<p>Incoming GT freshman here! I'm planning to buy a laptop when I get to Atlanta and so I'm wondering where I can look for an electronics store (except Georgia Tech's Barnes & Noble Bookstore) nearby campus.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Do you strongly have a preference for in-store purchases?</p>
<p>If you don't, then I recommend that you purchase directly from the maker online (i.e. go to the websites of Dell, Apple, HP, Lenovo, etc.)</p>
<p>By cutting out the middleman, you save money. What's more, you have more flexibility when you purchase online.</p>
<p>I have been thinking about ordering it online, actually. I'm looking at Lenovo Thinkpad SL500 but I'm not quite sure if this thing will arrive to my campus early enough. </p>
<p>Also, IF I do decide to buy it in-store, how's the student discount? Is free printer possible?</p>
<p>There is an Office Depot right around the corner of Tech square, but like fabrizio said, I'd stick with online purchases (there are a lot of deals and coupons online that can slash your prices)</p>
<p>Barnes and Nobles offers apple and dell only I think..
Here are their stores (for gatech):
<a href="https://webhost.gatech.edu/sco/gtapplestore/login/index.php?message=%5B/url%5D">https://webhost.gatech.edu/sco/gtapplestore/login/index.php?message=</a>
<a href="http://premier.dell.com/premier/acc_lgn.asp?661AC4A8DD7544F617EFF0F06339AB61AB0EF4FF1472596FA544D6371E51B14EDF6DD7106A28A241%5B/url%5D">http://premier.dell.com/premier/acc_lgn.asp?661AC4A8DD7544F617EFF0F06339AB61AB0EF4FF1472596FA544D6371E51B14EDF6DD7106A28A241</a></p>
<p>Oh, then how long will it take for the laptop to arrive to campus if I were to order it online today?</p>
<p>I purchased a Lenovo Thinkpad, and it arrived in about two weeks.</p>
<p>My roommate purchased a Dell the same time I did (coincidence), but due to backorder, his took a month to arrive.</p>
<p>
[quote]
By cutting out the middleman, you save money. What's more, you have more flexibility when you purchase online.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>While this is generally true, I must share my story when I purchased a new laptop (my second) last fall.</p>
<p>The gist of the story is I go to a local store to get a laptop to see what's on sale and I see one that's like $800 (or less, I forget), so I jot down the model # and look it up on the manufacturer's website which lists different specs and a higher pricetag with no ability to customize from what I could tell. As it turns out, the laptops of the same model that this store carried had a smaller hard drive (80G compared to 200G) and a different processor and less software. I got essentially the same laptop (for my purposes) for significantly less.</p>
<p>Consider all your options. I build all my desktop computers from parts, but when it comes to laptops your local retailer probably has some cheapo laptop that you can tote around.</p>
<p>I've got a tablet (T2010), and I freaking love it. Being able to write diagrams and notes on the screen, and have your handwriting recognized, is invaluable. And it's just fun. They're not for gamers though, know that.</p>
<p>As far as where to buy from, I agree, buy from the web. Used from ebay is a good money saver, as is upgrading your own RAM/HD from basic config</p>