Ok, so my latest funnest event-Patrick spilled water on his laptop. It fried. It's under warranty which would cover such mishap; however, his dunce of a mom (that would be me) cannot find the ORIGINAL receipt, and at this point, it seems like no one (warranty co., store, or credit card co.) is willing to help us. We will still try to go through Toshiba since he's only been using it since Sept. However, even if we can go that route, he cannot wait that long, as a college student w/o a laptop. I know nothing about laptops. My parents paid for this one, and it was almost $1000. I would really like to spend a minimal amt., as I know as soon as we purchase one, I will find that receipt. Thankfully, with the extended warranty, I do have a whole three years to find said receipt-it might just take that long! So basically, at this point, I just need "something" for him to be able to function on, as a college student, at a minimal price. Where should I shop? Should I check into refurbished, online, B&M, pawn shops, etc.? Does anyone have a good recommendation for me? My thought was to wait until Black Friday, but that did not go over to well with the aforementioned child......Calgon, take me away.............

Personally, I love HP computers. My last 4 laptops and our desktop is HP. I had a Toshiba and never cared for it. If you buy HP directly from HP's site, I know they carry the same warranty's as new ones. They also have extended warranties. I would never buy an extended warranty from Best Buy or any of those companies. Buy it straight from the manufacturer. My laptop stopped working one day and I called HP, gave them the # off my warranty and they sent me an overnight box to send my latptop back. Then I got it back 3 days later (but I had paid for 3 day turnaround with my warranty). I know HP has coupons as well sotmeimes

Good luck!

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I have a Toshiba laptop as well and have been pleased with mine. We've had a couple of Gateways that were so-so.

If you're looking for a deal, I say go to buy.com and look at their deals. I think that's what the tab is called - "Deals". You'll probably find something there that'll do just fine for $300 - $400 to get him through. It'll probably be a refurb but it will come with a warranty. If you find something you want, be sure to google around for a buy.com coupon code - they always seem to have them out there!

Looks like they have some $1000ish laptops for $500ish....

Buy.com - What's Shakin in Computers & Software

This one was $1,300 and can be had for $550:
HP Pavilion dv6910us Entertainment Notebook Dual-Core 2GHz - 15.4 WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen - 3GB DDR2 SDRAM - 200GB HDD - DVD-Writer (DVD-RAM/R/RW) - Fast Ethernet - Bluetooth Webcam Vista Home Premium Factory Refurbished - HPFE6

The Dell outlet has the best deals for new laptops. You can most always find a coupon.
But even without a coupon, you can still find a great deal!
Dell Factory Outlet

Very small with an 8.9 inch screen but my son has one of these and it's perfect for his needs at $300: Buy the Acer Aspire one AOA110-1722 Netbook - Sapphire Blue and other Netbooks at circuitcity.com

Bigger screen:
Newegg.com - Acer Aspire AS5520-5908 NoteBook AMD Mobile Athlon 64 X2 TK-55(1.80GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA 1GB Memory DDR2 667 120GB HDD DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 7000M - Laptops / Notebooks

Also, check your local thrift store. I see some in there sometimes. Craigslist is good option too.






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I saw this one at Target last week. It's a teeny tiny one, but it would be good to travel with even if he gets his other one replaced.

ASUS 7" Eee 8GB PC Netbook Computer with Windows XP - Galaxy Black : Target

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I have a compaq (made by HP) and hate it. My dd has a dell that is awesome. My next one will be a dell.

Lisa

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It's wanting what you've got"

Where did you buy the laptop and warranty? Often times you can get a copy of your receipt from retailers' corporate offices. The other thing to check is to see if the warranty you purchased covers accidental damage from handling. If you did not purchase that additional coverage then a water spill will not be covered.

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oupiglet...addicted to free stuff!

I have to vote for Dell here. My brand new big computer crapped out on me this week. I was having withdrawls and remembered I had my old laptop in the closet, the thing is at least 6 years old and has been stuffed in a box and moved around, then used by my son, then thrown in the closet to rot. I had to clean 2 inches of dust off of it. I fired that baby up and she works like a champ. To me that says alot.

Also try office depot. They very often have in store clearances that are amazing.

I agree -- Dell Outlet is the way to go. DH & I have owned three refurbished laptops and one 'scratch & dent' which arrived without any scraches or dents. We saved over $500 each on all of them and have been really happy with all of them.

As far as the Toshiba that took a shower -- did you pay for it with a credit card. If so, call the CC company, maybe they could help or provide a duplicate copy of the receipt.

Yeah, we tried this avenue. Unfortunately the retailer only backs up their receipts for 3 mos., and this was purchased in June. Upon speaking to the extended warranty company, it would be covered, IF we can find the original receipt. I am still tearing the house apart. In the meantime, it is still under Toshiba warranty. DH is going to take it to a Toshiba authorized dealer place tomorrow and see if they will do anything. In the meantime, I am totally checking out everyone's suggestions here-that is my project for the week, as he needs something ASAP. I did see that cute little one at Target the other day. Thanks for all of your great suggestions.

I don't know about your extended warranty, but the Toshiba warranty will not cover water damage. They consider that to be physical abuse, and not a failure of the product.

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I hear ya. At this point, we are really just grasping at straws here, trying to find any way possible to cover this. I have talked a a few ppl who have knocked a whole glass of beverage over the keyboard, and after a few days, the computer dried out and worked fine. My brother does computers for a living in Australia, he said that this should not have happened-that the computer itself should be sealed-off enough from the keyboard. I really don't know. Patrick *claims* that once the bottle of water was knocked over, he picked it up right away, and that the water level in the bottle didn't go down more than an inch. Of course, there are three sides to every story.

Yeah, I hear that. I work with computers and I have teachers bring me laptops that they SWEAR they didn't drop, but the LCD screen is cracked. Uh.....did it happen by osmosis??

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My husband loves NewEgg.com Their customer service is great and their prices comptetive and shipping is fast.

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I have 3 Gateways and love them especially the laptop with the swivel screen. Their customer service has been great and they speak english. We have Dell Computers in work which are great unless you need to call their customer support. Good luck with that unless you understand several languages. Horrible support!

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