Buy online or from store?

I am about to purchase a Sony VAIO SR
Should I buy from Sonystyle.ca (Canada) or from a Sony Store?
Would I be able to configure systems at the Sony Store?
I'd like to add the graphics card with HDMI port
Also, what are reasonable haggles/discounts I should ask for if I buy at a store =)?

 

Well, I've personally had poor experiences buying from retail, though many others will say the services is better, and they do some price matching.

On the other hand, I think you generally find better deals online.

You cannot customize in store, but can online on certain models.

Right now, sonystyle.ca has a 10% off on all orders over 1499.99 except CTOs (non-stackable)

5% off on all orders above 799.99 except CTOs (non-stackable)

Check redflagdeals.com for the coupon codes.

Also, they just announced a $150 coupon code for all CTOs which you can find on their webpage.

Happy shopping!

 

Unfortunately, my budget is just around $1300
At the cheapest configuration, the total comes up to a bit above $1300 (not including tax)
How do their price matchings work?
I list a similarly specced notebook and they adjust price?

 

Does sony website charge tax?

I bought from an auth. sony reseller on the web and no tax and its actually cheaper than at sony.com

 

Order Price

$1314.99
Estimated Ship Date 11/27/2008

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8400 (2.26GHz)
Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium 64-bit
Titanium Gray
2 GB DDR2-SDRAM (DDR2-800, 1GBx2)
120 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive [5400 rpm]
13.3" WXGA (XBRITE-ECO™ technology)
Mobile Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD with Intel® Clear Video Technology
DVD +/- R DL / DVD +/- RW / DVD-RAM Drive
Trusted Platform Module / Biometric Fingerprint Sensor
Wireless LAN (802.11a/b/g/n) with integrated Bluetooth® technology
Standard Battery

No Engraving
None
Microsoft® Works
Video Standard
Windows® Live OneCare 90-Day Trial
None

That's the SR290 I config'ed.

Technically, you could add on more stuff and then use the coupon code they're offering to knock off $150. It works if your purchase is over $1500.

SonyStyle stores only sell their preconfigured models. Thus they'll only be able to sell you the SR140 which goes for like 1600, or the SR210, which is 1450.

Plus the SR210 uses an old generation of Core2s (merom) and not the current generation (penryn). Thus you're not actually getting a Centrino 2 laptop (more power consumed, more heat generated).

 

He is in canada, and as far as I know, sonystyle.ca does not accept coupons for CTO models, so you are out of luck here.

In addition no pre-configed SR2xx in canada comes with the ati card, at least I haven't seen one, so your only choice is to order from the site and configure a model with the ati card and hdmi.

tax is charged in canada, the tax is charged from what province you are in.

noverlap, you could always buy the cheapest hdd, and ram option and upgrade those yourself to save some money.

 

ascariss! you're late!

I found a Canadian CTO coupon. Check my topic in the Deals forum!

Code: MYVAIO150, works all all CTOs above $1500.

 

my cto was under 1500, so that wouldn't work for me, I was referring to coupons that are 10% off or whatever, usually they say, does not apply to cto models.

 

Aw man... sorry to hear that. T_T

...at least we did finally get that CTO coupon... but it's a shame you couldn't use it. :S

 

Thanks for the help guys
I decided to get one online
I didn't know free engraving was offered!
I'll get cheapest specs (but make sure to get Pxxx series)
and upgrade as I see fit
If I want an HDMI port, I will have to select the discrete graphics card, right?

 

Engraving is risky. Read their return policies.

If you engrave a laptop... I believe it's not returnable at all.

Yes, to get HDMI, you need the graphics card.

BTW, If you happen to tune the SR up to 1500 CDN, you can use the coupon code Sony is offering to knock off 150, which would bring your costs to 1350 before taxes IIRC.

IMO... the best upgrades are expanded battery, GPU, and then HDD in that order. For the HDD, usually that's because the HDD is considerably harder to get to than the RAM is for DIY upgrading. Upgrading the CPU never seems worth it to me (...I think you'll see at best a 1% performance increase between CPU choices...)