what site is the best to buy laptops off of
If you've been on the chase for a new laptop, but aren't certain which stores (online or otherwise) are going to offering you the best combination of cost discounts, shipping speed, and customer service, and so y'all've come to the right identify! You tin can also await at our best laptops guide for more than laptop options.
And so, later on more than thirty+ hours of research, ordering, returning products and testing each store's customer service team, we tin confidently say that Newegg is the best place to buy a laptop. The site offers a powerful suite of search tools, the choice is about unparalleled, and the support staff ranked A+ during our testing.
Nosotros've spent the time and man hours necessary to enquiry many of the summit retailers in the laptop space to break downwardly the adept, bad, and the ugly when it comes to your online (or offline) laptop ownership experience. This means ownership laptops from many of the top retailers and tracking dozens of metrics to whittle down exactly what you demand to know about the top shopping portals online.
How We Picked the Best Stores for the All-time Experience
Our Laptop Buying Process
To evaluate which stores on this list were the best possible place to buy a laptop on the web, nosotros personally bought laptops from each of them and recorded a series of metrics which fed into the overall performance score they received.
Related:If you are searching for small form laptops that can handle calorie-free processing like browsing the internet, then you need the best netbook.
This included the price of the laptop itself (compared to other sites at the time of buy), the toll of aircraft (to our testing facility located in Portland, Oregon), the amount of selection bachelor, the most recently updated models added to the lineup, every bit well as the effectiveness of their customer service departments and the amount of time it took to receive our refund later on the return process was complete.
Taking all of these different factors into consideration we were able to test and review many of the top portals and whittle down our options from around 12 different major stores on the web down to five. These v exemplify everything y'all should look for when yous desire to optimize your laptop ownership feel, and represent the peak of buying a laptop online!
Our Laptop Purchase Metrics
Delivery Options: With Amazon setting a new bar in online commitment, many east-commerce retailers have stepped upwards their speeds in kind, offering programs and aircraft options that oft rival (and sometimes even beat) the juggernaut at their own game. Optimally we want annihilation under two days, though we know for testing some of the smaller retailers information technology's more reasonable to expect times between three days to i week. Anything over this (as a default choice) was seen to be as well wearisome, which would disqualify them from making it on our top list. The price of the shipping method was also an important delineator here, though we were unable to standardize this portion of the exam due to the area where we personally shipped the items to. Given that Portland, OR is a major city we experienced shipping times and quotes that may exist significantly lower than what rural customers can await, though we did our best to include this variable equally much as possible when arriving at our final rankings.
Related: If you are looking for a laptop for construction, industrial, or military purposes, then check out the best rugged laptop guide.
Aircraft Insurance: Likewise, since we were aircraft laptops which are both frail and expensive, we wanted to make sure that all the stores chosen for this list offered some level of insurance that could be purchased during checkout. The last thing you lot want to open your box to is a shattered screen or a busted hard bulldoze with no option for recourse,
Shipping Options: Finally – in terms of shipping – nosotros looked at the bodily number of shipping options available, whether it was through UPS, USPS, FedEx, DHL, or otherwise. Amazon was the just standout in this category (given that some laptops can actually be constitute on their Prime service and will arrive from their own fleet of vans in two hours or less), merely several others did offer culling shipping methods if one provider or another didn't deliver to your specific area.
Return Policy: When shopping for laptops it's important to proceed an eye on their return policy, because it can change pretty significantly from portal to portal. Whenever you get a new laptop information technology helps to be able to really get your easily on it for a chip to see how it handles the tasks you need it to, and if for any reason information technology's underpowered (or overpowered) for your standard tasks, being able to send it back or supercede it with a new one in a reasonable amount of time is paramount to a pleasurable user experience. A pleasurable feel includes the visitor roofing re-aircraft costs, as well as not existence sticklers about restocking fees or what they define as an "opened" parcel.
Client Service: This is a big one, because the differences in customer service between say an Amazon and an Overstock.com couldn't be greater. Nosotros reviewed several metrics here, including the number of customer support options, the quality of support received, as well as how effectively the support reps in question were able to handle our research.
Pick: This metric was measured in two separate areas: actual number of models they have in stock, too as the frequency at which they update their stock with new models. Laptops are one of the fastest evolving technologies on the marketplace today, with bigger hard drives, better graphics cards, faster processors and higher-resolution webcams existence added to them upwards of twice or three times per year. This means we just considered outlets that are constantly refreshing their available options, and fabricated a special note to continue track of the number of laptops they would get in for each tech refresh.
