First of all you want to take advantage of the search engines that are designed to help you find the lowest prices on laptops or other computers. These search engines are often called shopping bots.

The price you find for any current computer model is usually the regular price not a discounted or sales price, which is what you're looking for. Determine the retail price for the model you're considering by going to several sites that list that model and jot down the price range. The package would consist of the computer and monitor typically. A printer, accessories and service contract would be additional costs.

Once you know the price range and the lowest advertised price you can try to negotiate with the vendor or seller, Try to get a discount of at least $25 or so. The retailer may only make $50 on the sale so you may not have much bargaining room.

If possible also have them add a printer and accessories and then ask for a discount of $50 to $200. If you want a service contract you should be able to add that and have a lot more bargaining room. However service contracts are not recommended by many experts so proceed with caution.

You'll want to look for a system that is already pre-built rather than selecting your own parts to be assembled. This is actually cheaper in the long run.

If you're not paying cash look for some of the holiday long-term financing options. These can give you six months with no interest which may give you time to come up with the money. Holiday sales prices are often cheaper so you can save a lot of money if you buy then.

You'll want to check the offers of manufacturer's rebates and especially those that don't require you to buy the same brand of monitor and printer.

Although many experts suggest buying a poorly-rated brand that may have a slower speed and life but for the few dollars saved it is not be worth losing any data so always look for the best rated computers and laptops.

Look for clearance computer or laptop models that have a high rating.

Or can you get by with a repaired or refurbished laptop or computer model?

Find out if any brick-and-mortar vendors have floor 'demo' models for sale.

Retailers of name-brand computers or laptops may all offer the same price. Be aware that retailers are bound by rules and regulations and may not be able to discount, adjust or lower a price on a given new laptop or computer model.

If you're buying a laptop or computer online make sure you add on all the shipping costs to the purchase price.

Prices may vary between computer models because of the quality of the parts, the marketing costs for the manufacturer and the quality of building it.

If you find a cheap computer model or cheap laptop, find out if the parts are refurbished or used. This has been an ongoing problem in the computer industry even in name-brands.

Check the brand names of the sound and video cards in the computer to see if they are lower quality brand names.

Make sure you get a warranty and especially for any computer purchase that is not in a box.

These tips will help you get the best deal on a computer or laptop .But keep in mind that in some situations you get what you pay for. Check out everything before buying online or offline. Again it's important to pay a little more and get a computer you trust that will be less likely not to have a hard drive crash.