Do you buy laptop from the manufacturer or from a vendor?

For me, I have owned total two laptops so far.
The first one was a Dell Vostro 1500. I bought it off Dell's official website. It gave me the options to select specific hardware and even software according to my need.

My second laptop is a Microsoft Surface Pro 4. I bought it from Microsoft store (online). It also gave me a few options to pick what CPU, RAM, and hard drive.

Anyway, so I bought both of my laptops from the manufacturers directly. I know some third party vendors like Amazon and Newegg also sell these products are low prices. But I liked the options to pick the hardware, and direct warranty.

What about you guys?

 

I have have always bought from a vendor, simply because it was the only option and therefore the most convenient one I bought my first laptop at Office Depot, the second one at Walmart. The one I got at Walmart was waaaaaaaay cheaper than the one I bought at Office Depot. But that is not surprise because that was 8 years ago, back then laptpos were still so expensive over here.

 

I've always bought mine from Littlewoods online, I like the convenience of being able to compare different makes and prices and to be honest I'm too lazy to do any real research.

 

I am buying my next one direct from a vendor that deals with new rigs inexpensively and having it modified from there. The whole thing out the door will be way less than usual even with a little bit of tech time, and I don't need anything crazy, just a better graphics card.

 

In the recent decades (when I was promoted to a section head) I was privileged to buy from our vendor with the same discounts given to our company. Take note that our company buys by the thousands of units of laptops and desktops so you can imagine the big discount in prices. Right now, we have quotations from those computer vendors since we are in the course of purchasing a desktop. But then my husband has been having second thoughts. It would be a space problem, what to do with the old desktop? So it looks like we are back to the evaluation board between a laptop and desktop.

 

Well, up until recently I had never actually bought a brand new computer. Most of the computers I've had have been second hand. Up until recently I think the only new computers that I ever had were as a child or teenagers and computers were very different back then. However, recently I bought a brand new laptop. I didn't buy it from the vendor, I bought it in person from Currys PC World. In fact, I just went to the manufacturer website out of curiosity to do a search for it and it's not listed on there.

 

I don't live in the countries where laptops are manufactured. Because of country's financial laws, I cannot buy electronic devices online. Thus I have never bought laptops from manufacturer. I have always bought laptops from vendor. However, I always buy laptop from the official dealer.

 

I did not mean the factory that manufacture the laptops. When I said the manufacturer, I meant the company who designed it, and the laptop carries their brand name. Such as, when you buy a Dell computer directly from Dell's web site; buy a HP laptop directly from HP's official web site; buy a Surface Pro from Microsoft's web site... etc.

When you mentioned "Official Deal"... what do you mean? There are more than a few big named dealers/vendors who sell computers from all kinds of brands. Do you mean one of them?

 

From a vendor, I don't think I could by a laptop from the manufacturer, unless I'd buy it in bulk for a company or something. I've actually never heard from anyone who bought a laptop from a manufacturer.

 

Then I guess you haven't actually read my first post beyond the topic title.

In my first post, I have clearly pointed the brand name on the laptop as the "manufacturer". So if you directly buy your laptops from them (either from their own retail stores, or from their official web site), as oppose to buy from some retailers, you are buying from the manufacturers.

I have even stated this in multiple posts.
e.g. Buy a Macbook from Apple; Buy a Surface Pro from Microsoft; Buy a HP laptop from HP; Buy a Lenovo from Lenovo... it is all considered as buying from the manufacturer.
Otherwise why would these products all have a "manufacturer warranty" ? These warranty are certainly from Apple, Microsoft, HP, Lenovo... instead of from Foxconn or other actual factory. Some of these brand companies have their own factories.

 

I bought both of my laptop from the vendor! One was bought from BestBuy, and the other one from Walmart when they had the sales for back to school! The price from the vendor is more affordable for me.

 

Guys and girls,
I do not understand why some of you are saying it is inconvenient to buy from the official channel (manufacturers).

For example,
If you want a Macbook, isn't the most official place to buy is the Apple Store? Either a local Apple store, or go to apple.com.
If you want a Surface Pro, isn't it the convenient enough to buy it from Microsoftstore.com ?
The same goes for Dell.com etc.

Buying from the manufacturers can ensure you get the official warranty and the real brand new products. You can also customize the hardware in some cases.

How is it inconvenient?

I know sometimes you buy it from a third party vendor such as Amazon, they have the same price tag as the official channel. But it is not really more convenient.

 

I've only purchased my machines from retailers and not direct from the company. That might be something I look into, though. I'm in the market for a new laptop and being able to custom-build my order is attractive. I don't really need a new hard drive, so if I could cut that out that would save me some coin.

 

I have a Dell laptop and i bought it from a vendor. Maybe if i'm to buy a laptop in the future, i'll consider buying it straight from the manufacturer. Perhaps there are more options and maybe i could get a discount or something. lol

 

I bought the one I'm using at a store. I bought my wife's through an eBay auction from a reputable seller.The last computer I bought online a desktop in the year 2000. I prefer to build them myself.

 

I bought mine from a vendor. Very often vendors can strike deals with the manufacturer and offer better deals. I have seen on more then one occasion the recommended price of the manufacturer was higher then that asked for in my local store. What also plays a big roll is transport, it can be very expensive and be deal breaker.

 

My last two laptops were bought through a vendor and not directly from the manufacturer, but that wasn't specially because of the manufacturer but due to the fact that they took much longer to deliver.

 

I bought my laptop from an authorized dealer. It was sold under 0%, 12 monthly payments scheme with a free printer. I bought it and took it home on the same hour. I don't think I can do that if I bought ditectly from the brand's website. The warranty of the authorized dealer starts from the day of purchase up to a year or two depending on the brand. I'm quite careful about buying from authotized dealer vs. reseller because of the warranty part. From my experience with a printer, the reseller's warranty from the computer company starts from the day it was purchased by the reseller, and not on the day of the consumer's purchase. The reseller will still be liable for the period not covered by computer company's warranty but repairs will be in house.

 

I always pick up laptops from the vendor because it's so much easier than going directly to a manufacturer and having to sign a lot of paperwork. Why would you go through so much trouble? I imagine the only perks are that you can get it for cheaper and maybe the warranty that comes directly from them. Most of the time they lack stock though.

 

I usually buy electronics from franchises of large corporates. These are in a position to be trustworthy in terms of quality assurance and also give warranties. Those who buy from companies directly are actually into wholesale business. Purchasing online is the best way to go since one can purchase individual pieces with all the benefits accruing.