Best Buy gears up for back to school crowds with Next Class-branded laptop series
By Ross Miller 
posted July 23rd 2009 1:21AM
posted July 23rd 2009 1:21AM
Read - Press release
Read - Next Class website
posted July 23rd 2009 1:21AM
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You don't get "raped" in stores. You choose what you want. If you buy all of those accessories, you made the choice to. I'm continually amazed by people who think that people make them buy things. They're salespeople, obviously they push and offer everything they can. You are still the consumer and therefore responsible. Get a grip and take ownership.
they're not that bad except...
the Toshiba has a Pentium processor
the HP has a battery that sticks out half an inch
the Dell doesnt have a disc drive
the Sony one is $799 because its Sony
right now if you are a student with a valid student id you get a free 8Gb iPod touch instantly when you buy a mac notebook at best buy, no mail in rebate nonsense
Yeah... Best Buy is really scraping the bottom of the barrel to find something to put on their Back-to-School website.
@Cesar
"the Sony one is $799 because its Sony"
And the Apple is $___ because it's Apple. What are you trying to say? You can insert another underscore there if you wanna go to four digits.
I have an iMac, too, don't get me wrong, but Apple isn't without its Apple Tax, either.
MeowR-, I don't get your point. You and Cesar both agree that Sony comes with its own premium (as it freely admitted). I'm not sure why you mentioned Apple. I assume you may have hinting at the fact that Sony isn't alone in its price-gouging. Both companies' doing it doesn't make it acceptable.
I was in Best Buy this afternoon because I'm looking for a new laptop and I'm not entirely sure what I want at this point (absolutely no intention of actually buying it there, just getting a feel) and there was a crowd of computer-illiterate parents and their slightly-more-computer-literate kids shopping and I wanted to punch them, and the sales reps in the face.
That said, that dv4 doesn't look half bad. Although outside of the >1000 range, I can't find ANY laptops with discrete graphics in stores. Since 99% of the problems I've had with my current one stem from it's horrible integrated chip, that is my single biggest requirement on a new one.
ugh man I haaate those sales reps talking to the stupid parents. The reps sound like idiots and the parents act like idiots by paying like 30% more for crap they don't need.
You must not be looking hard enough, Best Buy has plenty of sub 1000 notebook computers with discrete graphics cards.
Yep, we're all idiots who senselessly push product onto people who don't need it. All 162,000 of us. Seriously, i recognize that there are some weaklings among our associates, but I hate listening to people lump the entire company into one group of morons when that really isn't the case.
I rather have a Staples Easy Button.
I always find it amazing that none of these companies advertise tablet PCs for back-to-school. A tablet with OneNote would've solved a ton of my problems when I was in college. And that was only a few years back, so it's not like they didn't exist at the time. It's just I, like most everyone else, hadn't heard of them at the time. But put one (not the horrible HP tx line either) out front and center for a back-to-school display, and have an example notebook from a student on display in OneNote, and I guarantee there'd be a lot more people buying them.
the HP tx2 with OneNote is the ONLY tablet Best Buy sells
I wasn't specifically referring to BestBuy, but any of the stores like this in general, but I didn't realize that was the only one they carry, I figured maybe a Toshiba model as well or something.
I suppose even the tx2 would work in such a situation, but I don't really think a heavy and hot tablet is really the best for a student, that's the main reason I say it should be a different one put on display.
isn't it just cheaper and better to buy an HP or DELL directly using all of those coupons they always offer, download openoffice and avira/avg/avast, and do a clean install of Windows Vista (and of course a clean install of 7 when you get your free upgrade disc)?
Obviously buying a computer that doesn't include MS Office and Anti-Virus is going to be cheaper then these Next Class laptops that do have it included.
it's a little old. they use to have more configurations but its still pretty good. newegg's stock of these always seems to run out quickly.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220519
Bah (waves hand) I picked up a Lenovo Thinkpad T400 on discount for 760 shipped (687 w/o tax). It has Centrino 2 + 3GB DDR3 . Granted, I did sacrifice some things for my need for speed, but all in all, it's not bad - it'll blow these posers out of the water.
@ MeowR-
with a mac you'll at least have less software issues, a better build quality, and better support when you call them on the phone and its someone in the US on the other line or you can just take it to an apple store
If I'm reading this correctly, on the details page of the 4 laptops, all of the laptops EXCEPT the Dell come with sucky integrated graphics.
Yet the Dell comes with a Geforce 9400. but its the only one with NO optical drive!
Wow, fail on their part -Best Buy that is- for the million college kids that want to play a decent game made in the last couple years.
These laptops aren't for PC gamers. Most students who game will be doing one of two things: playing WoW on a PC, or playing an FPS on a console. That's not to say that some of us don't play graphically intensive games, but most don't, and they'll never need or want dedicated graphics.
But yes, these are some pretty crappy laptops, and I'm sure BestBuy picked them so customers would come back in looking for solutions to the problems they find with them. "Oh, you need an optical drive so you can watch your DVDs? Here's an external optical drive."
That's not even a great card. On Newegg, you can get an 18.5" Acer with a slightly better video card and twice the RAM for $799.
