Better to buy locally because of warranty?

[james.wired]

My girlfriend is looking to buy a laptop but prices here are so steep. We are going to FL for a few days this month and I had originally suggested buying from Newegg because of the savings. But after thinking about it, I realized the issue with the warranty. I mean, what if we get back to Panama and a piece of hardware dies or it malfunctions somehow? It would be a stupid amount of money to ship that thing and it could take MANY weeks to get to the manufacturer let alone get it back to Panama.

If she bought locally, the prices would be pretty high and there is not a great selection, but it might be a wiser decision because if something happens then we can just take it back to them.

Not sure which choice to go with, what do you guys think?

 

[baih777]

do the stores in panama warranty the item or do they send it back to the mfg, or do you have to send it in to the mfg. where are the warranty repair located for panama (country)

 

[james.wired]

Not sure how it works, I'll have to call and ask.

 

[MindoverMaster]

Most retail laptops on Newegg come with a year warranty by the manufacturer. You have to go through the manufacturer for any repairs. You can return it to Newegg within 30 days if it does not meet her expectations.

 

[james.wired]

^ We don't live in the USA like I said, so returning it to Newegg would be silly as far as cost of shipping. Like I said in my post, we are going to FL for a few days and then returning.

 

[MindoverMaster]

Oh, sorry. I must have skipped over that..

 

[glider7]

I think it depends on how much you want to spend on the laptop. If you're getting a $400 laptop, it's probable not worth spending the money and wasting the time to get a better warranty. If you're buying a $1000+ laptop then it's probable worth spending the extra $100-$200 to deal with having the laptop fixed. I'm hoping to get a $5000 on scholarship soon, and I'm spending about $500 on Dell's 4-year advanced warranty, which also covers a broken screen, liquid spilled on the comp, etc.

Bottom line, I would look at the price of the laptop and the quality of the warranty and decide from there which one you want.

 

[Lexluethar]

I agree with glider, depends on the cost of the laptop. If the cost of the batter exceeds say 40% of the cost of the laptop then I would say just buy locally. If the cost of the battery is less than that i would go through the 'proper' channels.

Who knows, i mean people in panama purchase laptops from local dealers, while i know it is a different country everything runs the same way - economics. So they have local PC shops just like the US, and if those shops sucked they wouldn't be in buisness very long, know what i mean?

 

[james.wired]

She is looking at $700-$900 for the laptop. Buying a laptop in Panama for that price means you get 70% of the performance compared to if you were to spend that much on a laptop in the states.

 

[Lexluethar]

So i would say if you can't find a batter that cheaper than say 200 dollars I would order one and have it shiped.