Purchasing an HP laptop, preconfig, or custom?

I will be purchasing a notebook in the next month or 2 and I am wondering if it's better to get a preconfig or are the wait times not too bad for a custom config. I wouldn't mind waiting one or up to 2 weeks, But, anything longer then that would just piss me off. Am I better off just looking for a prebuilt or ordering a custom? The options I want are only avalible through the custom configs, but I can work around it if the ship dates are too long. Anyone have any horror stories from waiting?

 

I'm building a custom one, that way I can have exactly what I want / need.

Now I believe you do wait a little longer, but if you're getting the computer you want exactly, I think it's well worth the wait.

 

The wait times for HP unless there are part shortages have always been very low. I've custom ordered 4 notebooks from hpshopping.com all of which had less than 2 weeks wait time. The ship straight from Shanghai CN and you can order faster shipping if you need it.

Custom ordering is definitely the way to go.

 

Airman is correct, it's about 2 weeks, if I have the computer built today (which I won't, still deciding on certain things) it will be sent out around November 6th, about 2 weeks, a little more, little less, but as I said, if its the computer you want exactly, it's worth it.

Go with a custom!

 

My original intent when purchasing my notebook was to go custom. I build 4 different machines of the HP pavillion dv9500t. I was so close to buying it before I decided to search around on HPs website a little more. I stumbled across there preconfigured Compaq "Small Business" models and saw a lot of potential.

In the end I decided on the 8710p because (imho) it wasn't as flashy as the Pavillion. I prefer the business look and the better gfx card that came with it.

But honestly it's entirely up to you. Custom gives you the chance to build it (almost) any which way you please. But preconfigred machines basically upgrade things that you would normally upgrade together anyway (cpu, ram, gfx card, hdd).

As far as my 8710p, it was supposedly back ordered until 11/04/2007, I bought it on 10/19 expecting to get it on 11/06. However it was shipped yesterday and should be here tomorrow!

 

You can even build custom business laptops if you want. It is a hard option to find, so if anybody wants to know how to do that let me know.

I'd say go to HP's website and build a custom laptop, then search around and look at the preconfigured models and see if there are any that have the same config or close and look at the prices. Also, even if you buy the laptop from someone other than HP, you can still go to HP and order their warranty, which I think is better than any after market warranty, such as BestBuy or Circuit City. My reasoning for this is because if you go with the Best Buy warranty, if it is a hardware problem they send it to HP, so you are waiting even longer for you to get the laptop back because you have to go through a middle man first.

 

I guess I will get the HP more then likley. Another question is, how well does the ATI card game compaired to the quatro 570? I know the Nvidia is a more powerful card, but is it a LOT better or will the ATI card play newer games well with no issues? I hate to spend the extra 1000+ to get the Nvidia card if it's not a lot better.

 

After looking at all the local box stores which only had the lower speed CPU's such as 1.5 and 1.8 I ordered mine on line from HP.

 

Most of them don't have bluetooth or draft n wireless either.