Just like Sylvia, I've always received great products and service from Dell's online store too. I enjoyed "building my own laptop." Good idea on the warranty.

__________________
Delilah Smith
Caliber Virtual Services

Ive always liked Dell laptops, have had 3 now and have not had much trouble with any of them. Just bought a new one from Staples I did buy a 3 year warranty so we will see how this one does.

Tina

We have purchased two laptops in our house recently. One from PC World business centre - a HP. I am very pleased with the service there and their helpline etc. I also bought one from Staples recently, a Toshiba. I was pleased with the deal I gothere too.

__________________
Claire Baber ~ Horizon Virtual Assistance

Costco is another good place to try. Good luck!

I am in the market next year to replace my 2006 Gateway I purchased from Best Buy, its been GREAT. I did a year ago have to upgrade the RAM and the computer tech did some other tweaky to it and it works fantastic.

For my new one I plan on shopping around, we have a new store in town that is in competition with Best Buy so will check them out.

I will not be purchasing one online or directly from the distributor because I want to see how it works and be able to bring it to a local person over shipping it back to them for fixing, which can take up to 2 weeks to get it back.

Leona

__________________
Leona Martin
A Plus Admin Services

Always online through Dell. Never had a problem with them or their computers in 5 years.

Fiona

I own a mac, so I'm not much help. I love my mac SO MUCH! I had previously purchased my PC laptops at Staples and I've always gotten a great deal. I was a faithful Toshiba user.

www.Newegg.com was recommended to me by a fellow VA here on the boards almost three years ago and we have purchased nearly all of our technology and computers from them ever since. I always do a price comparison once I know what model I want and Newegg always has the best overall value. Plus they have a great selection and are fast to ship.

__________________

I purchased many of my systems from Dell, but the last one I purchased though I thought I got it powerful enough to handle my multitasking it just didn't do the job, but I still have one system from Dell (I call it the Tank because it's a 17' monitor) that works great and the other one still works great for the family. Recently my husband had to get a new system as well and he went with Dell and is really happy. I also have a mini from Dell that I'm quite happy with for traveling.

My main system is an ACER that I bought at the local Future Shop in Canada (part of the Best Buy Family) and haven't had any issues with it at all, it's a work horse. ACER's have a really good reputation and many of the "techie-geeks" use them.

Key things I looked to have in my system: Integrated WebCam, Bluetooth, at least 4 GB of RAM, Hard Drive wasn't as important for me since I do most of my stuff in the "cloud", oh as many USB ports as I could get.

The other thing I invested in was a docking station for my system. Make sure if you choose to get one, get a universal one as it will work then with any system, rather than being brand specific which some of them are.

Renee

__________________
Renee Shupe, Become a Techie Virtual Assistant
eMail Marketing & Aweber Training Starts May 15! - Save 50% using VAFAweber

Costco wholesale is great because they have the best deals and include free technical support service for troubleshooting, questions (general and specific), etc.