaced pronto.

I'll checkout ebay stores - any chance u remember which one yours was strex?

i would avoid dell, but thats just based on their super s***ty desktop pcs

WTF does that have to do with with laptops.

Dell are the f***ing 'cheese'. Go buy an over priced piece of shiz if you want. But Dell rock so hard I can't begin to educate you.


last edited by gimpy at 02:30:03 31/Jul/05

WTF does that have to do with with laptops.

well, see, dell make desktop pcs as well as laptops

our work uses dell pcs and they are beyond s***ty
they are quite easily the worst pcs ive ever used
slow, clunky, s***

that experience has put me off dell for life

My dad had an Acer, I believe. It had a two day turn around for all warrenty stuff.

He now has an LG and hates the warrenty on it.

stez, the place where i got my lappy was http://www.apusauction.com.au/

there is nothing really special about them though, every other pc store i was looking at had minimum 1 year official warranty.

just shop around...some bargains out there.

strex I want to salary sacrifice a lappy soon, does that mob give tax invoices when you buy off them?

I personally was looking at a Acer lappy (mainly because my company has a paternish thing with them and get uber discounts) but are Acer lappy's any good?

yes, they def give tax invoices.

now my turn for a question.

i am setting up a simple wireless network in my haus, is the NETGEAR WG602 still the bomb dig for that shiz?

What is the go with Salary Sacrifice? I've seen it metioned in places, but never explained.

Avoid Acer notebooks. In my general experience (and we've sold a few at work) they tend to run VERY hot. So hot in fact that one of them burnt the top of a workbench in my workshop. Also, we sold 3 particular Acer notebooks only to have all 3 of them suffer from various failures including motherboard after less than a year. Acer did eventually replace them but one of them was just outside the included warranty and they did not cover it.

I would also suggest examining why it is you need a notebook. I suggest this because I purchased one about 2 1/2 years ago and kept it for nearly 2 years and used it only very rarely. Eventually I sold it. I simply had no use for it and even if I wanted to use it, its a pain in the arse to lug around not to mention keep it synchronised with the data on my desktop.

I've got one of those $999 Compaq Presario M2045AP notebooks. It's just as well-built as a HP-branded model and has a lot of features for the money (S-VHS out, D-SUB out, Firewire, 6-in-1 card reader and a HP Expansion Port). It's pretty much a Centrino (integrated Wi-Fi) without the Pentium M. But because of that, if you get it working hard, you'll find it's a little bit slow.

What is the go with Salary Sacrifice? I've seen it metioned in places, but never explained.

You buy a notebook for say $2k

That $2k comes off your gross salary, so in effect you earn $normal - $2k in a year and only get taxed on the new gross amount.

kat: you need to add fringe benefits tax on though, unless its for direct work purposes

last edited by Crusher at 12:54:40 31/Jul/05

Pfft, simple explination is all that is required. The nitty gritty can be dealt with by the accountants and pay rool staff

kat: you need to add fringe benefits tax on though, unless its for direct work purposes

Most jobs these days allow for Laptops to be Salary Sacrificed...

that is cheap for an IBM, but I'd be super careful with the warranty side of things. Sometimes ebay resellers arent 'official' and you can find yourself in big trouble when it comes time that something actually does go wrong.

For what you were looking at, I'd suggest something maybe like a compaq v2325 with extra ram. Although compared to what strex bought, the level of value is pretty poor.

Heardy, Acer are the 3rd most popular brand of laptop in Australia, with about 10% market share. They are quite good really, despite what hunter says.

(for the record, and if I remember correctly, HP have the highest market share with about 17% and dell at about 12%. HP includes compaq and HP though.

just a quick question

i'm also in the market for a laptop as well... mainly for university, and I was thinking, it may be possibly better to buy a cheap and nasty laptop; and just keep turning it over every 1.5-2 years with another cheap and nasty unit.

spending under $1k or something like that but if anyone has any opinions, that on laptops in general, that would be awesome

check out dell and tpg hey... not bad deals happening atm.

thanks groydis, another dude at work has one and hasn't had any troubles with them...

strex, short answer yes

oh, and er asus.. 2 Year Global Warranty

Had one for 12 months flawless, (It was an M5N) Recommend strongly

I gotta say the TPG AMD lappy looks sweet to me

Yeah im thinking about buying a laptop fairly soon, i'm looking at the Dell Inspiron 6000. All our laptops at work are dell and their fantastic, especially the inspirons, never had any trouble with them at all. I've never used a Dell desktop but word on the street is their s***, this can't be said for their laptops though, nothing but quality.

dell phone support is pretty gay.

Just put an order through and paid for a TPG Laptop

http://www.tpg.com.au/online/intel_notebook.php?TPGSESS=cf1f37a07f0efedda0cde06739817965
the centrino unit for $1598 + $99 delivery = $1697

I thought it was a pretty decent deal; bang for your buck... shame I had to pay cash up front for it