With deals like these...

[user1397]

why would you bother buying directly from the companies like Dell, HP, Apple, etc

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146848

That is the cheapest core i7 powered laptop I can find right now (please tell me if you can find cheaper ones).

It is cheaper than most other laptops with similar specs if you try to buy them directly from their websites.

[MikeA36]

Well for me personally, I never buy anything online from anybody. I need to see the item physically, and play with it for awhile in a store before they get dime one from me. So places like Newegg don't work for me.

[Dark_Stang]

I never buy laptop computers online for a few reasons...
1. I don't get to see it before it's at my door
2. Spending 2 hours on the phone with tech support with a person who's going over a flow chart before getting a UPS tag issued is annoying (warranty service)
3. Dead pixel policies
4. How do I know that Linux is going to run on it? If it's on display in a store I can just pop in a live CD and see how it goes.

Yeah, I end up spending a little more (probably $100-$150 more for one in a store). But knowing that I have exactly what I want is worth it to me.

Now if we're talking about a desktop, then I like to just build. And if we're talking about a server, I would just go with a virtual host and run whatever I want on it.