Laptop sellers online: Laptops & Notebook Computers: PC Laptop, Notebooks

Jun 21, 2023 alexxlab

Best Place To Buy A Laptop

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Table of Contents_

How We Picked the Best Stores for the Best Experience
Our Laptop Buying Process
Our Laptop Purchase Metrics
#1 Newegg
#2 Best Buy
#3 Amazon
#4 Ebay
#5 Overstock
Everyone Else: Trusted, But Not Ideal for Buying a Laptop
Apple.com
Target.com
Who We Can’t Recommend and Why

If you’ve been on the hunt for a new laptop, but aren’t sure which stores (online or otherwise) are going to offer you the best combination of price discounts, shipping speed, and customer service, then you’ve come to the right place! You can also look at our best laptops guide for more laptop options.

So, after more than 30+ hours of research, ordering, returning products and researching each store’s customer service team, we can confidently say that Newegg is the best place to buy a laptop. The site offers a powerful suite of search tools, the selection is almost unparalleled, and the support staff ranked A+ during our research.

We’ve spent the time and man hours necessary to research many of the top retailers in the laptop space to break down the good, bad, and the ugly when it comes to your online (or offline) laptop buying experience. This means buying laptops from many of the top retailers and tracking dozens of metrics to whittle down exactly what you need to know about the top shopping portals online.

Before we researched any laptop, we created a very specific set of requirements.

How We Picked the Best Stores for the Best Experience

Our Laptop Buying Process

To evaluate which stores on this list were the best possible place to buy a laptop on the web, we 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 light 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 purchase), the cost of shipping (to our research facility located in Portland, Oregon), the amount of selection available, the most recently updated models added to the lineup, as well as the effectiveness of their customer service departments and the amount of time it took to receive our refund after 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 five exemplify everything you should look for when you want to optimize your laptop buying experience, and represent the peak of buying a laptop online!

Our Laptop Purchase Metrics

Delivery Options: With Amazon setting a new bar in online delivery, many e-commerce retailers have stepped up their speeds in kind, offering programs and shipping options that often rival (and sometimes even beat) the juggernaut at their own game. Optimally we want anything under two days, though we know for research some of the smaller retailers it’s more reasonable to expect times between three days to one week. Anything over this (as a default option) was seen to be too slow, 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 test 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 be significantly lower than what rural customers can expect, though we did our best to include this variable as 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.

Shipping Insurance: Also, since we were shipping laptops which are both fragile 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 want to open up your box to is a shattered screen or a busted hard drive with no option for recourse, especially if you just invested in a specialized model like a 2-in-1 gaming laptop.

Shipping Options: Finally – in terms of shipping – we looked at the actual number of shipping options available, whether it was through UPS, USPS, FedEx, DHL, or otherwise. Amazon was the only standout in this category (given that some laptops can actually be found on their Prime service and will arrive from their own fleet of vans in two hours or less), but several others did offer alternative shipping methods if one provider or another didn’t deliver to your specific area.

Return Policy: When shopping for laptops it’s important to keep an eye on their return policy, because it can change pretty significantly from portal to portal. Whenever you get a new laptop it helps to be able to actually get your hands on it for a bit to see how it handles the tasks you need it to, and if for any reason it’s underpowered (or overpowered) for your standard tasks, being able to ship it back or replace it with a new one in a reasonable amount of time is paramount to a pleasurable user experience. A pleasurable experience includes the company covering re-shipping costs, as well as not being sticklers about restocking fees or what they define as an “opened” package.

Customer Service: This is a big one, because the differences in customer service between say an Amazon and an Overstock.com couldn’t be greater. We 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 inquiry.

Selection: This metric was measured in two separate areas: actual number of models they have in stock, as well 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 being added to them upwards of twice or three times per year. This means we only considered outlets that are constantly refreshing their available options, and made a special note to keep track of the number of laptops they would get in for each tech refresh.

User Experience: When it comes to technology like laptops, it’s important that the sites we selected offered an easy way for customers to quickly sort through the noise and find the laptop that’s right for them. This means offering search parameters which allow you to sort by dozens of different metrics, whether that be hard drive capacity, screen size, CPU, and more. For example, special exceptions like Newegg even let you go so far as to sort by the RAM type and included graphics card, 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 also an important factor in our decision making process, though there wasn’t a whole lot of differences between most of our top picks. Bonus points were awarded to any retailers that offered alternative payment options like PayPal or Moneygram.

