Laptops Direct - 2 buy or not 2 buy

fillup

Hi

i'm looking to buy a Sony Vaio and the prices on Laptops direct are very comeptive but after checking them out here on boards i'm having second thoughts....
it seems to be a complete punt as to wether its a good experience or not.. for the guts of a grand is it worth that kind of gamble???

has anybody had any dealings with them recently and what were they like????

TIA

AlmightyCushion

I've never used them but if I was spending the guts of a grand I'd be very wary od spending it with them.

fillup

wise words oh almightly one... but there so cheap that they make it tempting....
they seem to be ok unless you have a problem... at least with a bricks'n'mortar shop you can walk in and raise a stink if you're feeling gyped

AlmightyCushion

fillup wrote: »

wise words oh almightly one... but there so cheap that they make it tempting....
they seem to be ok unless you have a problem... at least with a bricks'n'mortar shop you can walk in and raise a stink if you're feeling gyped

If by raise a stink you mean go into the place screaming abuse at someone I really wouldn't advise that even if they don't treat you fairly. They can use that as an excuse to kick you out of the shop. Also if you had to go down the route of legal action it wouldn't look good to your case.

Do you have a link to the laptop. I might be able to see if I can find one similar elsewhere.

Alanstrainor

LAptops direct seem to be a bit hit and miss. I mean i've bought a couple of things off them, buggest being an eee pc, and had no bother. But when something goes wrong, i hear they're awful to deal with. Can you give a link to the machine you're looking at?

fillup

thanks lads,,, here's a link to one of the contendors http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Sony_VAIO_AR71J_VGNAR71J/version.asp
it's about 300 yo cheaper than the high street shops...

i agree with you almighty that ranting and raving in a shop gets you no where.
what i meant was it's easier to put forward and win your case in a face to face scenario than via email/phone

AlmightyCushion

Well I hate dealing with crap over the phone, prefer email myself. You've got a record of the conversation.

Found a better spec on elara for €100 more. It has 3GBs ram instead of 2GBs. Haven't heard many bad things about elara either.

http://www.elara.ie/products/detailsfullat.asp?productcode=ECE1560111#spec

fillup

thanks for that almighty.... i haven't heard of elara before and i know you say you haven't heard many bad things ablout them but have you heard much positive feedback about them???

AlmightyCushion

I bought stuff off them before (not much mind) and I've recommended things from them before and noone has complained. Any who dabs have the same laptop as elara for €805.

http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=56Q6&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=ar71j&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0

fillup

thanks again oh almighty one... and again the question... what's dabs reputation like....
i've bought loads of stuff off the web before so but never a laptop/pc.. i've always been able to yoink one from work in a purely legit way mind!!! but my auld IBM T42 is getting a bit too creaky for even me... and due to the present econimic 'downturn' new toys ain't that easy to come by anymore....

thanks for the help

AlmightyCushion

I've never bought off dabs but I wouldn't have any reason not too. They seem to have quite a good reputation.

AlmightyCushion

Another few sites. Straight from sony for €899. Can't seem to find out how to change the language.

http://vaio.sony.ie/view/ShowProduct.action?product=VGN-AR71J&site=voe_es_ES_cons&category=VN+AR+Series

If you can get it through work and use their vat number (you need to be vat registered to buy off them) then you could get it off pcwb.ie for €670.

http://www.pcwb.ie/catalogue/item/SONB0262

Never used either of those so I don't know what they're like.

fillup

cheers... i'm going to go into a few shops over the next few days and see if they can compete with these prices... i've done that when i've been buying some musical equip and they've done the old pressing the buttons randomly on the calcualtor trick and been able to match or come close to internet prices....
power to the consumer!!!!

shayser

Nice Elara link Almighty. Interested in a laptop at the moment. Is the 533mhz bus speed a bit slow (not that I would know)? See bus/memory speeds of 800/1333mhz. Are these different beasts altogether? Is 533 fine?

AlmightyCushion

shayser wrote: »

Nice Elara link Almighty. Interested in a laptop at the moment. Is the 533mhz bus speed a bit slow (not that I would know)? See bus/memory speeds of 800/1333mhz. Are these different beasts altogether? Is 533 fine?

It's the speed at which the processor can move data into and out of itself the faster that is the faster it can take things from memory. 1333Mhz is only on desktop chips. For most poeple the difference between 533Mhz and 800Mhz wouldn't be that noticeable.

fillup

the sony is a dual core as opposed to a core 2 duo which seems to be in tne newer models.... is this a significant difference,
is that sony model approaching end of life and hence it's under €1k price tag????
excuse my ignorance but despiting working in IT i don't really keep abreast of the latest CPU models

AlmightyCushion

fillup wrote: »

the sony is a dual core as opposed to a core 2 duo which seems to be in tne newer models.... is this a significant difference,
is that sony model approaching end of life and hence it's under €1k price tag????
excuse my ignorance but despiting working in IT i don't really keep abreast of the latest CPU models

The pentium dual cores are a core 2 duo with a smaller fsb and half the cache. They're not as good as a core 2 duo but for most people the difference won't be all that noticeable. I've seen some sonys under a grand not just this model.

fillup

nice one almighty... time to catch the end of family guy before i hit the hay!!!!

enjoy

AlmightyCushion

Best of luck tomorrow when you hit the shops.

machalla

Just on dabs and Elara. I've dealt with Dabs who are pure email when it comes to customer service (or their online assistants). Ordered quite a bit off them at times. Overall good apart from their delivery uses parcelforce and then either GLS or An Post in Ireland. An Post no problems. GLS though are biggest jokers around in my experience.

Elara are dublin based and you can actually call out to them to pick up your stuff if its convenient and thus avoid delivery charges. They have a forum on boards also.

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1106

Overall most dealings I've had with them were grand. At least you can call out to them if needs be.

Good luck with the shopping anyway.

td2008

Bought mine last year off them with no problems, i havent needed to use support though