PC Deals: You Better Shop Around

A Buyer's Market

Best: A three-way tie

Worst: None

The good news: These days you can get an amazingly good deal on a PC. The bad news: It's hard to figure out which deal is really the best.

System specs vary from one model to the next, making apples-to-apples comparisons difficult. The cheapest PC we ended up purchasing was EMachines' EMonster 1000B, which we snagged from Buy.com for a hair under $1100, including the monitor. But it lacked the DVD-ROM drive, the storage space, and the graphics card we wanted, and it's not a brand we'd recommend.

Otherwise, the systems and prices were remarkably uniform, ranging from about $1400 to $1600 no matter where we bought them. The differences often came down to shipping charges and sales tax. Most of the online and phone vendors that we visited collect tax in only a few states. Shipping costs may vary depending on where you live and the items that come with the system; freight charges ranged from HP's thrifty $35 to the $125 charged by Gateway.

If you're looking at buying a widely available system such as HP's Pavilion 7855--which is available via phone, Web, and brick-and-mortar stores--you might save a few bucks on shipping by buying it from a nearby store. Just be careful where you do so: We found that the same Pavilion cost $1099 (without monitor) in every store we visited but at a Circuit City in the Chicago suburb of Downer's Grove, Illinois, where it went for $1299.

All the salespeople we asked say the stores will match prices for equivalent systems, so it pays to shop around. And remember to play hardball. When PC World Associate Editor Grace Aquino declined the extended warranty at CompUSA in San Francisco, her sales rep, Alain, sweetened the deal so much that she ended up receiving unadvertised discounts on the PC, the monitor, and the extended warranty.

We found large price differences between monitors. Models sold by HP and Compaq were often $100 to $200 more expensive than equivalent displays sold by NEC, Samsung, and ViewSonic.

Even if you buy the computer online, though, getting the monitor locally will save you money because you won't have to pay to ship that big, heavy item.

The moral? Before you hand over the plastic, stop and do the math.

The Warranty Factor

Best: Web and Phone

Worst: Retail

Even the best PC manufacturers sometimes build a lemon; your surest protection is a solid warranty and good support policies. These days, most PCs come with one year of coverage for parts and labor and 24-hour, seven-day phone support. Gateway has the best standard warranty--three years of parts and labor and one year of on-site service. Polywell also offers a generous warranty: Most parts are covered for a year, except for the hard drive and the monitor, which are guaranteed for three years; labor is covered for a whopping five years, and Polywell includes a year of on-site service.

If your PC vendor can't match that, then you might consider ponying up for an extended warranty. Again, Gateway offers one of the best deals: $99 for three years of on-site service and around-the-clock phone support. Many stores will fix your PC only if you bring it in (so-called depot service); some, like Best Buy, offer a choice: three years of on-site service for $200 or three years of depot service for $150. And depot service may have a gotcha: If the store doesn't have a service center on the premises (many don't), you could be without your PC for weeks while it's shipped to and from a regional service center.

Because retailers can reap big profits from extended warranties, some sales reps push them aggressively. Prices for plans are usually based on the cost of the PC, and the warranties often come in a confusing matrix of options, so it pays to take your time before deciding.

And be wary of slick sales maneuvers. At Circuit City in Wilmington, North Carolina, for example, sales dude Richard automatically added $270 to the bill for a four-year extended warranty (apparently hoping we wouldn't notice), then whined when we asked him to remove it.

But that's better than shopper Sofia Martinez's experience with Jason, a persistent salesman at a Best Buy in Austin. First he led her into the service center, where technicians were conducting an autopsy on a dead PC. "Anything you see there is not covered by the manufacturer's warranty," he intoned (which, incidentally, was not true). When Sofia refused--for the umpteenth time--he marked "NO service plan" on her sales form.

A few minutes later Jason pulled her out of the checkout line and offered $40 of free labor for a graphics card upgrade if she purchased an extended warranty. Once again she said no. The clerk at the checkout counter said, "You don't want the service plan?" And when she went to the service center to have the techs plug in the PC to make sure it worked, she got another sales pitch: "You know, manufacturers only give out one-year warranties for a reason...."

To borrow a line from a famous Texan: Read our lips.

Ultimately, whether to purchase an extended warranty depends on how good the manufacturer's standard warranty is, how long you plan to keep the PC, and how comfortable you are troubleshooting problems over the telephone. If you feel more secure bringing the computer to a service center, then a retail store's warranty is probably your best bet.

Refund Runaround

Best: None

Worst: Web and Phone

If you buy a system and change your mind later, it'll usually cost you, either in restocking fees (from 4 to 15 percent) or in shipping charges. Or, in Polywell's case, both--returning the PC cost us $467 (ouch!). At retail shops, we typically got our money back the same day, but with Web and phone vendors we had to wait weeks to get a refund. Dell was the worst, making us wait 30 days for our money. But some vendors will bend over backwards to get you to keep your PC, which can translate into a sweet deal.

A few retail outlets (such as CompUSA) didn't charge restocking fees even though their policies said they did; others tried to charge us when their policies said they didn't. For example, Best Buy charges restocking fees only for notebooks, not desktops. That was apparently news to the salespeople in Austin, who started to knock 15 percent off our refund until our shopper pointed to the sign posted above their heads with the policy clearly stated.

Some vendors quietly accepted our returns; others treated us like pariahs when we returned to the store. But nobody tried harder to keep our business than Gateway Country. When we called Gateway's customer service line, the clerk who answered made a half-hearted effort to get us to change our minds, then put us on hold. Five minutes later another clerk, Joseph, came on the line and asked what he could do to "help facilitate you keeping this system" and "address whatever needs you have in your life right now." Did we want to delay payments for a few months? Get a free printer or scanner? Knock $100 off the price? We said thanks, but no thanks. Okay, Joseph said, how about $300 off? Very tempting, we said, but no. Joseph put us back on hold. Four minutes later he returned with a final offer: $440 off the price--a 33 percent discount--if we kept it. Alas, we could not.

Equally astounding was Costco's return policy, which states you can return any item with a receipt at any time for a full refund. Refusing to believe this, we asked Costco clerks in three cities if this meant that we could buy a PC, use it for a year, then return it and get our money back. That's right, they all said, provided we returned it with all parts. (Yes, Virginia, apparently there is a Santa Claus.)

Some stores may be very resistant to returns. A mom-and-pop we visited in Chicago had no return policy at all. Joe at Chicago Cyber Exchange explained it this way: "If you walk out the door and drop the computer over some railroad tracks on your way home and something breaks ...you own a very awkward paperweight."

Tops in Shops

Best: Web

Worst: Retail

At this point it's no surprise that we think the Web is the way to shop. It's convenient, it's open all night, and it's free of annoying salespeople like Richard and Jason. If you want to gauge how sharp a monitor looks or how mushy a keyboard is, thorough research will also involve a trip to a retail store. And if you're uncomfortable sending your personal information over the Net or you just want to resolve any lingering questions with a real person before you put down your money, use the Web to research your options, and then pick up the phone. That way you have the best of all possible worlds.