Price: Of course, this wouldn’t be a list of the best places to buy a laptop without taking price into account! Though heavy hitters like NewEgg used to dominate in this category, in recent years companies (like Amazon, of course) have started to narrow the gap between who can offer the absolute bottom dollar prices when it comes to laptops and other pieces of technology.

#1 Newegg

Award: 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 still beats out everyone else as the best place to buy a laptop online. From the forgiving return policy and restocking fees to the ridiculously granular search functions, Newegg makes it easy to find exactly the laptop you want at a price that’s still comparatively competitive with Amazon. Add to this a huge stock of available models to choose from alongside a great support staff, and you’ve got a recipe for success for the #1 place to buy a laptop online!

Return 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 low as they used to be

#2 Best Buy

Award: Best for In-Store Pickup

Bottom Line: Though physical Best Buy stores have suffered from a major drop in quality in recent years, their online business continues to set a gold standard for laptop buying. The company offers a 15-day return policy with no restocking fees to be found, and also runs a robust search option that comes close to rivaling what we found at Newegg. The company offers a large number of available support options, however the one drawback we noticed was that our over-the-phone experience was more 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 (30-day and 45-day return periods available for Best Buy Elite and Elite Plus members)

Pros

Great search function
Large number of available models
Good discounts during sales
No restocking fee on laptops
In-store pickup option for immediate buying

Cons

Return policy might be too short for some buyers
Customer service over the phone could have been better

#3 Amazon

Award: Fastest Shipping

Bottom Line: As much as we might have liked to give this slot to another specialty store, there’s a reason why Amazon continues to be one of the best online retailers in the business. Screamingly quick delivery times for Prime members (and even some speedy picks for non-Prime buyers), combined with a great selection and some crazy discounts during big sales adds up to an awesome laptop buying experience. Their 30-day return policy is about as good as you can expect in this business, and there’s no denying the gold-star nature of their customer support team/number of available contact options. If we had to fault them for anything, it would be the inconsistencies we found in resellers, some of whom would take advantage 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 price point.

Return Policy: 30 days, restocking fee dependent on level of damage (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 big holidays

Cons

Resellers pollute the market with overpriced, older models
No control of stock between resellers
Search function could be more in-depth

#4 Ebay

Bottom Line: Even though eBay has a sporadic selection and doesn’t always line up perfectly on search results, it’s still a great place for bargain hunters to find some of the best deals on laptops on the web. That said, we do have to dock points in a couple major areas (which is why it’s lower down on our list). 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 as it is the nature of the platform, however when dealing with high priced electronics like laptops we would have liked to see a bit more standardization between all the different stores, resellers, and individual sellers if possible.

Return Policy: Varies from seller to seller (average 15 days)

Pros

Best prices on the web for laptops, hands down
Good 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

#5 Overstock

Bottom Line: Yup, Overstock. com is still in business, and although they struggle to maintain focus in some core areas of competency, overall they’re still a solid option when it comes to buying a laptop online. One of the main reasons it gets high marks in our books is the humongous number of search parameters you can choose from when whittling down your choice, rivaling only Newegg in its breadth and depth. As it is with most other products on the portal, Overstock.com makes an effort to provide some of the lowest prices on the web for laptops, and for refurbished items it should be your first stop thanks to its large stock of older models that have long since left the shelves of more prolific buying sites.

Return Policy: 30 days, no restocking fees on undamaged items (partial refund past 30 days)

Pros

Extra long return policy
Great prices on refurbished and new items
Decent selection
Spectacular customer support/good number of available support options

Cons

May not have all the newest models in stock
Limited 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 great buying experience into one fluid process like what we expect from the top options on this list. This isn’t to say they’re necessarily bad choices, but just not our first pick when we know it’s time to look at adding a new laptop to the roster.

