I am looking for a PC at the moment, my current one is about 3 1/2 years old and it is about time I upgraded.
My wife and I looked round several stores and eventually decided that Best Buy had a good deal. How could we be so niaive.
We spoke to a sales person and he told us all the good things about an e-machine and how much good stuff it came with etc. It all sounded good, but then he tried to sell us the extended service plan. My wife and I had talked about this earlier and decided that we did not want to but any extended service plan. We told the guy no. Then he proceeded to list all the things which could go wrong with the machine and the problems with fixing it. We still said no, several more times.
We took our chosen PC to the sales desk and started processing the sale only to be asked by another sales person if we wanted the extended service plan. We politely refused. He told us how all the parts were expensive to replace and that they we all attached to the mother board so we would have to scrap the machine if it broke because it would be too expensive to fix. I was skeptical, so we said no, again. He kept pushing until my wife finally said NO, she told him we had been asked seven or eight times and would they please stop asking, we did not want it. He rang up the sale but for some reason it would not accept our debit card (there must be a daily limit as we had already boufght a freezer earlier in the day). We decided to leave it at that and look again some other time.
To top off a bad shopping experience, we left the store and went shopping somewhere else only to discover that the moron had forgotten to give me back my driver’s licence.
Best Buy my arse.
I don’t think we will be going back there anytime soon.
I’m much calmer now, or this rant would have more bite to it.
Find a small local dealer that builds boxes to your own specs. The knowledge and quality of service is likely to far exceed that of any big box store. Prices will be better, as well.
Failing that, give Dell a shot. My brother has one and has been very satisfied with the product and service.
Yikes, don’t get an emachine! I’d think that after all the dire warnings you’d had from Best Buy employees about how hard it would be to fix, that you’d want a different machine! My gosh—I’d have said, “Sorry, I’ve changed my mind. After all your warnings about how difficult this machine is to fix, I think I’ll get something else.”
I used to have an “all-in-one” iMac, but it came with a warranty (Applecare) which meant that Apple would fix it if something went wrong with it. I sold it before Applecare ran out (and I could have renewed Applecare if I’d kept it). Never had any problems, though. Why buy BestBuy’s plan if the computer comes with a decent warranty of its own?
(I have a G4 tower now, which is presumably easier to fix and upgrade. I decided I wanted to migrate away from all-in-one designs, specifically because of the upgrade/repair difficulties they have.)
I second Hodge’s idea of getting a local shop to build your PC. My Windows-based PC was built locally, to my specs. (Not that I know a lot, but I was able to choose the motherboard type, RAM, HD, describe what I wanted the machine for, etc. etc.) The local shop had their own warranty, and I did avail myself of it once. It was nice to have that local customer support. (Alas, that shop eventually went out of business, but there are other local shops that are doing well.)
I had an e-Machine at one time; one thing they didn’t mention about many pieces being built into the motherboard is that it’s really hard to upgrade them. In some cases you can switch a jumper on the board or something and add a new sound/video card, but in other cases that won’t work (I was completely unable to get a new video card to work and I’ve done upgrades on computers quite a bit). So instead of buying a new video card when it’s a bit too sluggish to play your favorite game, suddenly it’s a choice between dealing with it and getting a whole new computer.
What I did last time I needed a computer was hit Dell’s website and looked through the refurbished computer section. The ‘turn-over’ rate of new computers being offered and computers being bought is fast, so I just sat there for a few hours and watched new computers come up on the list, reserving one at a time and dropping ones I didn’t like as better ones came up. I finally got a wonderful deal on a great computer, including a 3-year service plan, for pretty close to what an e-Machine would have cost me. I’ve had it for a few months now, and have absolutely no problems with it. It came with sealed software and everything, no signs of it having been a used system. It’s very current (Pentium 4 and other high-end hardware) as well.
If cost is an issue, check the refurbished options at the major manufacturers (I’m pretty sure Gateway and IBM, among others, have similar offers) and see what you can find.
Yeah, unless they go out of business about two weeks before your PC smokes out, as happened to a friend of mine. Thanks, I’ll buy a name brand so that I have some more security than Bob’s Discount Puters, Guns, and Golf Clubs.
Thanks for all the responses guys. Brynda’s first machine was actually a refurbished machine and it has server her really well.
The guy didn’t tell us about all the problems until he had rung everything up and he was working us on the extended service angle again.
Thanks for the heads up on e-machines too. Any other brands to steer clear of or to definitely look into? I have heard Gateway are not the best, but the one Brynda has is a Gateway and it is ok.
Good point. Allow me to rephrase: Find a small reputable local dealer. There’s a happy medium between the giganto electronics stores and hole-in-the-wall, fly-by-night outfits. In my area we have a couple of small, but well respected dealers that have been steadily growing their businesses for over 5 years now.
I have an emachines. It works fine for what it is, a cheap computer. I paid $150 for mine after rebate. It was an open box buy at Circuit City. I’ve upgraded the memory, but other than that it works perfectly well for my needs. If I get another 2 years of use out of it, I will have gotten my money’s worth.