Need that laptop in a pump or a flat? Zappos selling computers

I’ve recommended Zappos for shoe purchases, but will I have to start doing the same for laptops too? Dave Zatz shot me a heads up that the online retailer has Tablet PCs, notebooks and more for sale. Sure enough, a quick browse of their brands shows familiar names like Lenovo, HP and Acer.

So how’s the pricing? For that you’ll need to do some comparison shopping, but I took a quick peek for the HP Mini-Note and found two models on the Zappos site. They have the version with Windows Vista Home Basic, 1 GB of RAM, the 1.2 GHz VIA C7-M, and 120 GB hard drive. HP sells that direct for $599, while Zappos is a few dollars more at $603. The $549 Linux model that HP sells goes for $553 at Zappos, so there’s a few dollars added to an otherwise very comparable price. Those few extra bucks might be worth it in terms of delivery though. HP shows both models as available to ship on 8/21 while Zappos indicates these are in stock now. Shipping (both delivery and returns) is free with Zappos but don’t expect to take advantage of their 365 day return policy as it appears to apply only to shoes.