Apple.com

Bottom Line: High prices combined with a prohibitively limited selection (of course, it’s all Apple laptops all the time), means that unless you’re dead set on sticking within the Apple ecosystem for every step of the process you’re probably better off getting your Apple laptop from Newegg or Best Buy instead. Both companies always have a large stock of the newest Macbooks and Macbook Pros as soon as they drop, and will even offer discounts during the earliest days that Apple wouldn’t even think of putting on their site (lest anyone mistake their products as “bargain” 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
Pick and return in store

Cons

High prices that generally never see a discount
No sales during holidays
Customer support options for sales site were lacking

Target.

com

Bottom Line: Target is great for buying a lot of different things for around the home, but on laptops alone the company falls flat. A limited number of models available, at higher-than-average prices means that unless you’re absolutely desperate to bundle a pack of paper towels in with your laptop shipment you’re probably better off going with one of the other options shown in the list above. All this in mind, 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: 90 days unopened, variable otherwise depending on condition and price

Pros

Good insurance options
Can return in-store
Large number of shipping choices

Cons

Very limited selection
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 be 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 (here’s looking at you Sears) any minute, these are the picks of online laptop retailers we wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole.

Walmart.com: Terrible selection, horrible comparative pricing, and just the fact that they’re Walmart alone should be enough to steer you clear of this company. Although Walmart is great for a lot of different items (such as buying a TV) 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 it pains me to say it (I basically grew up inside of Fry’s), in recent years the company has really let the online side of their retail operation fall by the wayside. If you live locally and want to place an order for a laptop to pick up this might be a decent option, but aside from that small use case the limited selection, mediocre pricing, and abysmal customer support should be enough to scare any prospective buyers away.

Best U.S Website To Buy Laptop Online In 2023

Thinking of getting a new laptop but find the thought of going to a store tiring? Are you also struggling to decide on which website is good to buy a laptop in the USA?

Well, you are in the right place as below, we take a look at which website is good to buy a laptop in the USA apart from Amazon and Newegg.

In A Hurry? Here’s The Winner From Hours Of Research

In a hurry to find out which website is good to buy a laptop in the USA apart from Amazon and Newegg? The Micro Center comes out as our top pick and these are the reasons why:

Editor’s Choice

Micro Center

Why is it better?

Specialist tech store
Dedicated support team
Both used and new laptops
Great deals

Read Review Details

Best U.S Website To Buy Laptop Online 2023

1.

Tech Bargains – Best for Bargain Deals

The beauty of the Tech Bargains site stems from the ease of comparison prices of laptops across various sites.

Best Deals for Laptops and Electronics
Extensive computing section
Aggregates the best prices on one platform

Not the final sale website
No online support team

Key features & details

The Tech Bargains website scours the internet for hot tech deals. These deals are then showcased on one platform. Customers are then able to browse through the different price offerings and focus on which one suits them.

Primary function of the website is not to complete a sale. Instead, laptop buyers are redirected to the pages that sell the items. Therefore, the site does not have any obligation to the customer.

Unlike the other websites with laptops for sale, Tech Bargains offers no easy means by which customers can get across. There are no phone numbers or a live chat team to respond immediately. You will have to make do with an email.

2.

Overstock – Best for Warranty Protection

In terms of search parameters to narrow down laptop preferences, Overstock has no close competition.

Availability of both new and refurbished items
Different ways to contact support
Long return period
Varied product selection

new laptop models may not be in stock
Popular laptop models have limited stock
Minimum order amount to qualify for free shipping

Key features & details

Technology and laptops may not be the primary focus of the online retailer, but it still has a host of laptop options. The primary reason why Overstock is a good website to browse for laptop purchases is due to the extensive search parameters. Just tick the options you want in a laptop to reduce the number of pages you have to browse through.

Overstock offers both used and new laptops on its website. Due to this, you can get a good price for a decent laptop. Like the name implies, the company has a stock of laptop models that may have very well gone out of stock on other websites.

Unlike most of the other websites, Overstock gives you the chance to return items after a month. However, this is subject to certain terms and conditions. For example, you are only charged restocking fees if you return items damaged.

3.

Walmart – Best for Tech Value Deals

Need the best deal on the laptop brand you love so much? Walmart happens to be one of the best places to search for good prices.

