<p>Basically the title question. I need a laptop for college and I want to know where (website and/or company) and at what time of year I can get the most computer for the least money. </p>
<p>It doesn't need to be able to play games, though if it could atleast play X3: Terran Conflict that would be good. I don't need a trendy mac or anything that looks real nice, I want function not beauty. Durability would be nice so would portability and battery life. So, any suggestions?</p>
<p>Best time to buy is towards the end of summer, as prices will drop very low before OEMs begin to refresh their lines for the fall.</p>
<p>If you want a durable laptop, check</a> out the ThinkPads. They will last you for all 4 years of college, while most other newer laptops break down after 2-3 years of use because almost all OEMs have started cutting corners to squeeze any possible pennies out of the manufacturing process.</p>
<p>If you're trying to save money, I'd suggest taking a look at the R series. While the SL series is significantly cheaper, this is their first year, and you don't want to end up as a guinea pig for Lenovo's public testing phase.</p>
<p>What is an OEM?</p>
<p>Original</a> equipment manufacturer.</p>
<p>Examples are Lenovo, Dell, HP, Sony, and Gateway. They buy parts for building computers (hard drives from Seagate, Maxtor, Hitachi, and Western Digital, processors from AMD, Intel, and VIA, monitors from LG, Samsung, Acer, ViewSonic, etc., RAM from Corsair, G.SKILL, Patriot, Kingston, OCZ, PNY, etc., graphics cards from ATI and NVIDIA, PSUs from Thermaltake, Silverstone, Athena, and Rosewill) and put it together and then charge you a huge premium for slapping their name on it.</p>
<p>Is there an advantage in buying from newegg? I've dealt with desktops but they are more customizable than laptops so I don't really know.</p>
<p>While I do build all my desktops (with parts from Newegg), I don't recommend doing the same for laptops. Laptops are a lot harder to design, because you have to worry about things like heat and weight. However, you might be able to find a good deal on a prebuilt laptop at Newegg.</p>
<p>I think my laptop is pretty good for you needs, the Asus M50VM-B1. it costs around 1.3k comes with nice specs and i played Crysis, Company of Heroes, L4D on it, just to name a few. </p>
<p>There is also an open boxed item, but I wouldnt buy it if I were you
Newegg.com</a> - Open Box: ASUS M50 Series M50Vm-B1 NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo T9400(2.53GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA+ 4GB Memory 320GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GS</p>
<p>Do you think the price will drop late summer like other people are saying?</p>
<p>What do you guys think about this one? Newegg.com</a> - Acer Aspire AS6930-6560 NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo T5800(2.00GHz) 16" Wide XGA 4GB Memory 320GB HDD DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GS - Laptops / Notebooks Seems pretty good to me but I'm not an expert.</p>
<p>Agree about ThinkPads. Tons of great refurbished deals (especially T series) on eBay.</p>
<p>Lenovo</a> Outlet</p>
<p>That site is awesome. You can get a laptop that was either made/shipped out but not once used by the customer, so the price is heavily discounted but it is a brand new laptop.</p>
<p>Hey thanks that site is pretty sick. I'm a bit leary of buying a used laptop but the redistributed laptops don't sound like a bad deal at all.</p>
<p>Lenovo built a laptop, mailed it to a customer, the customer mailed it back without ever opening it, and now they sell it to you. It's a brand new laptop, just not in price.</p>
<p>I know I was referring to the refurbished ones and the ones on ebay.</p>
<p>I do have to say though, I bought my current laptop (12" PowerBook G4 fro 2004) on eBay in 2007. The laptop looked absolutely brand new, and even came with all of the covers on the connectors. Just be sure to get a lot of pictures from the seller.</p>
<p>If price is your main concern, go to BestBuy's Auction site for employees (it's actually open to everyone). They have incredible deals on extra laptops.</p>
<p>That reminds me---Circuit City is liquidating, so they've got some great deals right now.</p>
<p>Not really you'll get better prices from a sale at Best Buy.</p>
<p>Not really, Circuit City has stuff on sale that you'll never see on sale at Best Buy, like PS3s for 20% off.</p>
<p>Not like I go to either store. Both Worst Buy and Circuit ****ty are way overpriced. I mostly stick to Amazon and Newegg.</p>
<p>I recommend going with newegg for this. They have some really good deals. </p>
<p>If you're interested, you might want to wait till sometime after July to do it. It's rumored that Microsoft will upgrade you to Windows 7 for free if you buy a computer with Vista preloaded between July and some undetermined date. The details will probably change; just thought I'd throw that out there.</p>
<p>"evidence"
Free</a> Upgrade to Windows 7 Program for Windows Vista PC from July 1 My Digital Life
Windows</a> 7: PC Buyers May Get Windows 7 Free after July
Free</a> Windows 7 upgrades coming in July News - PC Advisor
Windows</a> 7 Upgrade Program Starts July 1st | Windows 7 Center
Buy</a> A PC in July, Get Windows 7 Free ~ Revelations From An Unwashed Brain</p>