[NBLUG/talk] When to buy a laptop? Where's the "sweet spot" these days?

William Tracy afishionado at gmail.com
Sat Nov 15 14:41:57 PST 2014


On Nov 15, 2014 9:24 AM, "Steve S." <northbaygeek at gmail.com> wrote:
> #1/marketing:  when is the "good time" to buy, before next semester
> starts in January?  Black Friday sales?  Pre-Xmas?  Post-Xmas
> clearance?  Or is this info just not really "knowable" because the
> marketers' strategies are so arcane?

Black Friday is rarely a good deal. (I could write another post about why
that is!) Instead, I recommend the following:

1. Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving. Hit up all the major online
stores such as Amazon, Newegg, Dell.com, Tiger Direct, (though research
Tiger Direct before you buy from there--I've heard a few horror stories)
and whatever else I'm forgetting right now.

2. Open box deals the week(s) after Black Friday. Lots of people buy big
ticket items on Black Friday and change their minds later. You can buy
stuff still under the manufacturer's warranty at a sweet discount. (I saved
almost 40% off the manufacturer's recommended price on a camera buy buying
it at Best Buy this way!)

3. Clearance items and open box items in the weeks after Christmas. Stores
are eager to clear surplus inventory in the weeks after the holiday season,
plus there's always the gifts that get returned.

Finally, the advice I always give for buying computers for non-technical
users: Unless you know that you'll need it, get the cheapest CPU you can
and spend your money on RAM instead. If you have the money to burn, SSDs
will both feel a lost faster than traditional hard drives, and be more
likely to survive being dropped.

Good luck!
William
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