Five Tips on Purchasing a Laptop

Buying a laptop, it's an almost inevitable process for this technology age. It's not necessarily about choosing "where" you get a laptop, but "when". Granted, practically 100% of the computer stores that exist have sales. Utilize these to you're advantage. Since I recently purchased a laptop, I will share with you my steps in making sure you get a great product at an acceptable price.

1. Don't have a particular brand in mind. Being biased towards a particular brand can cloud you're judgment on the price, and could effectively cause you to get something that's a lot of money, but doesn't offer a lot in service.
2. Shop around. I know this is an easy one, but you have to shop around. Between me shopping at Walmart, Best Buy, and Staples, I found the same laptop, but with a difference in price of over 160 dollars. (Staples was the cheapest oddly enough).
3. Utilize Holiday sales. Don't just use an ad book from the Sunday paper. If you know there's a big holiday coming up ie: Labor Day, President's Day, or the upcoming 4th of July, be patient and wait until those days. Since these aren't traditionally "shopping" holidays, you are bound to find a lot more products than you would if were to shop during the Christmas or god awful "Black Friday" holidays.
4. Ask around. Work in an office? Now someone who has a laptop or is a computer nerd (like me)? Ask them where they do their shopping. Do they have any recommendations?
5. Shop online. Store fronts are great for getting something immediately, but if you can wait a couple days on the shipping, shoppingonline can blow store fronts out of the water. Also, if you shop during the holiday seasons online, some stores like Staples and Best Buy offer "Online Discounts Only". Meaning, the suckers who are waiting outside in the snow and rain wouldn't be able to get an additional discount on the same laptop you are purchasing.

I hope these 5 tips can help you in purchasing a laptop, or any other piece of expensive technology.

Just to let you know, I purchased an ACER 5100 15.4 inch screen from Staples.com during President's Day this year, regular price was $899 I got it for $499, plus, because I bought it online, I got free shipping and a 1 gig thumbdrive.

Utilize your options, think clearly, don't take any crap from sale representatives, and you'll be fine. Happy shopping!