Trusted seller
Brand name laptops
Tech value bundle deals
Instore buying guide

Limited selection

Key features & details

Walmart has a newsletter where you get alerts of the frequent clearance sales. If you are lucky, you may find the laptop you want on that list. These clearance sales make it possible for buyers to get good deals on laptops.

Another plus for the online shopping website is the inclusion of a buying guide. The presence of a buying guide helps laptop buyers inform themselves on the options available to them.

There is also the option of product care plans for each piece of tech purchased.

For the laptops from top manufacturers such as Lenovo, HP, and Apple, you can easily come across them on the website. After buying your preferred laptop, there are other relevant accessories that can be purchased from the site.

4.

Micro Center – Best Full Service Tech Store

Micro Center specializes in the sale of technology products. Therefore, they have a good collection of laptops.

Sale of refurbished and new laptops
High selection from big name brands
Reduced prices
Regular discounts

Short return period

Key features & details

Micro Center offers the option of buying new laptops or getting a refurbished one. Also, regardless of the product choice, there are different plans available on the website. An example is the assurance protection plan which offers up to two years warranty for products purchased from the site.

On the Micro Center website, the first thing you see on the homepage are products which have discounts on them. Some products have certain percentages off and when compared to sites like Amazon, the pricing is highly competitive.

Unlike other websites which are clustered with several consumer products, Micro Center focuses only on tech gadgets.

The website is quite simple in layout and easy to navigate. With the different products on sale, buyers can easily select two products to compare against each other.

5.

Best Buy – Best for InStore Pickup

If you need a shopping website that rivals Newegg in terms of varied search options, Best Buy is the best alternative.

Navigable search function
Diverse laptop brands
Frequent sales and great discounts
Pickup from store option
No restocking fee charged on returns

Short return period
Over the phone customer service needs improvement

Key features & details

The good thing about shopping from Best Buy is that you can order your laptop online and pickup from a store close to you. With the available options, it becomes easier to browse through their offerings online and walk to their store to gain more insight on the laptops while getting it the same day.

If you order a laptop on the website, returns can be made up until 14 days of purchase and this will be at no added cost. However, if the laptop needs activation, then you will be charged a percentage of the purchase price.

For help making a purchase or an enquiry, the site has various means to contact care agents. From email, live chat to phone calls. However, if you have a really pressing query, the live chat agents might not be the best option especially when it comes to technical information.

6.

HP – Best for Innovative Products

For your PC customization needs, the HP store has the best product offerings.

Guaranteed refund or replacement for product failures
Dedicated online tech support
Innovative laptops
Regular discounts and deals

Restocking fees
Short return time frame

Key features & details

One of the best things about buying your laptop from the site of the manufacturer is that you can make customization requests. Things such as storage size, RAM size etc can be decided upon all from the comfort of shopping from home.

Unlike most websites that have customer care to handle basically every category, HP offers dedicated technical support for your laptop queries. The tech support can also be spoken to if you need particular adjustments to a laptop.

With sites such as Amazon and Best Buy offering price slashes and discounts on products, HP promises to match such prices. A comparison of these sites shows that the prices on each website do not differ by a great margin.

7. Apple – Best Option for Apple Laptops

What better place exists to purchase Apple products than from the manufacturer itself? The Apple store is the only place where you can buy the latest models of Macbooks.

Delivery and instore pickup
Easily navigable site
Stock of recent Macs

No discount
High prices

Key features & details

The downside to going to the Apple website for your laptop needs is that the only options you are presented with are Apple products. So, unless you are set on sticking to the Apple ecosystem, you are better off browsing through sites with varied offerings.

If you want reduced pricing on Apple laptops, you are better off using Best Buy and Tech Bargains to hunt for a deal. The Apple store does not offer great discounts like these sites. At the same time, another thing you should not expect is holiday sales.

Picking The

Best Website To Buy Laptop Online 2023

Delivery Options

Amazon has set a high bar for fast delivery. Therefore, the other retailers need to match up to them with different shipping options.

Some retailers are able to guarantee same day delivery while others need as much as 5 days. Anything over 5 days disqualifies them from the list.

Shipping Insurance

Laptops are very fragile and at the same time costly. We had to make sure the sites offered some form of insurance purchase during the checkout stage.

