Best Buy or Newegg -- Opinions please.

Well, after long, long debate I have decided to get my preconfigured notebook from either Best Buy or NewEgg.
Any clues as to which of these two is the better choice to deal with?
Tough call.

Thanks everyone.

 

well.. id say bestbuy, because how their warrenty works (unless they changed it recentally) (and this means you need to buy the maximum extended one)...

you can break the product, and if they do not have any instock (after the MFG warrenty is done) then you get store credit of purchase value.

 

Pros of Newegg
- Great customer service
- No tax on purchase price in most states

Newegg Cons
- No refunds and only exchanges within 30 days due to defects
- Usually only 1-yr manufacturer's warranty, but you can buy extended warranties through the manufacturer or through places like ProVantage

Best Buy Pros
- Better exchange/refund policies, especially if bought in brick & mortar store
- They do offer their own warranties, but are usually highly overpriced. I'd still go the route of buying any extended warranties through the manufacturer, especially since a lot of manufacturers have better warranties/service than BB. One example would be Dell Complete Care.

Best Buy Cons
- Tax on the purchase price
- I've honestly never been impressed with their customer service, but it varies depending on the store you use

 

Newegg hasn't let me down yet (I've ordered from them at least 12-14 times over the last 18 months or so).

If you're planning to buy from BestBuy.com (rather than going into the store), be sure to compare shipping costs (if any) from both.

Newegg only charges Sales Tax to residents of California, New Jersey and Tennessee- a big savings if you live in one of the other 47 states! Best Buy, and any other retail store/website will charge sales tax. (If your notebook costs $1000 and you live in a 7% Sales Tax district/county, that's a savings of $70...just an example).

***Just be certain about your choice if you order from Newegg- they do NOT allow returns of non-defective desktop, notebook or tablet computer systems! Defective products will be exchanged for up to 30-days, but NO REFUNDS!

Best Buy allows returns of notebook computers up to 14-days, but they charge a 15% restocking fee to do it!

FYI- some manufacturers who sell direct have better return policies, if that's a concern for you. HP.com, for example, will accept returns for up to 21-days (even on configured-to-order models) with no penalty to the customer. They even pay for the return shipping.

 

I was thinking of getting extended warranty through Square Trade, but will look into the ones you mentioned.
I was about ready to go through the roof the other day when the sales person told me at best buy that the extended warranty would be $729.00
That was the most insane thing I have heard yet, and I have been told some weird stuff at Best Buy.
Thanks for everyone's input.

 

well i'm not gonna line up 4 in the monring so newe egg it is. already bought some early sale stuff. i'll see what they have for the real black friday and cyber monday deal.

 

That sounds good about New Egg. I will have to call them and see if they still have the same deal as a preferred customer when you can get something with no interest for 12 months. Of course I understand you have to have it all paid for by then.

 

I'm sure it's obvious, but I failed to mention comparing their prices also. Best Buy occasionally has a very good sale price (Circuit City, too), but Newegg generally has better everyday prices.

Again, shipping and sales tax should be taken into account- compare the TOTAL price.

I'm not sure if you are considering an extended warranty or not, but they're usually not a good value. If you do choose an extended warranty, get one from the manufacturer NOT the store or a third-party. Very rarely do they live up to the hype! Case in point- http://consumerist.com/5076274/best-buy-threatens-to-replace-a-2200-sony-laptop-with-an-asus-eeepc

 

Does the 04:00 AM thing work in Internet or only at a physical location?

 

Thanks for the good advice. I did want to get an extended warranty and will at getting it straight from the manufacturer.

 

Just curious, what brand of notebook are you planning to buy?

 

Right now, if the price gets low enough, I am debating between Sony FW or HP DV5T or Dell XPS, but I don't think there is much chance the XPS will come down to where I want it. I am prepared to wait til after Christmas if that gets me a better deal.

 

Wait till christmas...with the current economy, the big company will notice the abysmal business rate of this year's black friday, and will be forced to do some drastic price cuts during christmas to boost their year end gross earnings.

