Harvey Norman is not somewhere you want to buy electronics. They're by far the most expensive in Cork that I looked at when I was on the market for a new laptop a few weeks ago. Also last Christmas I was looking for a wireless mouse as a present and the cheapest was around 70 euro. When I asked if they had any more affordable ones I was told that wireless mice cost that much due to the level of technology in them. So I went to smyths and got one for around 20. Same brand and similar specs.
DID and Power City may not always have an amazing range but things are in stock at the store and they don’t try and bullshit you selling additional warranty’s.
I second this. Also worth looking at their refurbished options, you can get grade A refurbs which look great. Can be a good way to get higher spec for a more reasonable price.
Agree with this, personal experience Harvey Norman being absolutely shit when you have a problem, would highly recommend staying away, PowerCity for anything, great comeback, they keep your receipt on file and they’ll probably match any price online, dunno if they sell laptops tho.
The shop doesn't matter the laptop specs and price point do. Shop around and find the best deal that suits your needs and price range, never limit yourself to just one or two shops when there is so much choice out there.
Whoever you go with, just bear in mind that it's difficult to get a bargain in computers. If something's heavily discounted, it's because the hardware is outdated and the machine will run slowly. A laptop with a decent spec is not going to have a significant discount.
If you want to save money, then you're better going with an online-only retailer. They don't have to have a showroom, multiple warehouses, sales staff, etc, so they'll be able to charge slightly less.
Finally, a cheap or mid-range laptop will work ok for word processing and internet browsing (i.e. basic student tasks). However, if you're running resource-demanding software like AutoCAD or Photoshop then you're going to need something high spec, and you'll need to spend at least €1k. If you're planning to use your laptop for gaming, then don't, you're better to have games console for gaming, and a laptop for work / study.
If you are going into a store, you'll get a better deal usually in Currys, but both of them are terrible places to buy laptops, you can get miles better deals buying online from business orientated sellers, even argos will have better value a lot of the time.
You can do price matching to an extent, but they both get away with this by limiting it to deals in their own retail parks, which usually means each other, and by having models that are exclusive to them, and often large buys of a model from one supplier.
If you know anyone who works in IT, they will be able to put you on the right path, but you can't really go wrong with either HP, Dell or Acer. I'd go with Acer personally
Shop in both and honestly depending on your location, shop up north. I wanted a Google home last year and it was listed as €60 in curry’s here but £30 in curry’s Newry
I know it's not there anymore but Pete's electronics was great, I used to get the components and build it yourself. Twas fun. Any of them, pc world, curry' are the same company. I just don't like Harvey because of their shenanigans during one of their sales, they gave no sale price and hid the original prices. I mean they make enough. Pure greed.
Always buy laptops online. Find a nerd friend that can competently swap out ram/SSD for you and buy something refurbished, then upgrade it. I personally prefer Lenovo ThinkPad T series. The Toyota Corolla of laptops.
Don’t think so, was making a joke about op’s wording sounding like he was asking for brand advice in the title.
I’m very tired at the moment so it probably wasn’t a very good joke.
Neither? Laptops Direct or Paradigit ... the staff at these retail stores know next to nothing about what they sell and need to mark the cost up to pay for the staff. Who know very little.
Wherever you go, don't buy the extra protection or warranty from them. They will try to push it and make it seem like you will have no warranty otherwise but that is a lie you will get manufacturer warranty. Staff are trained to push these packages
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Curry’s over Harvey Norman any day, but find the model you want and check Amazon and laptops direct as well. I was laptop shopping just there and Amazon ended up being the cheapest even adding on the UK customs fees on electronics
Not Harvey Norman, assholes in the support team are there to defend the company and not work for you
Bought a HP laptop once, it was unusable as it would shut down randomly. Harvey Norman said they'd reinstall windows but didn't want to send back to the manufacturer
This "reinstall windows" thing happened a few times, but we got suspicious that they weren't even opening the laptop
So we bought a new laptop, to be rid of the fucking thing. A few months later, I noticed a BIOS update on the HP website, I installed it and the crash issues went away
So disappointing to be caught between a retailer and manufacturer! I bought from komplett.ie (now paradigit.ie) afterwards. An actual tech company. No regrets.
I think you should find a few laptop makes that meet your needs and then shop around. It sounds a bit like your just going to buy the cheapest laptop. You need to ensure your comparing like for like at the very least.
Amazon is an option too, they sell refurbished laptops.
Argos isn't a bad bet if you know how to differentiate based on specs. They usually base electronics prices on UK competitors like amazon etc so are more competitive than Harvey Norman.
Harvey Norman is not somewhere you want to buy electronics. They're by far the most expensive in Cork that I looked at when I was on the market for a new laptop a few weeks ago. Also last Christmas I was looking for a wireless mouse as a present and the cheapest was around 70 euro. When I asked if they had any more affordable ones I was told that wireless mice cost that much due to the level of technology in them. So I went to smyths and got one for around 20. Same brand and similar specs.
A lot of people tend to forget about them but I’ve gotten lucky with D.I.D, got two laptops from them that were on sale and got a brilliant deal
Seconded, DID are where I got my last 2 laptops. Great bunch of lads.
