Laptop Computer Purchase Question

[Guest Sundancefisher]

My son wants to spend $500 on a laptop computer...mostly now for using on Minecraft but also looking at videos, surfing online and doing some homework.

 

Any ideas?

 

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...Sku=F12-156401

 

we looked at this for value...but 2 reviews showed they had problems out of 12 and there is only a 3 month warranty.

 

$500 does not seem to cut it...but maybe I am missing a great deal somewheres.

[Toirtis]

Computer Trends is quite good, but always get the 3 year warranty.

[alan2]

I bought a Toshiba laptop from BestBuy a while back. The screen died after 3 days but they gave me a straight exchange. Any warranty on electronics beyond 1 yr is a moneymaker for the seller, that is about all. Electronic failures usually happen in the first few months.

[Roast]

Check out this weeks Best Buy and Future Shop flyers. Both stores have several laptops under $500, with either dual core or quad core processors, 4-8GB of RAM and hardrives over 500GB. Its amazing what you can get for $500 bucks now:)

[Toirtis]

Any warranty on electronics beyond 1 yr is a moneymaker for the seller, that is about all. Electronic failures usually happen in the first few months.

 

Not true of computers, particularly laptops, and many higher-end TVs...the 3-year warranties that I have had on a number of laptops over the years have paid for themselves many-fold.

 

[Guest Sundancefisher]

Thanks all.

 

Some good points to ponder.

[Hawgstoppah]

Dell right now has a great machine on for 899 (normal 1499) with 2gb graphics card, 8gb ram, nice sized HD, and intel i7 processor. The XPS15 Laptop. For the money he's going to spend (500) do yourself a favour and chip in the extra for him and get him one that'll last him 5 yrs. That's my opinion, for what it's worth.

[Hawgstoppah]

prices are also better at www.newegg.com for this stuff. Again that's in my opinion.

[wayne]

check out costco prices are really good and they double the maunfactures warranty!

I purchased this 1 for myself http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Product.aspx?P...4&N=4011462 5000092 4294967235&Mo=8&No=1&Nr=P_CatalogName:BCCA&Ns=P_Price|0||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-CA&Sp=C&topnav=

 

and this one for my mother-in-law http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Product.aspx?P...4&N=4011462 5000092 4294967235&Mo=8&No=0&Nr=P_CatalogName:BCCA&Ns=P_Price|0||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-CA&Sp=C&topnav=

 

no one in town were able to come within $150 of the price costco sells them for.

Wayne

[gentlemang]

Don't know if you are still looking or not. I bought my last computer and a note pad for my sister in law at Staples. I really liked the warranties and the prices. I did quite a bit of research prior to buying. I bought the extended warranty for both. I have always done this and over the years it has paid for itself several times over. The notepad has a warranty that if I drop it in the toilet and crack the screen I get one free replacement within the warranty period of 3 years.

A new laptop for $500.00 can be a great mahine. Stick to your budget. I wouldn't recommend refurbished.

Just my opinion.

[birchy]

Another good option is www.dfsdirect.ca. Off-Lease, refurbished laptops from Dell.