which is better to buy a laptop.. online or directly from a store ?

Things to consider:

Where are you buying?  Does Dell have an official sales channel there?  If not, buy something else.

If you buy from a retailer, is it authorized by Dell?  What are the terms of sale -- is support included through the retailer?  In the US, Dell generally refers service to the retailer - meaning that if the retailer is sloppy, your experience will be bad.

Software support on all new systems - Dell and otherwise - is very limited.  Usually you get 90 days at most before you pay.  Some resellers probably increase this but, of course will charge more.

Wherever and whatever you buy, NEVER buy a new notebook without a 3-year warranty on the hardware at least.

Hi EJN !

  thanx for ur reply. why do u think tat a notebook shd be with a warrenty period of atleast 3 yrs... ofcourse its better to have a long warrenty period...but why would u suggest people to have good warrenty period?

For the simple fact that 25-30% of all notebooks will suffer a major component failure within the first three years.  The odds of needing the warranty are higher with notebook computers than with any other consumer product.

http://www.squaretrade.com/pages/laptop-reliability-1109/

In store is always limited in servicies they provide. Prices are also usually inflated, in my opinion. Especially when considering the specs of the computer. They are usually bare minimum specs for a high price. And they sell it off as something amazing.

Get a computer online, you can get it cheap and with mid-range to high specs. warrenty is also much better when purchased online.

True - IF you can provide your own support.  There IS value in buying from a local shop - IF  it  provides a high level of service.  You will indeed pay for that - but you'll pay in other ways if you need it later and don't buy the option up front.  While a good local shop can keep you running in case of failure, you will wait two weeks for a return for repair with any of the major vendors' basic warranties.  And you get very little in the way of support in the base price.

Consumers are now discovering - usually in painfully learned lessons - what businesses have known for years.  The real cost of a computer is in the service and support, not the hardware.

If you want Dell support in the US with a new system, for example, you'll pay $100 a year for it -- and that is for hardware support.  Software support costs more.

People haven't adjusted to the fact that support is expensive.  They'll happily pay $400 for a brake job on a car - most of which is labor, and not very skill-intensive at that --- but they blanch when they're told an OS rebuild will cost a couple of hundred dollars to have done professionally.

Which makes me unsure of why people bother. It isn't very difficult to do small repairs on laptops in the same way that it isn't difficult to perform a brake job, hell even the brake rotors. Especially with the reinstallation of the OS, even with saving data, is an extremely simple job. I never bother with purchasing warranty for computers as I repair them myself.  But I digress.

An in store warranty can be more encompassing to problems that may occur. if warranty is your main concern then an in-store purchase might be better depending on the service that is included. But if you are looking for a computer with higher performance at a more reasonable price I suggest online. You can even go to the Dell Outlet and get really great computers for dirt cheap if you look hard enough.

I agree, but then I do my own computer repair/support -- the vast majority of the population cannot, just as they either cannot or will not do auto repair.  I always smile when someone complains about a $200 repair bill for a minor computer problem, when they willingly fork over $400-500 for routine servicing at a car dealer, without so much as a whimper.

Computer repair is in many ways more skill-intensive than routine auto repair.  Just now, people are beginning to realize that the true cost of a computer comes when something goes wrong -- which it inevitably does, and with significantly more frequency than with modern automobiles.

The big box stores primarily offer lower end electronics that cost less and are more affordable for those individuals who shop there.

To obtain higher end electronics (e.g. FPs, PCs, laptops, printers, etc.) one has to buy such products on-line.

Receiving competant technical support after the sale is always problematic so do not let this be the deciding factor regarding where to buy your next PC.

Not always true on the low-end/high end.  Both types are available through both sales channels.

And if you know you're going to need ready access to service and support - say, for a business -- by all means, buy locally from a shop with good service and support.   The time saved by having such access can mean money saved by a business -- or frustration saved in dealing with basic, offshore technical support.

The less you're willing to do on your own, the more likely it is that you should purchase at retail, and NOT over the Internet.

hey friends...

  thanks to all of u...but i wanna know few more things...   i am gonna order a well assembled dell laptop online but i'm affraid as we have to send the money first before placing an order... so can you folks tell me that IS IT RELIABLE TO HAVE A DELL NOTEBOOK ONLINE? i mean is it possible that here we have sent a demand draft/transfer the money and our system is misplaced (or sent to wrong address) and dell does not take the responsiblity resulting in loss of our money ? OR dell delivered any defective piece wot we come to know later (after delivery).... so these all questions r making me suspicious whether i should buy a dell laptop online o should go directly to dealer.....  :emotion-18:    hey friends 1 please help me out...!!!!!!!

dell is a large and reputable company. as long as you do not screw up where u can be at fault, ie: give them the wrong address,and keep proof of purchase, they will take care of u. defective pieces are covered under warranty - if you dont buy extended, you still get 1 year manufacturer's for factory defects

hi pizzwe,

    wot do u mean by not keeping a proof of purchase ?

and is it better to order a laptop directly or placing order through "dell exclusive store" which r basically online store . one more thing.. a far as defective piece is concern.. is there really any one to hear our problem after completing the purchase coz we can see many posts in different forums where people are complaining of poor services of customer care of dell....!!!

Hi dr_skn08,

I would like to know about these Dell Exclusive Stores. Are they company operated outlets? As you said in your post that they are basically online store, what exactly do you mean by that? How exactly do these Dell Exclusive Stores operate?