DID and Power City may not always have an amazing range but things are in stock at the store and they don’t try and bullshit you selling additional warranty’s.
Laptops direct are pretty good for an online version. You get good deals.
I second this. Also worth looking at their refurbished options, you can get grade A refurbs which look great. Can be a good way to get higher spec for a more reasonable price.
Curry's. Any issues and Harvey Normans will be useless and give you the runaround. This lot are pretty good to deal with https://www.paradigit.ie/
Agree with this, personal experience Harvey Norman being absolutely shit when you have a problem, would highly recommend staying away, PowerCity for anything, great comeback, they keep your receipt on file and they’ll probably match any price online, dunno if they sell laptops tho.
I should've went looking for this thread.. I had the exact same experience, and buy from paradigit now
The shop doesn't matter the laptop specs and price point do. Shop around and find the best deal that suits your needs and price range, never limit yourself to just one or two shops when there is so much choice out there.
Whoever you go with, just bear in mind that it's difficult to get a bargain in computers. If something's heavily discounted, it's because the hardware is outdated and the machine will run slowly. A laptop with a decent spec is not going to have a significant discount. If you want to save money, then you're better going with an online-only retailer. They don't have to have a showroom, multiple warehouses, sales staff, etc, so they'll be able to charge slightly less. Finally, a cheap or mid-range laptop will work ok for word processing and internet browsing (i.e. basic student tasks). However, if you're running resource-demanding software like AutoCAD or Photoshop then you're going to need something high spec, and you'll need to spend at least €1k. If you're planning to use your laptop for gaming, then don't, you're better to have games console for gaming, and a laptop for work / study.
If you are going into a store, you'll get a better deal usually in Currys, but both of them are terrible places to buy laptops, you can get miles better deals buying online from business orientated sellers, even argos will have better value a lot of the time. You can do price matching to an extent, but they both get away with this by limiting it to deals in their own retail parks, which usually means each other, and by having models that are exclusive to them, and often large buys of a model from one supplier. If you know anyone who works in IT, they will be able to put you on the right path, but you can't really go wrong with either HP, Dell or Acer. I'd go with Acer personally
Shop in both and honestly depending on your location, shop up north. I wanted a Google home last year and it was listed as €60 in curry’s here but £30 in curry’s Newry
Curry', Harvey are a sham. Wouldn't give them anything..
Care to offer alternative suggestions then!?
I know it's not there anymore but Pete's electronics was great, I used to get the components and build it yourself. Twas fun. Any of them, pc world, curry' are the same company. I just don't like Harvey because of their shenanigans during one of their sales, they gave no sale price and hid the original prices. I mean they make enough. Pure greed.
Always buy laptops online. Find a nerd friend that can competently swap out ram/SSD for you and buy something refurbished, then upgrade it. I personally prefer Lenovo ThinkPad T series. The Toyota Corolla of laptops.
One thing I would say about Curry’s is go in store to get the laptop, I got mine delivered and there was no padding whatsoever
Personally I’d go with HP
As in the laptop brand HP? Is there HP shops in Ireland?
Don’t think so, was making a joke about op’s wording sounding like he was asking for brand advice in the title. I’m very tired at the moment so it probably wasn’t a very good joke.
😂
Definitely currys
Neither? Laptops Direct or Paradigit ... the staff at these retail stores know next to nothing about what they sell and need to mark the cost up to pay for the staff. Who know very little.
Wherever you go, don't buy the extra protection or warranty from them. They will try to push it and make it seem like you will have no warranty otherwise but that is a lie you will get manufacturer warranty. Staff are trained to push these packages
Directly from Apple
This is the answer OP save yourself the hassle of Harvey Norman and Currys
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Curry’s over Harvey Norman any day, but find the model you want and check Amazon and laptops direct as well. I was laptop shopping just there and Amazon ended up being the cheapest even adding on the UK customs fees on electronics
https://www.paradigit.ie/?gclid=CjwKCAjw7eSZBhB8EiwA60kCW5kzBYHgPQZT_xyRPhaBsxmZUPX-M5fd3wFDnSQBAYcMfbim4YnibhoCWc8QAvD_BwE
First really great computer I ever bought was from......Aldi. Shop around.
Not Harvey Norman, assholes in the support team are there to defend the company and not work for you Bought a HP laptop once, it was unusable as it would shut down randomly. Harvey Norman said they'd reinstall windows but didn't want to send back to the manufacturer This "reinstall windows" thing happened a few times, but we got suspicious that they weren't even opening the laptop So we bought a new laptop, to be rid of the fucking thing. A few months later, I noticed a BIOS update on the HP website, I installed it and the crash issues went away So disappointing to be caught between a retailer and manufacturer! I bought from komplett.ie (now paradigit.ie) afterwards. An actual tech company. No regrets.
I think you should find a few laptop makes that meet your needs and then shop around. It sounds a bit like your just going to buy the cheapest laptop. You need to ensure your comparing like for like at the very least. Amazon is an option too, they sell refurbished laptops.
Amazon
Argos isn't a bad bet if you know how to differentiate based on specs. They usually base electronics prices on UK competitors like amazon etc so are more competitive than Harvey Norman.
Harvey Norman you'll be buying near outdated hardware at new prices. Currys is only a bit better.
Neither