Shipping Options

Different retailers offer different shipping plans. With these unique plans comes different couriers. Unlike Amazon which has Prime delivery service, some of the retailers made use of alternatives in the form of DHL, FedEx, UPS etc.

Return Policy

It can happen that you end up being unsatisfied with your laptop purchase. Therefore, looking at the return policy made us understand the type of concessions granted to customers in the case of default products or unsatisfactory laptops.

Customer Service

The phrase the customer is king is often pandered around service industries. Therefore, we had to examine how easy it is for customers to reach out for support or get answers to enquiries.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Choose a Good Laptop?

Choosing a good laptop boils down to your intended use of it. Are you a gamer, a movie watcher or someone who performs high processing tasks? These things factor into your buying decision. From your intended use, you can then focus on specs such as display size, RAM, battery life etc.

Are Used and Refurbished Laptops the Same Thing?

The answer is no! Used laptops differ from the refurbished laptops. Used laptops were once bought new but are sold after a certain period in the same form. Refurbished on the other hand are used laptops which have undergone modifications to bring it to a better state.

When Is The Best Time to Get a Discount for a Laptop?

Some websites offer deals and discounts on a regular basis. However, there are some websites that wait till a particular time of the year or holiday before rewarding customers with discounts. These periods are often around April, May and September

Resources

Jeffrey .L Wilson, Best DJ Software: Best and Worst Big Box Laptop Retailers, Laptop Mag

what to check before buying from your hands and how to recognize scammers

This text was written by a reader in the T—Zh Community. Carefully edited and formatted according to editorial standards.

quzya

wanted to save too much

Author profile

I work in IT and the security industry, and this made it even more painful and offensive after what happened.

It all started like this. I was looking for an ad on Avito to buy a laptop with a processor of the latest model at that time. I found a suitable option and put it in my favorites. After some time, the ad was blocked with the wording that it did not correspond to reality. But a day later, a similar ad appeared with similar characteristics and photographs.

The reason for the sale in both the first and second cases was as follows: “I am leaving the country, selling my property.” This was the reason for the rather low price – 20,000 R against 30,000-40,000 R for similar laptops.

There was a woman’s name in the profile, but when I called the number indicated, a man answered the phone. He said that his wife’s phone number was in the ad and he was selling instead of her. We agreed on a meeting, while I was offered two options: in the Moscow district of Golyanovo and on Smolenskaya, near some business center. It was more convenient for me in Golyanovo, so we agreed to meet there.

5 not-so-obvious signs of fraudulent sellers on classifieds site

I arrived at the location and called the seller to report it He said that he was coming from the center, but he was late for half an hour due to traffic jams. Later, I will realize that this is a trick that almost all scammers use. The meaning of this trick:

pickle the buyer. This technique is used by car dealerships and banks that want to weaken the vigilance of the consumer, as he is simply tired;
a time lag is needed for the scammer to prepare for action: conveniently place a support group (security), prepare goods, take a position, and determine retreat routes depending on your location.

The salesperson asked for my car number and found out where I parked. He was about an hour late. In Golyanovo, where we agreed to meet, there is a house as long as a Chinese wall, at the end of which I parked. When the fraudster arrived, he said that he was waiting at the entrance farthest from me. I am sure that he planned it so that there was the maximum distance from me and my car. For this, he asked for the number of the car and its location.

I came up and saw a salesperson: height – 155-160 cm, glasses, good clothes, clean shoes, glasses that look expensive. A well-delivered speech without an accent, although he later said that he was from Dagestan and was leaving due to incidents with truckers in his native region. Allegedly, his family has lost business and is now emigrating to Germany. It sounded very plausible, plus it was close to my position in life. Later, I will realize that this conversation happened to divert my attention during the inspection of the goods. Also, most likely, the scammer understood that I was offended and interested.

After the meeting, the seller asked me to wait on the first floor in the entrance, as the laptop was allegedly in the apartment. I reacted normally to this and waited. Ten minutes later, he came down with a laptop and I started checking the equipment, while simultaneously communicating with the scammer.

