Is buying a laptop from pc world a bad move?

[bristolseagull]

Is it as stupid as buying a bike from halfords? (which funnily enough I did last Christmas- with no problems I might add)

I need a new laptop and they have some pretty decent deals. What's their aftercare like? Should I go elsewhere?

 

[Fungus]

Argos can have good deals if you know what you want from the High Street (or out-of-town retail park).

Aren't they owned by the same group as PCW?

 

[Cian]

Aren't they owned by the same group as PCW?

No. Argos+homebase+home store&more are the same; PCW+Currys are the same. Both big groups but separate ones.

PCW is fine if you already know what you want and you want to get it now rather than waiting. Got a decent deal off them (a UK branch) a while back. Don't buy the antivirus, don't buy the Office suite, don't buy the aftersales service, etc. They can't force you to.

 

[StonehamPark]

You will find the same laptop online for cheaper however the simplicity in walking into your local PC World for help/repair is a hell of a lot easier than sending your laptop off in the post to a warehouse in Accrington.
Edit: Despite the price tag on hardware in PC World, prices are negotiable.

 

[Carrot Cruncher]

I tried to buy one from them for home delivery. It took nearly a week for them to decide it was permanently out of stock. They may do a job (Halfords is an excellent analogy), but I regard them as a useless bunch of monkeys.

I shopped around, ended up at Amazon and got what I thought is an excellent deal. I checked on PC world website for the same model and the only one they had was the model down for more money, but apparently 'saving £280'. I reckon this was bollocks.

Don't use them is my advice.

 

[Cian]

Edit: Despite the price tag on hardware in PC World, prices are negotiable.

Forgot to mention that in my post, got a (small) amount off the sticker price on my one; it was already marked down significantly as it was the display unit. So negotiate, and if you do buy any of the crap they offer you probably have even more room to push.

 

[severnside gull]

I bought a Dell off them some years back and found that they had no software support included in the aftercare package so I had to trash the hard drive deliberately which they promptly replaced with full new hardware. Laptop lasted twice as long as a result but the lack of service and the couldn't give a f*** attitude means I have never gone back.

 

[GreersElbow]

Check CCLonline.com or Play.com

CCLonline is really good, as it deals specifically with gaming PCs/laptops, so their customer support is top notch even if you don't purchase a gaming specific laptop.

 

[Fungus]

What's their aftercare like? Should I go elsewhere?

Have heard poor stories about PCW after-care, but it shouldn't be an issue with a laptop - if it's dead on arrival or packs up soon after, get a refund. Otherwise, it should live until it's obsolete!

 

[beorhthelm]

no. at the end of the day you are buying the same thing as anywhere else. if the price works for you (you might accept a premium for convienece of the hig street), then go ahead. i've seen some cracking deals on the managers specials over the years.

i'd be more wary of the "insurance". often very expensive and the manufacturer will cover any problems for a year. rule of thumb with IT kit is it will fail in the first few days or in many years time. (expect batteries. they seem to die pretty randomly, though i think thats down to different charge/discharge cycles)

 

[StonehamPark]

What's their aftercare like? Should I go elsewhere?

If it's dead on arrival or packs up soon after, get a refund. Otherwise, it should live until it's obsolete!

Definitely. I think emphasis and priority should be on quality hardware rather than which company will offer the best repair and help service.
I've bought 2 HP laptops in the last 4 years, both been around the world and battered harder than a dodgy chip shop piece of cod. Still living to tell the tale with multiple keys missing and a few dents all over.
I wouldn't recommend anything other than HP personally.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

I was 'invited' to leave PCW a few years ago when looking at a Dell laptop.

Someone else was looking at a similar laptop and the sales person was telling them how much they needed to buy the aftersales package. They took offence after I pointed out to the other buyer that Dell did a full three year home warranty for a third of the cost of the aftercare package they were trying to sell him. They told me I didn't know what I was talking about so when I pointed out my experience as an IT professional and said that they were ripping off innocent people. At that point the security guard was called off of his podium and I was asked to leave.

 

[Seagull over Canaryland]

Had some software glitches on a Dell Studio laptop bought about 3 years ago from PCW and their in-store techies sorted these no probs. Generally the Dell has performed ok and we subsequently bought a Dell Inspiron as well.

However when a more serious prob occurred with the Dell Studio it had to be sent to their centralised support centre at which point a protracted saga lasting several weeks occured. The repair process took about 10 days but the main problem was them repeatedly cocking up the return delivery address resulting a two week delay in its return and the laptop travelling several hundred miles more than necessary. The repair was covered by the PCW insurance but wasn't really what we consider acceptable customer service.

Following this we decided to take our chances and cancelled our insurance cover for both laptops (now 3 yrs and 18 months old respectively) and are saving ourselves about £200 p.a. which is a decent chunk towards a replacement if we need it. Don't think I would bother with insurance policies once the initial warranty has expired.

 

[timco]

As others have said no if they are the cheapest for what you want, do your research, work out what you want, what laptop fits this bill as best you can then buy from the cheapest place.

Customer service in the UK is generally shit regardless of where you buy and there are a few knowledgeable PCW workers, after all if they work their long enough something must rub off on them eventually.

There are even some seagull supporters who work there and one of them is on FB

 

[ofco8]

Have bought all my PCs and current Compaq lap top from PC World. Not had any problems with their service and have managed to sort out any glitches over the phone.

Always found prices reasonable to, except software which I buy elsewhere.

 

[Itman-dan]

I had a customer last year phone up with their laptop asking if I could have a look at it as it was making a wierd sound. Turns out they had taken it to pc world to get fixed and the "experts" forgot to screw down the motherboard. Moral Of the story. Buying computers and laptops from them fine just don't trust their aftercare.

 

[del_boy]

Bad idea shop around and compare spec's

 

[grawhite]

Try Novatech, based in Portsmouth, Cardiff or Reading. Buy all my pc parts and 3 laptops from them. Great after sales, have used pc world in emergencies, other than that I wouldn't bother.
PC Components, Desktop PCs, Laptops, LCD TVs Computer Hardware

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I was 'invited' to leave PCW a few years ago when looking at a Dell laptop.

Someone else was looking at a similar laptop and the sales person was telling them how much they needed to buy the aftersales package. They took offence after I pointed out to the other buyer that Dell did a full three year home warranty for a third of the cost of the aftercare package they were trying to sell him. They told me I didn't know what I was talking about so when I pointed out my experience as an IT professional and said that they were ripping off innocent people. At that point the security guard was called off of his podium and I was asked to leave.

Good work my friend!

 

[stss30]

I was 'invited' to leave PCW a few years ago when looking at a Dell laptop.

Someone else was looking at a similar laptop and the sales person was telling them how much they needed to buy the aftersales package. They took offence after I pointed out to the other buyer that Dell did a full three year home warranty for a third of the cost of the aftercare package they were trying to sell him. They told me I didn't know what I was talking about so when I pointed out my experience as an IT professional and said that they were ripping off innocent people. At that point the security guard was called off of his podium and I was asked to leave.

Classic.