Originally Posted by slx4

netbook pros:
-light, portable
-good battery life

cons:
-no gaming power
-intel atoms (the cpu for netbooks) aren't the fastest processors but they will be fine for notes and browsing
-small screen

To answer your question, yes stores do push for more laptop sales during july and august. However, that isn't to say that there won't be any good deals for laptops in the meantime, its just a matter of finding a good deal.

In terms of warranty, your must get it if you're getting a HP. In general, you should decide based on well you take care of your fragile belongings, eg. do you have kids in the house/drop things a lot/clumsy. You shouldn't really be spending all that much for a laptop that fulfills what you need (unless you're getting a mac). The money spent on extended warranty could be spent to purchase another laptop. I wouldn't pay more than 600~ for the sony you were eyeing. Most companies do provide 1 year limited warranty on their laptops so make sure you find out what advantages they offer in extended vs included warranty. Good luck!

Exactly !!

Since my parents aren't paying for my laptop, i have to be extra careful spending here for a laptop. I'm not sure... I might as well wait until july to get a cheaper deal

Originally Posted by lawleypop

You're wasting your money if you get that. There's no reason to get a 1500 laptop for the stuff you're gonna use it for.

If you're gonna waste your money like that, at least get a Mac. >_<

Mac is not my cup of tea but yes I want to pick out a different laptop with a decent price.

I think I have a crush on Vaio laptops. I don't think its even normal. I sound like a grade niner i know i know

Originally Posted by escape

I'm very interested in getting vaio 14" and they are expensive!. With everything included ( tax/warranty), it came up to $1505 !!

I'm willing to wait if the price goes down by $300- $500.

How do you like your new vaio laptop? Have you encountered any weird problems ?

I love my Vaio. I don't think the one you're looking for will go down in price very much though. Mine was very cheap and it works great (Sony Vaio VGN-NR330E). I've had it for about a year and a half and I've never had any problems.

Originally Posted by escape

I have never seen anyone take down notes on a smartphone lol

No, most people don't lol, however it IS possible. You can buy keyboards for smartphones though - just a thought. I know you got my point though, which is the important thing.

Another suggestion, is if you're looking for laptops, go into stores and ask if they have any on clearance. I don't know about other stores, but I bought mine (Sony Vaio VGN-NS255D) on clearance at Staples. It was a brand new computer, but a newer model had just come out a week earlier, so they wanted to get rid of the older model. I don't remember the exact cost, especially since they took money off of it because of my extended warranty on my older laptop, but I do remember that it had all of the stuff on it that much more expensive computers had, but was a fraction of the cost. You can also sometimes get them to take extra money off of it because they want to clear them out so badly. The guy took an extra $80 off of mine, plus did all the installations for free!

Originally Posted by lawleypop

I've gotten my entire keyboard replaced with my 1 year warranty with Toshiba. And when I called, they said if my warranty wasn't up, they would have replaced the LCD free of charge (it burnt out).

Toshiba is funny with its warranties. My roomate bought a computer from them, and apparently there was a slight crack between the screen and the screen cover. Toshiba sent him a new laptop and he never sent his old one back, so he has 2 laptops for a price of 1, and my next friend had a toshiba shipped in but he never signed the reciept, so they had to send him another one. Maybe i should have gone with toshiba, damn hp, but atleast it hasn't given me any trouble yet (1.5 years w it now).
Just a tip of advice, dont go with macbooks

I'll add in my Toshiba love too.

When I did my research prior to first year on the different laptops avaiable I decided on a Toshiba. It was and remains an excellent computer, no problems whatsoever. I used it for 2 years and then when I decided to commute I decided to purchase a desktop (an iMac) for my purposes and not cart a laptop around. (I've always taken notes by hand so I never used it in class anyway). I gave it to my mom to use around the house and she continues to use it with no problems. My sister started her first year of college this year and wanted a laptop, so I once again did some research into pricing and the best deal but I already knew I wanted to go with a Toshiba. Again great machine, no problems so far. My cousin wanted a laptop for Christmas and being the go-to computer person in the family my aunt asked me to look into it, I looked into it and against decided on a Toshiba model. Seems good so far again.

