When to Buy a Laptop

Holiday and year-end sales can be extremely seductive. As of mid December, HP was offering $100 to $200 off its consumer laptops. Dell had cut up to $314 off its Inspiron models. And Circuit City was offering the Acer Aspire 4315-2490 for just $400.
But is this truly the best time to buy a laptop? Maybe, maybe not. Read on.
This Is as Good a Time as Any
Yes, the big-box stores and e-retailers do offer choice discounts this time of year. And if you need a fast, big tax deduction before 2007 is over,pavilion dv2000 battery , this is a good time to buy.
But the fact is, you can find laptop deals anytime. I can't recall a visit in recent years to the e-commerce sites for HP, Dell, and other laptop makers in which absolutely no laptops had been discounted.
The back-to-school period is another time you'll find attractive laptop sales. According to Men's Health's Tech Guide 2008, laptop prices are lowest on average in July, hp hstnn-lb31, August, and September.
Follow the Laptop Maker's Release Patterns
Another good time to find deals is when a laptop model is about to be, or has just been, replaced by a newer model. When this happens, stores and e-tailers want to get rid of existing inventory to make room for updated models. It's the same principle that savvy shoppers use when buying cars: Shop in late summer, hp ev088aa, when dealers are making room for the new models arriving in autumn.
But how can you know when a new or updated model is expected--particularly from notoriously tight-lipped vendors such as Apple,hp f4486b, who rarely announce products before they're available?
Many laptop makers introduce new models with at least some regularity. If you study the press releases in the computer maker's media archive, you may notice patterns. (A company's press releases are available to anyone online. You can often find them by clicking the About Us link on a company's home page, followed by Newsroom or Media Center, and so forth.)
What Does It All Mean?
Admittedly, reviewing a laptop maker's product introduction history provides only anecdotal information at best. And the best time to buy a laptop is when (a) your current laptop is simply too slow, inefficient,hp cgr-b1870ae , or is broken; (b) you have the money (or at least a sizable chunk of it); and (c) you know what you want.
As anyone who's bought a computer knows all too well, there's always something newer, faster, and cheaper on the horizon. If you're going to buy a computer,pavilion zd7000 battery , there's no way to avoid that kind of buyer's remorse.
But you may be able to time the market with a little homework. Before buying a specific laptop, try to determine when it was first announced or shipped. If it was more than, say, six months ago, you might want to hold off. Chances are, its successor is already waiting in the wings, pp2182d battery,hp 338794-001,hp pavilion dv8000 battery ,pavilion dv9000 battery and you may get a good deal on the laptop it will replace.