/avito-fraud/

Avito: how to avoid scammers

The denouement is approaching. First of all, I was interested in whether the processor in the laptop was what I needed. I got into “Computer Management in Windows” and saw the installed drivers for four cores of the processor model that I wanted. This was the main mistake. I completely ignored the model label on the laptop. This would immediately make it clear that the laptop was produced 3 years before the release of the very processor that I wanted. And, of course, I ignored it even in the photos that were in the ad. This is an act of negligence and greed that drove me.

But that’s not all. There was a stupid Windows 98 screen saver on the desktop, a blue-black picture tiled like a mosaic full screen, which made the eyes ripple. This didn’t bother me either, because I wanted this laptop so much. I found a dead non-native battery only after a short period of operation. Although the scammer warned that he had recently changed the battery to a new one, he kept the charge for about forty minutes. Also, I was not embarrassed by the erased laptop serial number on the back cover.

That is, the product screamed that it was old garbage, but I continued to ignore all these calls.

So, I told the salesperson that I liked everything. I gave him 20,000 R and even asked to check their authenticity, because I am so honest. I also told him a story about a friend who was deceived by paying with counterfeit banknotes. The scammer took the money, and we went our separate ways.

I got into the car and it was as if I got an electric shock. I felt a sharp sense of anxiety at being deceived. I do not believe in hypnosis and the like, but my reaction and the whole story was very similar to the impact of some kind of NLP. But you and I know that this is just greed and negligence. I opened my laptop, changed the screen saver to a white screen, and—horror—I found a strip of dead pixels 3 mm thick and 5 cm high. I immediately started calling the scammer, but the phone was no longer available.

Breaking into a cold sweat, I rebooted my laptop and went into the BIOS to see the actual processor model. And then I discovered another unpleasant fact: the processor was three years old, a similar model, but the previous generation. Already at home, I saw that the hard drive had errors and the battery was dead. I bought a laptop that cost 10,000-12,000 R against the 20,000 R that I paid. I wrote a karmic SMS with wishes to the scammer and received the answer: “OK”.

Results and conclusions:

I recovered all the data from the HDD and found many photos of people. It is likely that these are relatives or acquaintances of the scammer, but he is not in the pictures.
I smoothed out the dead pixels on the screen – it has fully recovered.
I upgraded the laptop and brought it to a very good condition, invested about 15,000 more rubles into it. The attitude of operatives and investigators is indifferent, and sometimes humiliating.
I talked to my friend from Dagestan, and he said that they have a thriving fraud that is associated with the sale or purchase of electronics. This, one might say, is a strong point in the region.
I have increased my level of criticality in any civil law transactions, be it a store, an individual, a car dealership or a bank. I decided that any doubts, no matter how paranoid they may be, should be eliminated with a document: self-verification, expert verification, an additional agreement on the return of money if something goes wrong.
The main persuader is myself. I will overcome myself – I will overcome any swindler.
At first, I was very offended, especially since I am from the IT field and have a good grasp of details. I went through all the stages before acceptance. He rejoiced and persuaded himself that this was not the loss of health, loved ones, home, or a larger amount. Moreover, I managed to get a well-functioning laptop, which, by the way, I used for another 3 years.

As a result, I mastered the basics used by scammers and found ways to counter it.

If the seller is very late, you should be on your guard. Being late, wasting time, referring to some employees, partners or relatives who are late is a trick. If the waiting time is beyond reasonable – 10-15 minutes – run or arrange a meeting on another day, in another territory, or refuse to cooperate at all. No need to convince yourself that this is normal. An adequate person will not be an hour late or an hour to fill out a contract with your data.

If possible, meet in a place and in such a way that you cannot be detected in advance. This way you will not give the scammers the opportunity to prepare. For example, if they make you wait, say that you are walking in another place and let them tell you the place where they will wait for you, not you.

Do not give too much information about yourself. For example, if you are asked to enter a car number, address, parking place, etc. This goes beyond the scope of everyday life and disgusts human relations, but it is better to let one normal person consider you crazy than to be deceived by a scammer.

Get ready to check the goods. First of all, answer yourself the question: what characteristics and verification methods will you use to be sure of your purchase? Find these ways, and if you can’t, then bring in an expert. It is better to pay 5,000 R for help than to lose 20,000 R on buying garbage.

