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Do You Want Best Buy Opening Your New Laptop?

Posted by timothy on from the no-you-do-not dept.

An anonymous reader writes "I went to Best Buy the other day to get a new laptop for a client. I didn't realize till I got it home that they had broken the seal and opened the box. They put a sticker on the box that said, 'Inspected by Best Buy.' I found they had created the user profile, recovery disks, and installed a trial of Trend Antivirus. Seems to me this is more of a marketing agenda than inspection."

9 of 543 comments (clear)

  1. Why.... by SpaceCadetTrav · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Would you buy from Best Buy?

    --
    Life in Orange County
    1. Re:Why.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Apparently some people do not live near a MicroCenter or Fry's. Go figure!

      dom

    2. Re:Why.... by MBGMorden · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Your first paragraph described why insurance policies must be a bad deal because they'e good for businesess.

      Your second paragraph then described that they can still be a good deal if you happen to need an insurance policy?

      Isn't that the business model of every frickin thing in the world? Somebody sells something at a profit because other people need it enough to satisfy that profit for the product they need?

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    3. Re:Why.... by arkhan_jg · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Perhaps you should have asked for their macbook PRO line.

      --
      Remember kids, it's all fun and games until someone commits wholesale galactic genocide.
  2. Return it by The+Yuckinator · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'd take it back and tell them it isn't new, then demand a heavy discount or an unopened/unstickered laptop. Better yet, I'd go somewhere else.

    While you're at it, take some time to wonder why you're buying a client's computer at Best Buy. Are you really doing your client a favour by getting them a machine with a return-to-depot-and-you-probably-won't-get-your-data-back warranty?

  3. Uhhh by bobdole2111 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This article is from 2009. Why is this now hitting the front page?

  4. Re:Restocking fee by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    try at best buy, buy at newegg.

  5. Re:Taco leaves and the place goes to Hell. by mkkohls · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Taco leaves and the place goes to Hell.

    Couldn't have said it better myself.

  6. Re:Restocking fee by PCM2 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I doubt they use cheaper parts. They're just models specific to their store so they don't have to price match because no other store carries those models. Even if the only difference between their model and someone else's is a single letter.

    No, he's right. "Cheaper parts" makes it sound like they're buying them from the back room of some storefront in Hong Kong, and that's not the case. But Best Buy's models are designed to be cheaper.

    Wal-Mart does the same thing. If you buy a Dickies jacket at a regular store, it might have a pocket on the inside front and inside left of the jacket. If you buy it at Wal-Mart, it might only have a pocket on the inside left, and the name of the product might be slightly different, but otherwise it looks the same and it will cost $10 less than anywhere else.

    I bought a laptop from Best Buy and as near as I can tell the main difference is that most versions of that model come with a Core i5, while mine came with a Core i3. I made the judgment call that for a price that was roughly equivalent to what I paid for a Eee PC 901 with a single-core Atom processor a few years ago, Core i3 vs. Core i5 simply was not going to make any difference for what I actually use a laptop for.

    --
    Breakfast served all day!