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Need a laptop by fall - buy now or wait?

post #1 of 14
2/9/07 at 7:17am
Thread Starter 
My daughter is off to college in the fall and she'll need a laptop.

Is there any advantage to waiting until late summer to buy it?

My main concern is the newness of Vista, but my thoughts are that any new laptop that comes loaded with Vista (now) shouldn't have too many difficulties (compatability-wise).

Sure, there will be bugs, but also patches/service packs available.

I guess my question boils down to this: will a laptop purchased in, say, July '07 be essentially different than one purchased today?

Thanks,

Jon
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post #2 of 14
2/9/07 at 7:24am

Re: Need a laptop by fall - buy now or wait?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon_Are
I guess my question boils down to this: will a laptop purchased in, say, July '07 be essentially different than one purchased today?
At the same price, probably. What's your budget? Is a MacBook out of the question? Apple provides educational discounts.
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post #3 of 14
2/9/07 at 9:29am

Re: Need a laptop by fall - buy now or wait?

DaveF's first law of computers is, "The best time to buy a computer is always tomorrow."

If needs a computer today, buy today.
If she needs a computer in the Fall, buy in the Fall. Expecially as a college student; check the university discounts before buying.
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post #4 of 14
2/9/07 at 11:49am
Thread Starter 

Re: Need a laptop by fall - buy now or wait?

Quote:
At the same price, probably. What's your budget?

My question is more Vista-related than budget (budget's probably 'round 800).

Quote:
The best time to buy a computer is always tomorrow.

Sounds like reasonable advice.
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post #5 of 14
2/9/07 at 1:08pm

Re: Need a laptop by fall - buy now or wait?

Checking with the college is definitely a good idea. Besides discounts, they often have a recommended configuration, or short list of specific products. If you deviate from that list they don't support you.

I also agree with waiting as long as possible; both for the price and for Vista. While I doubt they'll have SP1 released by then, I wouldn't be surprized if there are driver and other issues that will be smoothed out by then.

One caveat, I wouldn't wait until the last minute; it would be good for your daughter to get familiar with the machine before all the partying, I mean studying, starts. Also, if there are problems they usually show up in the first month, so you can get it taken care of without impacting classwork.
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post #6 of 14
2/9/07 at 1:16pm

Re: Need a laptop by fall - buy now or wait?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Al.Anderson
One caveat, I wouldn't wait until the last minute; it would be good for your daughter to get familiar with the machine before all the partying, I mean studying, starts. Also, if there are problems they usually show up in the first month, so you can get it taken care of without impacting classwork.
Ditto. Get the laptop a few weeks before she takes off.
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post #7 of 14
2/9/07 at 1:57pm

Re: Need a laptop by fall - buy now or wait?

Agreed. Don't buy now. Wait until a few weeks before she heads off. More likely than not, you'll be able to get more for your $800 6-7 months from now than you will now.
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post #8 of 14
2/9/07 at 3:46pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Need a laptop by fall - buy now or wait?

Thanks for all the advice; pretty much what I was thinking, just wanted more input.

And there will be NO partying.

Jon
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post #9 of 14
2/9/07 at 4:04pm

Re: Need a laptop by fall - buy now or wait?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon_Are
And there will be NO partying.


Hahahahahahaha

come on now...

(on topic - I second/third/..whatever # we're at the advice given. Wait, wait, then wait some more - and be SURE to check for educational discounts. I know for sure that Apple and Dell provide substancial educational discounts on their products)
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post #10 of 14
2/10/07 at 2:23am
Thread Starter 

Re: Need a laptop by fall - buy now or wait?

Would I look for these discounts through the manufacturer, or through the school?
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post #11 of 14
2/10/07 at 9:01am

Re: Need a laptop by fall - buy now or wait?

Some schools have pre-designed packages. Others just specify general guidelines, like what wireless version the campus uses. If your daughter's school doesn't have pre-designed packages, I'd check with Dell and the like to see what they offer.
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post #12 of 14
2/10/07 at 9:28am

Re: Need a laptop by fall - buy now or wait?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon_Are
Would I look for these discounts through the manufacturer, or through the school?
The campus computer store or bookstore. After that, manufacturers and software stores.
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post #13 of 14
2/10/07 at 1:13pm

Re: Need a laptop by fall - buy now or wait?

I would be careful checking with the bookstore. My university offered discounts to students on Dell and Apple, but that was just through special websites setup by those companies for our school. The bookstore then independently sold some Acer computers and some home-built computers.

Search the website of the school your daughter will attend and it should give you information on any computer discounts.

And, btw, I agree with the other's that I wouldn't order it more than about 1 month before school starts
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post #14 of 14
2/10/07 at 1:47pm

Re: Need a laptop by fall - buy now or wait?

I'd also recommend being careful with Dell if you're purchasing thru any discount offer they have such as educational or government.

Going thru Dell for a personal computer purchase under my discount for gov't employees, the computer I wanted ended up more expensive from the gov't segment of their site vs. the same computer configured from the regular retail portion of their site.

In a nutshell, they jack up the prices in the gov't discount area for individual employee personal purchases, then apply the discount and you end up paying more. Very shady.
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