Advice on where to buy

MarcusP12

Hi guys....I'm thinking of upgrading the family laptop to something slick...maybe a 2 in 1 convertible like a Lenovo yoga or HP envy....looking at a budget of up to 1k. Here's the thing, I'm not sure where is best to buy. I'm based in the middle east at the moment and prices seem decent enough here compared to home if you can tolerate the dual lettering, i.e. English and Arabic keyboard. But because of where I am, amazon.com is an options too as there doesn't seem to be any customs issues to bump up the price. So opinions or feedback on the following:

1. Would you buy a laptop imported from the states?
2. Would you buy refurbished or best avoided regardless of price?
3. Any issue with warranties or software compatibility for laptops from another region?
4. Would you buy amazon.co.uk over .com or ultimately if buying on line does it really matter?
5. Where's the best place to buy within Ireland? any deal sites?

Thanks in advance for the help/advice......

ednwireland

Just bought a dell 2 in 1 refurbished from the Dell uk outlet.
http://m.dell.com/h5/m/uk/index

Bit of a pain to use as you have to find the laptop on there then go to Ireland http://www.dell.com/learn/ie/en/iedfh1/campaigns/splitter-ie

Go onto chat they reserve it and then you pay for it on chat 24 hours later.working hours only

Might be an option ?

Just noticed your in middle east So no idea how that works.

I have an inspiron 2 in 1 at work but I don't travel a lot I would definitely go for the latitude 2 in 1 if I was travelling.

MarcusP12

Thanks for the feedback...the significance of being in the ME is that dollar prices seem quite good and delivery to here is about 60 bucks...but if it's more hassle than it's worth if there's a problem then better to play safe? If I bought locally at least it would get a run out and if there's any issues then should come up early so could just return to store.....don't mind waiting a while to buy off amazon.co.uk or in an irish location if it's lower risk....just want to get best deal...

Alanstrainor

I would have no problem buying an American machine. The keyboard is very slightly different, but tbh, I prefer it. 
As for refurb or not, that depends on where you are buying. If you are buying from Dell outlet, or Apple outlet, then I would have no problem with it at all. But if it is just some random 3rd party seller who refurbs machines then I wouldn't bother. Especially at the budget you're thinking of. 
There's no software issues with buying from the states. Obviously if you buy from a non-english speaking country you'll have an OS that is not in the correct language, but you should be able to sort this without much hassle. As for warranty you'll have to check with individual manufacturers to see what their policies are. 
If you are in the middle east somewhere, then why look at shops in Ireland? All the regulars are where you should look, PCWorld and Harvey Norman are the big ones. You do have to shop around for the best deals though.

MarcusP12

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I would have no problem buying an American machine. The keyboard is very slightly different, but tbh, I prefer it. 
As for refurb or not, that depends on where you are buying. If you are buying from Dell outlet, or Apple outlet, then I would have no problem with it at all. But if it is just some random 3rd party seller who refurbs machines then I wouldn't bother. Especially at the budget you're thinking of. 
There's no software issues with buying from the states. Obviously if you buy from a non-english speaking country you'll have an OS that is not in the correct language, but you should be able to sort this without much hassle. As for warranty you'll have to check with individual manufacturers to see what their policies are. 
If you are in the middle east somewhere, then why look at shops in Ireland? All the regulars are where you should look, PCWorld and Harvey Norman are the big ones. You do have to shop around for the best deals though.

Thanks for the pointers....just to clarify, i'm out here for a while longer but will be back at the end of the summer. So if I was to go for the amazon.com option, I suppose i'd want to be acting pretty soon......it does make me slightly nervous buying a laptop over the internet but I suppose people do it all the time....are there any specialist online retailers that are Ireland based aside from the usual suspects of PC world etc that are slightly better value....would prefer to buy local but not if there's a big premium....

Alanstrainor

MarcusP12 wrote: »

Thanks for the pointers....just to clarify, i'm out here for a while longer but will be back at the end of the summer. So if I was to go for the amazon.com option, I suppose i'd want to be acting pretty soon......it does make me slightly nervous buying a laptop over the internet but I suppose people do it all the time....are there any specialist online retailers that are Ireland based aside from the usual suspects of PC world etc that are slightly better value....would prefer to buy local but not if there's a big premium....

Don't worry about buying online, I've bought all of my systems online over about 15 years I'd say. Never had any issues.

MarcusP12

A general one for the floor, 2 in 1s.....are they a gimic or worth the premium? I use the home laptop mostly for working from home the rare occasion I need to and general bits, surfing, music, photos....nothing really that requires heavy processor power. I do like the idea of a 2 in 1 as would make reading on line mags and papers or Netflix (even though we usually cast to TV) that bit more flexible......but am I constraining myself? Anyone any experience with them? I like the yogas, HP Envy x360 and the inspiron 13 2 in 1 seems very good value on amazon though it has mixed reviews......but then the asus zenbook seems like excellent value and is very recommended in non 2 in 1.....bit of a mine field....

MarcusP12

MarcusP12 wrote: »

A general one for the floor, 2 in 1s.....are they a gimic or worth the premium? I use the home laptop mostly for working from home the rare occasion I need to and general bits, surfing, music, photos....nothing really that requires heavy processor power. I do like the idea of a 2 in 1 as would make reading on line mags and papers or Netflix (even though we usually cast to TV) that bit more flexible......but am I constraining myself? Anyone any experience with them? I like the yogas, HP Envy x360 and the inspiron 13 2 in 1 seems very good value on amazon though it has mixed reviews......but then the asus zenbook seems like excellent value and is very recommended in non 2 in 1.....bit of a mine field....

there are 2 aspects to to the 2-in-1's imo

1. convertible mode regarding the hinge where the screen can fold all the way back to the back of the device (360 degrees) where you can put the laptop into "tent mode" (when you might want to show others content) or make the screen face you instead of a keyboard (useful when watching media -especially on something like a plane where having the screen facing you is better and avoids the situation where your laptop could get crushed by the person in front of you reclining their seat!).

2. touch-screen
this is only really useful imo when you're dealing with a light device with a detachable keyboard like an ms surface where you turn the device into a tablet. on the high end with very sensitive pens and matching screen artists might also use this. but with a normal lightish latpop the total weight is too heavy to be used as a tablet so it's not really useful for much imo.

ednwireland

Just got my inspiron 13 2 in 1 yesterday core i3 processor 4th ram 256gb ssd. 411 euro inc vat delivered, so as I had a lazy day today spent most of the day in tablet mode . Will be writing up some minutes tomorrow so be in regular mode. got to say the tablet mode is great For sitting in front of the telly surfing the net.

The 15 I have at work is just a little bit big to do that.

And windows 10 makes more sense in tablet mode !

MarcusP12

ednwireland wrote: »

Just got my inspiron 13 2 in 1 yesterday core i3 processor 4th ram 256gb ssd. 411 euro inc vat delivered, so as I had a lazy day today spent most of the day in tablet mode . Will be writing up some minutes tomorrow so be in regular mode. got to say the tablet mode is great For sitting in front of the telly surfing the net.

The 15 I have at work is just a little bit big to do that.

And windows 10 makes more sense in tablet mode !

Where did you get it from at that price?? How do you find the speed? Am a little concerned it might be a bit under powered for the longer term....

ednwireland

Got it on the Dell uk outlet as per my description above but they had a 12 % discount a week ago so got that taken off it . Yep the processor is a bit lightweight but it Will do for what I need it for. Been using an old 5th gen vostro 13 for 5 years so used to it.
It's a refurb but looks perfect