Generally most of the laptops out there (not custom ordered) around the same price range will have similar specs. Certain features will vary but generally there are standard specifications for the time (for example currently laptops tend to come with 4GB of RAM, a few years back when I got mine 1GB was seen with most models). Depending on your purposes your best bet might be to research different manufactuerers (perhaps for how they deal with warranty etc), if you have any specific specifications you want narrow down to models that have that and just go into a store and try out the display models, see which one you could you see yourself using on a regular basis. The main difference between most of the models will be in the aesthetics, see which model is most comfortable for you to use.

Toshiba makes quality machines...but if you're specifically looking for a netbook, then I wouldn't recommend getting a Toshiba since it's unnecessarily more expensive, and netbooks aren't exactly known for their performance anyway...you probably wouldn't be missing out on much if you got the absolute cheapest netbook on the market.


A warranty is basically buying a guarantee that the laptop you're buying is working as it should. If you're paying something like $400 (netbook price) and want it to last 4 years, think about it...would you rather pay like $200 in warranty costs, or would you rather take that $200 and put it towards a better laptop 2 years from now when it does die?

I know what I'd do...but it depends on how you feel about it.

My girlfriend recently bought a new laptop, and I did a calculation to see whether or not it was worth it...the ultimate question is, how long do you want the laptop to last? You also want to keep in mind, a warranty is often times a good chunk of the price of the laptop...but in 2 years, laptops will be better than now, so if you put this money toward an upgrade, it may suit you better.

I ultimately did not recommend the warranty...particular ly because the store offered me a (free) 1 year warranty, and then asked me to pay $250 for 2 years, or $350 for 3 (negating the 'free' year).

Originally Posted by Mowicz

A warranty is basically buying a guarantee that the laptop you're buying is working as it should. If you're paying something like $400 (netbook price) and want it to last 4 years, think about it...would you rather pay like $200 in warranty costs, or would you rather take that $200 and put it towards a better laptop 2 years from now when it does die?

I know what I'd do...but it depends on how you feel about it.

My girlfriend recently bought a new laptop, and I did a calculation to see whether or not it was worth it...the ultimate question is, how long do you want the laptop to last? You also want to keep in mind, a warranty is often times a good chunk of the price of the laptop...but in 2 years, laptops will be better than now, so if you put this money toward an upgrade, it may suit you better.

I agree with this. Unless you plan on being super destructive with your laptop, your best bet is to save the money you would have spend on a warranty and put it towards a new laptop 5 years from now, when yours will probably crap out anyway and your warranty will no longer be useful.

So many Toshiba fangirls here. XD

Originally Posted by AlienSummer

Another suggestion, is if you're looking for laptops, go into stores and ask if they have any on clearance. I don't know about other stores, but I bought mine (Sony Vaio VGN-NS255D) on clearance at Staples. It was a brand new computer, but a newer model had just come out a week earlier, so they wanted to get rid of the older model. I don't remember the exact cost, especially since they took money off of it because of my extended warranty on my older laptop, but I do remember that it had all of the stuff on it that much more expensive computers had, but was a fraction of the cost. You can also sometimes get them to take extra money off of it because they want to clear them out so badly. The guy took an extra $80 off of mine, plus did all the installations for free!

I might just do that. I'll wait till they go up on clearance ( which is going to be soon i think).

Originally Posted by Kathy2

I agree with this. Unless you plan on being super destructive with your laptop, your best bet is to save the money you would have spend on a warranty and put it towards a new laptop 5 years from now, when yours will probably crap out anyway and your warranty will no longer be useful.

I take good care of the things i purchase myself. Maybe warranty isn't such a good idea as i probably will get a new laptop after 4 years or so.

I had no idea so many people own toshibas here. For some reason i thought most of the people at mac followed the religion of macbook.

Originally Posted by escape

I had no idea so many people own toshibas here. For some reason i thought most of the people at mac followed the religion of macbook.

I'd say like 45% of people own a Macbook.
I just can't figure out why.

Toshiba has great specs, cheap as *******, and you can change your hardware and whatnot (IIRC; compared to HP)

I own an iMac as well so I'm not totally PC. I didn't have the budget for a Macbook going into first year and when it came around to making a decision about a new computer the iMac was more appealing b/c for cheaper than the price of a Macbook Pro I could get better specs and a way bigger screen to do my work in Photoshop, Illustrator etc on. It won out. Both my iMac and my Toshiba laptop serve different purposes for me, and I like both. Its Windows that I hate.

I bought a Toshiba TV too, and love that as well.