User Experience: When it comes to technology like laptops, it'southward important that the sites we selected offered an like shooting fish in a barrel mode for customers to quickly sort through the noise and find the laptop that's right for them. This means offering search parameters which permit yous to sort by dozens of different metrics, whether that exist hard drive chapters, screen size, CPU, and more. For example, special exceptions like Newegg fifty-fifty allow you become so far as to sort by the RAM type and included graphics menu, which for the extra nerds out there is a must-have feature in the laptop buying process.
Payment Methods: The number of payment methods accepted by a retailer was besides an important gene in our decision making process, though in that location wasn't a whole lot of differences between nearly of our meridian picks. Bonus points were awarded to any retailers that offered alternative payment options similar PayPal or Moneygram.
Price: Of course, this wouldn't exist a listing of the best places to buy a laptop without taking toll into account! Though heavy hitters similar NewEgg used to boss in this category, in recent years companies (like Amazon, of course) have started to narrow the gap between who can offer the accented bottom dollar prices when it comes to laptops and other pieces of engineering.
#1 Newegg
Laurels: Best Overall
Bottom Line: Even though they've slipped from the limelight over the past few years and no longer offer the insane tech deals they became known for in the early days, Newegg nevertheless beats out everyone else as the best identify to purchase a laptop online. From the forgiving render policy and restocking fees to the ridiculously granular search functions, Newegg makes it easy to notice exactly the laptop you want at a cost that's still comparatively competitive with Amazon. Add to this a huge stock of bachelor models to choose from alongside a keen back up staff, and you lot've got a recipe for success for the #i identify to buy a laptop online!
Render Policy: 14 days, restocking fee is damage dependent
Pros
- Huge number of available models
- Perfect search function
- Decent return policy
- Great support staff
- Good sale frequency/discount amounts
Cons
- Prices not as depression as they used to be
#ii Best Purchase
Accolade: All-time for In-Shop Pickup
Bottom Line: Though physical Best Buy stores have suffered from a major drop in quality in recent years, their online business organisation continues to set a gold standard for laptop ownership. The company offers a 15-day return policy with no restocking fees to be institute, and also runs a robust search option that comes close to rivaling what we plant at Newegg. The company offers a large number of available support options, withal the i drawback we noticed was that our over-the-telephone experience was more than frustrating than it needed to be. Aside from that small complaint however, Best Buy easily glides into the #2 slot for our dollar as one of the best places to buy a laptop online today!
Return Policy: 14 days, no restocking fee (thirty-mean solar day and 45-solar day return periods available for All-time Buy Aristocracy and Elite Plus members)
Pros
- Not bad search part
- Large number of bachelor models
- Good discounts during sales
- No restocking fee on laptops
- In-store pickup selection for immediate buying
Cons
- Return policy might exist besides short for some buyers
- Client service over the phone could take been ameliorate
#3 Amazon
Laurels: Fastest Shipping
Bottom Line: As much equally we might have liked to requite this slot to another specialty store, there'southward a reason why Amazon continues to exist one of the best online retailers in the business. Screamingly quick commitment times for Prime members (and fifty-fifty some speedy picks for not-Prime buyers), combined with a nifty selection and some crazy discounts during big sales adds upwards to an awesome laptop buying experience. Their 30-day return policy is virtually as good every bit you can expect in this business organization, and in that location's no denying the gold-star nature of their client support squad/number of bachelor contact options. If we had to error them for anything, information technology would be the inconsistencies we constitute in resellers, some of whom would take reward of a model going out of stock and jack up the price by several figures more, hoping that less knowledgeable customers would buy their laptop at the extremely gouged cost indicate.
Return Policy: 30 days, restocking fee dependent on level of impairment (0-15%)
Pros
- Great return policy
- Super fast delivery (Prime and non-Prime members)
- Good number of available models
- Won't find deeper discounts during large holidays
Cons
- Resellers pollute the market with overpriced, older models
- No control of stock between resellers
- Search function could exist more in-depth
#four Ebay
Bottom Line: Even though eBay has a sporadic selection and doesn't always line up perfectly on search results, it's however a great place for bargain hunters to find some of the best deals on laptops on the spider web. That said, we practice have to dock points in a couple major areas (which is why it'due south lower down on our listing). These include the pretty abysmal customer support team (worst of all five options), as well as the inconsistencies in restocking fees and model availability. This isn't so much the fault of eBay itself every bit it is the nature of the platform, still when dealing with high priced electronics similar laptops nosotros would accept liked to see a bit more standardization betwixt all the different stores, resellers, and individual sellers if possible.
