Nikilidstrom

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.

phathom

As a computer repair technician, I can say this DO NOT BUY A HP,COMPAQ,GATEWAY, DELL, or EMACHINE. They are honestly crap, great for the money, but we see way too many of these come in. If you do go with one though, do go for the extra warranty because even if you can put in the parts yourself, it covers the cost of them and well worth it, especially on a laptop where the screen has a 50/50 chance of surviving 3 years. If you are going to get a computer I would reccomend alienware or voodoo pcs. they are well worth the money, a little spendy but you do get quality.

Nikilidstrom

My only concern is that if something does go wrong, either with shipping or with the laptop itself, I don't get screwed by shoddy customer service. I have read numerous bad reviews on all of the major brands, where they have to play games with the company to get a replacement/repair/refund even when the laptop is under warranty. I started building my own desktops for this very reason, and do not have the time or patience to deal with it for a laptop.

bendsley

Alienwares and VooDoo machines are too overpriced. You pay for the name.

__________________
"You hear the one about the fella who died, went to the pearly gates? St. Peter let him in. Sees a guy in a suit making a closing argument. Says, "Who's that?" St. Peter says, "Oh, that's God. Thinks he's Denny Crane."

cyrnel

Walmart?

Seriously, sounds like you should decide who you're most comfortable with then weed out based on features. There are only a few laptop manufacturers. Major brands just apply their label & route your support calls to the appropriate support center. Buy a Compaq and you may be calling the same center as customers of Dell, Fujitsu, etc. who sell the same box with a different tag.

Here's an incomplete x-ref of resellers to actual manufacturers (ODM's):
http://tuxmobil.org/laptop_oem.html

Last I looked Alienware and Voodoo were(expensive) rebadged Clevo boxes. The reseller to ODM relationships change frequently so it isn't easy to keep track.