 

If you do want an FW, newegg does have a great deal on right now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834117832&Tpk=FW290JAB

 

The best deal on the XPS at the moment is currently $1049 (after $537 instant discount off of $1586)- http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=dydohu5&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&kc=features~laptops_great_deals

$1,049 may be more than you're willing to pay, though. It also needs a display upgrade to at least 1440x900 ($50 more for LCD or $75 for LED). But it does include 64-bit Vista, T8100, nVIDIA 8600M GT, 4GB RAM, 2-year Warranty, 36mos McAfee and LoJack...

At HP.com, the dv5t currently starts at $549.99 (after $150 instant rebate and $30 coupon code- SV2132) PLUS they're offering two FREE upgrades- from 1GB to 4GB of RAM and from a 160GB Hard Drive to the 250GB- not bad at all for $549. You could upgrade to a 2.0Ghz T5800, nVIDIA 9600M GT graphics card, WSXGA+ 1680x1050 non-Infinity LCD and Intel 5100AGN wireless card and the total would be $894.99 + sales tax!- http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&series_name=dv5t_series&a1=Category&v1=Versatile%20performance

 

The dv5 deal is pretty sweet but adding a better CPU and a bigger HDD I think it will get close to the newegg FW with the gorgeous dual-lamp display...

LE: I found this sweet XPS deal on bestbuy.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...1127&lp=10&type=product&cp=2&id=1218006773367

1049$ plus tax for a T8100, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, 8600GT and Blu-Ray. Not bad, though you'll have to live with the basic/average 1280x800 display.

 

With the Blu-Ray, that is a great deal for $1049....except for that freakin' WXGA 1280x800 display, as you mentioned! It's nearly impossible to find a higher resolution display from a retailer?!?! I'd think with the Blu-Ray, they'd want to pair the WUXGA 1920x1200 display....but what do I know?

 

I couldn't find any Studio15 with higher res than the standard 1280x800 on any retailer. I do remember seeing a CCFL 1440x900 one on best buy but I wanted the WLED version.

 

Oh, and if you're getting an extended warranty, in my opinion, it's more worth it to get accidental damage protection than anything else, since if a laptop lasts more than a year, it's far more likely to suffer due to accidents from handling than from the components becoming defective. I personally have gone the route of getting cheap student insurance with a $25 deductible that covers $2000 of my electronics every year (covers all sorts of accidents, thefts, fire, earthquake and even has international coverage) + a squaretrade warranty that combined to be less than the manufacturer's extended warranty + accidental handling, so that's always another route to consider if you're a student. If you have homeowner/renter's insurance as well, check to see if they will cover your laptop, though they can sometimes have high deductibles. I can't vouch for squaretrade, though, since I have no personal experience with them and reviews seem to be mixed, with most of the negatives coming from eBay users, so it's hard to tell how they'd deal with a new item. Hoping it won't be too bad if I do need them.

 

Well, insurance is insurance. A whole lot of hoops and waiting, but as long as you properly research the company and their underwriter, you should get the compensation as listed in their package. I currently use nssi.com, which a lot of universities endorse for their students, so I figure they should be legit. They generally reimburse you for repairs or replacement rather than repairing/replacing it themselves, so it's not exactly like a warranty where you normally wouldn't have to pay anything. This process is also slower as far as getting money back to you goes.

As for squaretrade, I haven't had the occasion to use them yet since I'm still within my manufacturer's warranty. Their ratings on Nextag/Epinion seem good, especially for their lower-priced items, where they simply refund you the purchase price if it's under a certain price tag rather than repairing it. I saw a couple of reviews where people's laptops were fixed promptly, so I decided to go for it since it was so cheap (I bought a cheapie warranty on my PSP to qualify for the 50% off code, and I only spent $70 for 3 years of warranty). I can't personally vouch for them though, because I haven't used it myself.

 

No question Newegg is the superior retailer.

 

Most of the time you can add your laptop or desktop to your Renter's or HomeOwners policy under the rider usually called Personal Articles Protection. Thus, you would either have a 0 cost deductible, or a deductible at a nominal charge ($25 usually).

If you add it to your main Homeowners Policy and not under a separate rider, then it would be subject to the main deductible of your policy.