Return Policy: Varies from seller to seller (average fifteen days)
Pros
- All-time prices on the web for laptops, easily down
- Practiced search function
- Lots of models to choose from during big holiday shopping seasons
- Large number of payment options
Cons
- No centralized sellers
- Varied restocking policy/return times
- Poor customer service
#v Overstock
Bottom Line: Yup, Overstock.com is notwithstanding in business organisation, and although they struggle to maintain focus in some cadre areas of competency, overall they're however a solid option when it comes to buying a laptop online. 1 of the main reasons it gets high marks in our books is the humongous number of search parameters you can choose from when whittling downward your option, rivaling only Newegg in its latitude and depth. As information technology is with most other products on the portal, Overstock.com makes an attempt to provide some of the lowest prices on the web for laptops, and for refurbished items it should be your starting time stop thanks to its large stock of older models that accept long since left the shelves of more prolific buying sites.
Return Policy: thirty days, no restocking fees on undamaged items (partial refund by xxx days)
Pros
- Extra long return policy
- Dandy prices on refurbished and new items
- Decent selection
- Spectacular customer back up/good number of bachelor support options
Cons
- May not take all the newest models in stock
- Express stock on popular models
- Shipping times might be longer than some buyers are used to
Everyone Else: Trusted, But Not Ideal for Buying a Laptop
The retailers listed below, while decent enough for what they are, don't combine all the elements of a swell ownership experience into 1 fluid process similar what we expect from the top options on this list. This isn't to say they're necessarily bad choices, merely just non our offset pick when nosotros know it's time to look at adding a new laptop to the roster.
Apple tree.com
Lesser Line: High prices combined with a prohibitively limited selection (of course, information technology's all Apple laptops all the time), means that unless y'all're expressionless assault sticking within the Apple ecosystem for every step of the process yous're probably meliorate off getting your Apple laptop from Newegg or Best Buy instead. Both companies ever have a big stock of the newest Macbooks and Macbook Pros every bit soon as they drop, and volition even offer discounts during the primeval days that Apple wouldn't fifty-fifty think of putting on their site (lest anyone mistake their products as "deal" options). That said, take a look at Electronics Valley on Ebay. They at times will offer high competitive pricing that is sometimes unrivaled.
Return Policy: 14 days, no restocking fee
Pros
- Every current Macbook model in stock
- Easy to navigate website
- Fast checkout
- Option and return in store
Cons
- Loftier prices that more often than not never see a discount
- No sales during holidays
- Client support options for sales site were defective
Target.com
Bottom Line: Target is great for ownership a lot of dissimilar things for around the home, but on laptops alone the visitor falls apartment. A limited number of models available, at higher-than-average prices means that unless yous're absolutely desperate to package a pack of paper towels in with your laptop shipment you're probably ameliorate off going with one of the other options shown in the list to a higher place. All this in heed, I was a fan of the SquareTrade protection programs, which offered decently priced insurance on your laptop purchase against just about every different type of damage scenario imaginable.
Return Policy: ninety days unopened, variable otherwise depending on condition and toll
Pros
- Adept insurance options
- Tin return in-store
- Large number of aircraft choices
Cons
- Very limited choice
- Average prices
- No consistent return policy, item dependent
Who We Can't Recommend and Why
Finally, we come to the list of retailers who should exist avoided at all costs. Whether this is because they're a poor choice or it just looks like they're at risk of going out of business (hither's looking at you Sears) whatever minute, these are the picks of online laptop retailers nosotros wouldn't bear on with a 10-human foot pole.
Walmart.com: Terrible choice, horrible comparative pricing, and just the fact that they're Walmart solitary should be enough to steer y'all clear of this company. Although Walmart is neat for a lot of different items (such every bit buying a Television receiver) technology has certainly never been their strong suit, and we wouldn't recommend you buy anything tech-related from them in the near future.
Frys.com: Though information technology pains me to say it (I basically grew upward within of Fry's), in recent years the company has really allow the online side of their retail operation autumn by the wayside. If you live locally and desire to place an order for a laptop to selection up this might be a decent option, but bated from that small utilise instance the express selection, mediocre pricing, and bottomless customer support should be plenty to scare any prospective buyers away.
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Source: https://www.gadgetreview.com/best-place-buy-laptop
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