My laptop is back from the dead!!!

I cannot accurately express in words how lovely it feels to be typing on my laptop again. Don't get me wrong, my iPad has been a life saver these past 2 weeks but I much prefer typing on keys than a touch screen (first world problems, ha!). What better way to celebrate my laptop's revival than to celebrate how much freakin' dough I saved fixing it?!?!

Usually, when something I own breaks I either buy a new one or take it to a shop and let them handle it. This is done due to a mix of laziness and ignorance. I know jack shit about laptops. I tried to fix mine which resulted in multiple pulled wires, lost screws, and the application of craft glue to the inside (I swear to you, at the time it really seemed like a good idea). My laptop has been unable to keep a charge for a while now but I was perfectly fine with just leaving it plugged in (as explained in this post) but then it fully died. Now, it's not that I had never heard of Amazon before but it just seemed like a hassle and it made me sort of fearful. First, I had to hope that I ordered the right part THEN I had to hope that someone on the internet would send me a working product. I don't really have much trust or faith in the common man. Chalk it up to years working in retail and now working in government. After looking at these savings I can't believe I ignored Amazon for so long.

Let's compare and save!

What I needed: a Toshiba battery and power cord, an HDMI wire and an AppleTv (okay, those last two things are more "wanted" then "needed").

Now, like I said before, my old instinct was just to be lazy and buy from whoever was fixing my laptop. Since I took my laptop to Geek Squad I would have been purchasing the parts from Best Buy. Here are the prices that the Best Buy website listed for the products I needed:

Yikes, that is poor quality. I think if you click the image it might be easy to read? Either way, here is a screen shot for HDMI cables. Now, I "need" one of these because it's what connects the AppleTV to my TV and I need this done in order to fulfill my dreams of making Netflix appear on my TV. DREAM BIG.

Here is a blurry screen shot of Toshiba battery costs.

Again, blurry shot but this time of power cords.

Now, let's head over to Amazon and see what their prices are.

Toshiba power cords costing less than $10 bucks. Are you freaking kidding me?!

Here is a blurry picture of my bill from Amazon for the rest of the products I ordered.

Comparison:

Best Buy

Battery: $84.21 (cheaper price listed)

Power Cord: $25.16 (cheaper price listed)

HDMI Cable: $24.99 (cheaper price listed)

AppleTV: $99 (not shown because I couldn't find it on the Best Buy website but this is average retail price)

TOTAL: $233.36

Amazon:

Battery: $49.61

Power Cord: $9.00

HDMI Cable: $7.99

AppleTV: $97.98

Shipping and Handling: $11.44

TOTAL: $164.58

Savings from using Amazon instead of Best Buy: $68.78

Now, don't get me wrong, this isn't a post trying to bash on Best Buy. In fact, there Geek Squad rocks and some people prefer to spend a little extra money for the convenience of not having to wait for a package to come in. I'm just trying to get the word out to those who, like me, were afraid to purchase certain things on the internet. The savings are real and the time waiting for the package to come is minimal (I placed an order on Friday and the package came by Tuesday). Amazon is a great resource for certain items and I will definitely be using it in the future.