I know my deductible is $500 on my main policy...but I separated my camera, laptop, desktop, and other misc. things under my Personal Articles Policy. It already paid off a few years ago, when my desktop fell to the ground, thus getting me a new one.

Just a thought on Insurance!


Cin

 

Using homeowners or renters insurance for notebook or desktop is not the best practice IMO. 3 claims will generate a cancellation with some carriers and insurance compaines share claims information with a third party national database.
The joy of having a computer replaced today may be outweighed by the pain of cancellation or high premiums when you really need the insurance. Tornado, fire, hurricane,.....
It is better to have a higher premium such as $1000 or more to prevent the temptation to use insurance like a bank account.

For the extended warranty or insurance policies such as HP Care Pack and etc.:
Policies that include accidental damage are a better value than the ones that simply extend the warranty.
I would stick with policy from the manufacturer and avoid third party.
Buy at time of sale to obtain discounted price or check for discounted policy from online vendor. Example is I purchased a HP Care Pack from www.beachcamera.com at a lower price than HP sold it for. And I did not even buy the notebook from BeachCamera.

If you do buy a warranty, maintain your original receipt for the notebook and the warranty and the warranty documents in a safe place. A scan of the docs saved as a backup is a good idea too.
HP made me prove I had a warranty when I had a claim as their database was completely screwed up. In the end HP did replace my notebook with a higher spec. one, and they extended my warranty.

NewEgg is a very good etailer. They are not however, a good place to buy a notebook or desktop if there is any chance of buyers remorse. NewEgg is not tolerant of returns of systems unless there is a defect in the item. And they DO check some of the items to verify the problem.

Once you are 100% certain you know what you want, buy it at NewEgg if you will save money. If there is any chance you will return it, buy it at BestBuy or directly from HP.

Unless you are getting a great deal, why not buy a Configure To Order directly from manufacturer?

 

Yes, but having it as an available option for those that want to add can be a good thing....And, if you are careful it will work for your benefit.

I only had to use my Personal Articles Policy once. And I hope to never again.

That is why we pay for insurance to get coverage for what we need it for.

I dont think that peeps would use it as a crutch...and I would be worried if someone used their PAP for several claims.

My first choice would be to get the added insurance from the manfu. of my lappy..Such as Dell.

It's all on individual choices, wants and needs...and being very careful with your notebook of choice.

Back to topic onhand...I would say Newegg if it's cheaper than Best Buy.

But at least with BB you can physically touch the notebook you are interested in. With Newegg, you can't do that.


Cin

 

To my knowledge, every 15.4" DELL retail configuration has the same WXGA (1280x800) display....from the Inspiron 1525 to the Studio 15 to the XPS M1530! DELL offers the higher resolution displays (some of them LED), but the only way to get them is to order directly from them.

My Studio 15 has the optional WXGA+ (1440x900) LED display, which was a $125 upgrade. I can't imagine going back to a CCFL display now (or a 15.4" with 1280x800 resolution).

The original Studio 15 model is called the 1535 internally. The Studio 15 with the updated Intel technology (T3200, T5800, T5900, P8400 or T9400 processor, Intel 4500MHD graphics, Intel 5100AGN wireless) is designated the 1537. All 1537 models have a standard LED display, but with 1280x800 resolution. The 1440x900 LED and 1920x1200 LCD are still options. The 1537 hasn't been released to retailers yet.

You mentioned seeing a DELL laptop with a 1440x900 CCFL display at Best Buy. There was a retail-only version of the Studio 15 (internally the 1536) based on AMD's Puma platform. They all had the 2.0GHz AMD Turion X2 RM-70 and ATI Radeon Mobility HD 3200 integrated graphics. I also heard that they had standard 1440x900 CCFL displays, but DELL doesn't publish specs or any useful/detailed information about them. They were/are the step-children...which begs the question, why did they even bother making them?

 

Actually I was hoping that maybe I could get a super day at Best Buy if I waited til either Just before or maybe even just after Christmas.

 

Good to know. That is the conclusion I have pretty much come to also.

 

Given how bad the black friday best buy deals were I wouldn't have high expectations.