Laptop buying advice forum: Ideapad Y710 -- a good deal? A 3-yr warranty?

That 3 year warranty is worth as much as the entire machine?

Do you get a Windows 7 coupon or such? If so, I'm envious.

Just sharing. My wife's desktop has some ATI 2400 PCIe card and it's very nice. Yes they slow down the laptop video solutions but your choice has the next step up GPU so everything looks nice.

Have you or him owned a 17 inch laptop before? They are not that great for travel in my opinion.
Bob

you Windows 7. You have to go to the laptop manufacturers web site and signup for it. The also will need docs of serial number and copy of invoice(proof of purchase). I just did one at the HP site.

Now my boyfriend's dad is sending us a couple more options. I need to humor him, and it may be that these computers would be a better choice. I'm not knowledgeable enough to do accurate comparisons.

What do you think about a refurb laptop from Tiger Direct?
Here are the specs for the Gateway for $550.
Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 2GHz, 4GB DRR2, 320GB HDD, DVDRW, 16 WXGA, Vista Home Premium 64-bit, Red
Limited warranty 3 months for parts and 3 months for labor.
Optional 2 yr Warranty for $170 -- "BWG Product Replacement Plan, For Refurbished Laptops and most products under $500, if your product fails to operate properly for any covered reason you will receive a new or remanufactured product of like kind and quality or a Gift Card for the original purchase price of the product, excluding shipping, handling and taxes. A onetime shipping charge may apply."

The other notebook is on Ebay. It's a "new, sealed box" HP Pavilion for $540.
Specs:
Microprocessor 2.00 GHz Intel Pentium Dual-Core Mobile
Processor T4200
Microprocessor Cache 1MB L2 Cache
Memory 3072MB
Memory Max 4096MB
Video Graphics Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M
Video Memory Up to 1309MB
Hard Drive 320GB (5400RPM)
Multimedia Drive LightScribe 8X DVDR/RW w/ Dbl. Layer Support
Display 16.0" Diagonal High Def HP BrightView Display
Fax/Modem High speed 56k modem
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN
Wireless Connectivity * 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN
Warranty: $99 - 3 yrs parts and labor from SquareTrade.
Thanks fo much for your help!

I need ammo to convince the boyfriend. He's leery about spending the money on the Lenovo, but I still think that's the more quality machine.

The also own CompUSA which was purchased in the past 2 years. They just recently bought the brand name Circuit City and have restored the Circuit City website. They also own Misco and Global Industrial equipment. When they purchased Compusa they purchased the retail stores they wanted individually. The majority of the retail outlets are in Florida which is nice since I live i Florida. It's also a nice way to test the products before you buy.

on the laptop. I would look at the warranty. If the OEM/manufacturer is willing to warranty the product then it should last under normal wear and tear should be a good sign of their faith in the product.

If they will not tell you who did the refurb, DON'T BUY.

I have found geeks dot com gets their refurbs (so far!!) from each maker. So a Sony gets refurb by Sony, HP by HP and so on. I've had no problems and in fact the refurbs marked as refurb and "A" condition have been superior to new units in they usually have all the bug fixes etc.

But unless the sellers reveal who did the refurb it could be some lacky in the back room with windex, endust and a shrink wrap machine!
Bob

Thanks for all the help and advice! We went ahead and purchased the Lenovo IdeaPad, but the bf decided that a 15.6" screen was enough for him, so we paid about $200 less. Not bad!