   Would you buy a laptop online?
  I'd be happy to buy a desktop without seeing it first, as I am concerned about the spec more than the size and appearance. But with a laptop, I want to know how the keyboard feels, how heavy it is, if it generally feels solid, etc. I know some of this you can find online but I can't really visualise what a 5lb laptop with a 14.2" screen would be!Are other people equally picky, and this is an area where physical shops can still have an advantage over online stores?   
  I bought my Asus G1 online without ever seeing one in person. One thing that can help is to go to a Best Buy or Circuit City and feel the weight and get a feel for the screen and keyboard of similar models. Once you know the weight and screen size you want, just look for that online. Part of the problem I had was Best Buy was the only place locally I could buy a laptop. I wasn't about to pay their ridiculous markup so online was the only option I considered.   ;  I've bought several laptops online, and never really had any issue with it. Overall, things like hardware specs and general price point are far more important to me than things like keyboard feel; my fingers can adapt to various keyboards, but if I need a certain amount of horsepower to do a job, I can't forego that power just to get a nicer tactile response from a different machine.I do agree that it can help to look at a handful of models in a shop first, especially to get a feel for screen sizes and such. Past that, though, a lot of laptop purchasing comes down to just picking reliable brands.   ;  As you are in the UK ( I do not know about other countries) then most definitely yes. You have far more rights as an online buyer than someone who walks into a shop and buys something, due to the distant selling regulations. Go window shopping for the model you want then buy online.   ;  If, and only if, there is a 100% "no dead pixel" policy.  Otherwise no.I know roughly the screen size and weight that I like, so I'm not very hesitant to purchase online for those reasons.   ;  For those UK members, I have a question. Is it possible to get a decent laptop for under £400? I will NOT be playing games on it, except maybe some dumb Flash games. I will use it for typing, UML designing and maybe some coding... but not running any performance-critical code, and maybe the odd DVD. That to me seems pretty low-power and I'm more interested in a big screen, reasonable build quality, not getting some tiny unusable keyboard, an OK battery life, etc.Is this achievable?   ;  I just hunted around for one in the right price range with a good (non-integrated) video card, good processor, widescreen display, wifi, etc.I ended up with a solid asus which, despite a laughable battery life, is pretty f.ing awesome   ;Quote:Original post by tstrimpI bought my Asus G1 online without ever seeing one in person.Ditto.   ;Quote:Original post by d000hgFor those UK members, I have a question. Is it possible to get a decent laptop for under £400? I will NOT be playing games on it, except maybe some dumb Flash games. I will use it for typing, UML designing and maybe some coding... but not running any performance-critical code, and maybe the odd DVD. That to me seems pretty low-power and I'm more interested in a big screen, reasonable build quality, not getting some tiny unusable keyboard, an OK battery life, etc.Is this achievable?Yes, Dell haqve a number of laptops around that price.   ;  I've been doing this for 10 years and I have yet to have a laptop arrive in one piece. I do believe they sell the well built ones over the counter and the broken ones over the net, since people are less likely to take it back if they got it on the net."Customers who bought this also bought Duct Tape"   