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Nikilidstrom · 01-24-2005, 07:23 PM

Since all my friends, neighbors, family, and arch nemesis have purchased laptops in the last year, I'm starting to feel like I'm behind in the "my tech jimmy is bigger than yours" contest. So I have decided to get one myself, no matter how little I actually need one.

Now, I don't really need any help deciding which laptop to purchase, since I've spent the last several weeks sizing them up. The problem is, I have visited numerous service rating sites (resellerratings, bizrate, epinions, ...), and all of them have different customer service ratings for each company I have looked up. I researched many major brands (Dell, Gateway, HP/Compaq, Alienware, Toshiba) and quite a few smaller shops (ABS, Cyberpower, IBuyPower, Falcon Northwest), with only Falcon recieving a consistent awesome rating for product and customer service. Unfortunately, I can't afford looking at the Falcon Northwest website, much less buying something from them. I was ready to buy from Dell, but came across a long list of horror stories attributed to their customer service and financial department. I also saw a Gateway at Best Buy (7422gz), but since the info said customer service was still handled through Gateway, I wasn't confident enough to snag it up.

So what I could use some help on is finding a retailer that is the least likely to screw me either pre or post sale. If some of you highly knowledgable TFPers could either point me to a trustworthy service ratings site, or impart your experience on who is the best to buy from, I would be eternally grateful for the end to this month long torture.

01-24-2005, 07:23 PM	#1 (permalink)
Nikilidstrom Stick it in your five hole! Location: Michigan, USA	buying a laptop Since all my friends, neighbors, family, and arch nemesis have purchased laptops in the last year, I'm starting to feel like I'm behind in the "my tech jimmy is bigger than yours" contest. So I have decided to get one myself, no matter how little I actually need one. Now, I don't really need any help deciding which laptop to purchase, since I've spent the last several weeks sizing them up. The problem is, I have visited numerous service rating sites (resellerratings, bizrate, epinions, ...), and all of them have different customer service ratings for each company I have looked up. I researched many major brands (Dell, Gateway, HP/Compaq, Alienware, Toshiba) and quite a few smaller shops (ABS, Cyberpower, IBuyPower, Falcon Northwest), with only Falcon recieving a consistent awesome rating for product and customer service. Unfortunately, I can't afford looking at the Falcon Northwest website, much less buying something from them. I was ready to buy from Dell, but came across a long list of horror stories attributed to their customer service and financial department. I also saw a Gateway at Best Buy (7422gz), but since the info said customer service was still handled through Gateway, I wasn't confident enough to snag it up. So what I could use some help on is finding a retailer that is the least likely to screw me either pre or post sale. If some of you highly knowledgable TFPers could either point me to a trustworthy service ratings site, or impart your experience on who is the best to buy from, I would be eternally grateful for the end to this month long torture.