Anyone here sell computers?

Rik · Post by **Rik** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 6:26 pm

I need to buy a laptop tomorrow. Anyone here in that biz?

Mark R · Post by **Mark R** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 7:35 pm

No but I just had to buy one. Got a Toshiba Satellite C655 at Best Buy for $325. If you go this route make sure to get one that is NOT set up by the "Geek Squad". You want a plain box, if it has an orange sticker on it and some disks taped on - pass. It's an extra $200 at checkout!
Works most excellent so far! Not a real fan of Best Buy, but was $100 less than anywhere else.

Rik · Post by **Rik** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 7:39 pm

I hate all the preloaded crap. Have to spend half a day getting rid of it. Trackers galore.

Chief1600 · Post by **Chief1600** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:13 pm

Just bought a Toshiba Satellite L-755 from Best Buy. Did my own set up including adding the Windows 7 Professional upgrade and the virtual machine to run ACAD 2000. I like that it didn't come pre-loaded with much beyond the basic operating system. 3 months and going strong.

IntimiGator · Post by **IntimiGator** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 10:03 pm

Perfect timing for this post. I'm also in the market for a new laptop.

The Toshiba models mentioned C-655 and L-755, what the difference?

Maybe I should just go to Best Buy and get educated by the sales dept.

mauso1 · Post by **mauso1** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 4:07 am

Maybe I should just go to Best Buy and get educated by the sales dept.
Perfect timing for this post. I'm also in the market for a new laptop.

The Toshiba models mentioned C-655 and L-755, what the difference?

Maybe I should just go to Best Buy and get educated by the sales dept.

Maybe go here 1st http://bit.ly/unpFFm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; then you will know enough to tell when the guys at BB are stretching. Making a list of what you want to do with it would be a good idea also.

I also am shopping for a new laptop and the basic T S 655 falls short for me in at least three areas
A. AMD vs Intel processor thereby eliminating the possibility of WIDI ( P-F .com would look awsome on a 55" screen )
B. Webcam (upgrade or more $ might be required)
C. Ram ( 3 not for me )

IMO a laptop under $4-500 is ok for many tasks but not most. The BB price is a good one tho for that model if it is intel and has wecam.

OBTW I am leaning towards a Dell xps or insiron 15-17 with a sandy bridge dual core ( probably i5 ) with a netgear push to tv. I called them yesterday and they were very helpful and knowledgable.

jbdba01 · Post by **jbdba01** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 6:38 am

If you want it today - Best Buy or another big box is probably your best route.

The hardware on laptops now a days is insane - it's the bloatware that microsoft builds is what slows everything down. Rather than striping everything out, you might want to consider running dual boot and Ubuntu.

Image/backup eveything prior to the dualboot/virtualization. It has potential to be a rebuild. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being difficult - this would probably be a 7/8. If you can build a sail canoe you can probably dual boot - just be willing to roll with the punches for a bit.

If you're feeling really gutsy virtualize two machines - one Linux one Windows. That might be an 8/9.

We'll probably be doing something like that over Xmas over here. Seemed a bit of a stretch for p-f.com, but if interested we can post our results. There should be plenty on this subject on google - search "dual boot ubuntu"

The safe play is Best Buy (big box store).

DoubleM · Post by **DoubleM** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 9:33 am

jbdba01 wrote:If you want it today - Best Buy or another big box is probably your best route.

The hardware on laptops now a days is insane - it's the bloatware that microsoft builds is what slows everything down. Rather than striping everything out, you might want to consider running dual boot and Ubuntu.

Image/backup eveything prior to the dualboot/virtualization. It has potential to be a rebuild. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being difficult - this would probably be a 7/8. If you can build a sail canoe you can probably dual boot - just be willing to roll with the punches for a bit.

If you're feeling really gutsy virtualize two machines - one Linux one Windows. That might be an 8/9.

We'll probably be doing something like that over Christmas over here. Seemed a bit of a stretch for p-f.com, but if interested we can post our results. There should be plenty on this subject on google - search "dual boot ubuntu"

The safe play is Best Buy (big box store).

I'm not sure if this a very linux crowd. I used to dual boot a couple years back when wifi was blowing up and there were lots of packets to sniff

Good luck Rik, You'll pay extra because you want it now. If you can wait to order online, check out Newegg & geeks.com. But the best deals at the big box stores is gonna be black friday related. Pricewatch.com is good for best market prices.

Rik · Post by **Rik** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 11:56 am

Thought about that Mark. They have a 60 day price match thing. If this computer I bought goes on sale, they'll refund the difference.

Mark R · Post by **Mark R** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 12:33 pm

mauso1 wrote:
Maybe I should just go to Best Buy and get educated by the sales dept.
Perfect timing for this post. I'm also in the market for a new laptop.

The Toshiba models mentioned C-655 and L-755, what the difference?

Maybe I should just go to Best Buy and get educated by the sales dept.
Maybe go here 1st http://bit.ly/unpFFm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; then you will know enough to tell when the guys at BB are stretching. Making a list of what you want to do with it would be a good idea also.

I also am shopping for a new laptop and the basic T S 655 falls short for me in at least three areas
A. AMD vs Intel processor thereby eliminating the possibility of WIDI ( P-F .com would look awsome on a 55" screen )
B. Webcam (upgrade or more $ might be required)
C. Ram ( 3 not for me )

IMO a laptop under $4-500 is ok for many tasks but not most. The BB price is a good one tho for that model if it is intel and has wecam.

OBTW I am leaning towards a Dell xps or insiron 15-17 with a sandy bridge dual core ( probably i5 ) with a netgear push to tv. I called them yesterday and they were very helpful and knowledgable.

Mine came with a dual core amd and Radeon Graphics. Doesn't have much junk on it. Real fast so far and I'm doing some graphics and photo editing. I needed one quick as my thinkpad dumped.

Uncle Tommy · Post by **Uncle Tommy** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 4:27 pm

Whatever you do, avoid CompUSA like the plague. Somehow, they have managed to mix incompetence with poor customer service.

Rik · Post by **Rik** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 4:40 pm

Got a Toshiba at Best Buy. Sure was nice to find 2 guys there that knew their stuff and didn't delight in making me look dumb - as is the case with many geeks (and I use that term with appreciation). I do know more then the average buyer in there but they were quick to get back to plain English when my eyes started to cross.

After 30 minutes of "oh, this one is just $30 more" I moved up the price ladder to credit card melting numbers. Fell back to earth and got a middle of the road Toshiba 755.

Lot of money spent and it basically does everything the old one did but is quite a bit shinier. And a bit faster Ug...replacement dollars are hard to spend.

mauso1 · Post by **mauso1** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 5:20 am

Got a Toshiba at Best Buy. Sure was nice to find 2 guys there that knew their stuff and didn't delight in making me look dumb

I also ended up at BB..I bought a Lenovo with every thing I wanted at $200 under lenovos price. The two guys I talked to knew their stuff and even the store manager gave me quite an education on the difference between lcd led and plasma big screens. I was pleasantly suprised at the whole buying experience at BB Bradenton.

OBTW Mark R,,, I also saw the T655 ( they still have a big stack of them ) one heck of a deal on that one

americanrobster · Post by **americanrobster** » Tue Nov 15, 2011 12:53 pm

Uncle Tommy wrote:Whatever you do, avoid CompUSA like the plague. Somehow, they have managed to mix incompetence with poor customer service.

Don't get me started with CompUSA.

By the way, does anyone here fix computers as my year and half old Toshiba labtop crashed last week?

pbr · Post by **pbr** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 10:56 am

I found Acer laptops the best bang for the buck, through Amazon. Very lightweight and powerful

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