Apple is by NO means anywhere near number 1 in terms of popularity, not even close.
http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/07/16/apple-drops-to-5th-position-in-us-computer-sales
In the US, based on 2Q sales numbers, Apple only hold a 7.6% marketshare.
Worldwide it's even LESS than that.
PC latops absolutely CRUSH Apple in terms of marketshare and "popularity", so much so that it's not even a point of contention.
Read it again and weep Apple fanboys:
http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/07/16/apple-drops-to-5th-position-in-us-computer-sales
Seriously, don't delude yourselves.
LOL @ expecting people to read it twice.
Apple's over glossy glass screens aren't good for the classroom, or any room with light for that matter. Maybe Cave U, but that's another story. T400s baby! Nuff said.
Integrated graphics fail automatically. Personally, I'm buying this since I don't really care about refurbished stuff.
http://www.jr.com/asus/pe/ASU_G50VTX5_hy_RB/?JRSource=twitter
If you are on such a budget, you might as well get a used laptop which will have better specs on it for the same price. Of course, in my university experience, the majority of students that had the newest stuff were 'whitebread' kids who had their parents pay for everything. And generally, they couldn't care less where they buy their stuff from. As long as the advertisement that comes in the newspaper is glossy enough (or TV jingle is catchy enough), they'll shop at that big-box store.
I remember my 'whitebread' dorm roomate bought a brand new computer (with surround sound speakers). Two months later, it got very slow/noisy and he was often frustrated with it. He used to mutter: "what the Hell! I bought this computer at Best Buy!" In my head (I didn't tell him, of course) I thought: Of course! It doesn't matter where you buy from, the computer you bought is still crap.
Oh, and the speakers buzzed like crazy!
Moral of the story: The target consumer for these kind of laptops are 1) "whitebread" parents who are able to throw money around just to make Junior shut up. 2) consumers who like to feel safe and cuddled by shopping at a big-box store. 3) people who have no other clue what they're doing or shopping for. At university, often, it's all of the above.
The tech savvy student, who knows what he wants, would never buy at big-box store. If he's rich, he'll get a Dell XPS or an Alienware to wow his buddies. If he's not, he'll get a decent, solid, desktop.
The smart, less wealthy student, might probably just buy a used laptop only if his program requires it--or do his homework at the computer lab at school when he needs to.
The rest just go to Best Buy.
I, personally, would never buy a used laptop. Not because I'm "whitebread" or "wealthy", but because I don't want to deal with a laptop with a history I don't know or a warranty that is either expired/expiring or non-transferable. Instead, I buy a computer that I foresee being able to use for at least three-four years, and hold as a backup for a few after that. I've never bought a computer that had a usable life-span of less then six years. When I replace my current laptop, I'll recycle my current backup, and my current laptop will become my backup.
I know, I know, "You'd buy a used car, wouldn't you?" Yes, I would, because I can personally service all parts an a used car for less then buying a new one. However, when it comes to replacing anything but the HDD, optical drive, and RAM on most laptops, you're looking at highly overpriced parts that simply aren't made with user serviceability in mind. The second I have to replace a laptop motherboard on a computer that is two years old, the second it would have made more sense to buy new.
I'd actually tell most, not all, but most, students who don't play games, who don't do video editing, who have a point and shoot camera, and who have access to a desktop to look at the (can't believe I'm gonna say this) Dell Mini line-up. For $199 bucks, they'll have a laptop that will run office, store their pictures, browse the net, and listen to music. Honestly, most students don't game on PCs, they don't do video editing, and they aren't going into a field that requires a heavy hitting computer.
Now, if the student is tech savvy, is an engineering or science major, or a PC gamer, it wouldn't make any sense for them to go with it, but for students that don't do any of those things, they save themselves $400-1000 and they end up using it for the same thing all their friends use their laptops for.
A Dell mini 9 with 2 gigs RAM and OSX for 300 dollars, adaptable typing strategy = Cheap, fast and portable.
NEXT? and Marketed to Colleges... Does Steve Job approve of such obvious usage?
I bought a laptop a few months ago.
Wow there is so much bitterness in this thread haha. People making huge generalizations and statements about other people as a result of jealousy. Holy shit
"Students spoke, we listened"
I applaud their attempts to give me comment fodder by using run-on sentences while promoting products for students.
Maybe instead of bashing Best Buy all the time. Lets bash Wal-Mart for selling junk computers as well. How about we bash the manufacturers for making the shitty computers in the first place and then maybe bash the pc component manufacturers for making shitty parts. Best Buy isn't much different then any other big company out there. They're in it for the money. Best Buy sells shitty computers so what. Intel still makes shitty low end processors to be used in the shitty computers. The geek squad is ridiculous with their prices, but many people have no choice since they don't know anyone that is good with computers. Most little computer repair shops are just trouble in my own opinion. There was a news story in the UK earlier this month that talked about how these little shops can be bad news.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Sky-News-Undercover-Laptop-Investigation-Repair-Shops-Caught-Hacking-Into-Personal-Files/Article/200907315343387?lpos=UK_News_News_Your_Way_Region_2&lid=NewsYourWay_ARTICLE_15343387_Sky_News_Undercover_Laptop_Inves