/bezopasnost-uchebnik/

Course: how to protect yourself from scammers

During the check, ask not to be disturbed. Make a checklist and go through it. If something does not suit you, identify ways to resolve doubts or refuse to buy.

Pay by online transfer. There will always be an invoice, the purpose of the transfer, full name, phone number, and so on. Most likely, the money will not be returned, but after you contact the bank, they can block the account, conduct a check, and complicate the life of a fraudster. This is something that directly depends on you, and not in the power of the police, the janitor, the president.

Take a friend or girlfriend with you. It is always a view from the outside, some kind of third opinion or help. If something goes wrong, it’s also physical security.

The easier it is for you to refuse a purchase, the more difficult it is to deceive you. Don’t fixate on one offer, don’t make a decision here and now, and don’t give in to pressure. It is always an opportunity to bargain, identify a scheme of deceit and protect yourself from rash acts.

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Detailed analysis of laptop characteristics

More detailed analysis of laptop characteristics

The most popular screen form factor is 15.6 inches. Everything is very simple here: screen size and resolution (which we will talk about a little later) directly affect the comfort when working at a computer, as well as the health of our eyes. Therefore, it is not recommended to buy devices with a diagonal of less than 14 inches. It’s better to stick with the classic version of 15.6 inches or more, because we want our eyes to not get tired from the lessons, and our vision remains excellent!

Screen size

Display type and resolution

Today, a screen resolution of less than 1920 * 1080 (Full HD) is a marker that the screen is not of very high quality and it will be inconvenient to work behind it. The higher the resolution, the sharper the picture and the more elements can fit on the screen.

Screen matrix is also a very important parameter. At the moment, the most popular are TN + Film and IPS. The second type has better viewing angles, color reproduction, brightness, and, in principle, is a more modern option. And even more so, if we suddenly want to watch a video or a movie and the sun shines on the screen, then nothing will be visible at all on TN + Film, but on IPS everything will be bright and you can look at the screen from the side!

Processor

A very important component in a laptop is the choice of processor – the brain of our computer. It will not be possible to change it – everything is like in life, and the performance of the computer will depend on it. And we want to buy a laptop with a margin, so that it would be comfortable to work on it for 5, and 7, and 9 years. In a laptop, we consider processors of new series with the names:

• Core i3
• Core i5
• Core i7
• Ryzen 3
• Ryzen 5
• Ryzen 7

If the name of the processor contains the words Atom, Celeron, Athlon, then these laptops are safely bypassed.
It often happens that laptops cost the same, but they have different processors that are very different in performance. Therefore, the site has a rating of all laptop processors where they can be compared. The higher the processor is in the rating, the more productive it is. It is better not to consider processors below 400 places.

RAM

The next important parameter is RAM. Everything is simple here too: it is recommended not to consider models with less than 8 GB of RAM. 8 GB is a very comfortable amount of RAM. If the budget allows, you can buy a laptop with 16 GB, and then the supply of RAM will last for many years.

Now consider the requirements for the disk system. In the current realities, there are 2 types: hard drive (HHD) and solid state drive (SSD). An SSD is a more modern and productive option, and without it, a laptop with an HDD, even with a powerful processor and a large amount of RAM, is not immune to problems with system speed and responsiveness. Therefore, we definitely stop at the SSD. We want all our study projects to fit into our computer, so we take the most optimal and popular disk size – 256 GB. If you need to store something very large, then you can take 512 GB.

Integrated or discrete graphics card

If before, when choosing a laptop, preference was always given to a discrete graphics card, then in the current realities, processors have made a very big leap towards integrated graphics, and there is not much point in a discrete graphics card. Especially if we are considering a study and work laptop, and not a gaming one. The big plus is that a laptop with an integrated graphics card can be colder and quieter than a discrete one. After all, you don’t want to get burned on your laptop during a lesson, and sometimes your head can get sick from the noise! Therefore, an integrated graphics card with a modern processor is our choice.

Manufacturer

It is very important to understand here that laptop manufacturers (Lenovo, Acer, HP, Asus, Dell) are just some brands that work mostly on design, marketing, laptop packaging.