To find the original (recommended retail) price of the laptop, we can use the following steps:

Given Data:

• Sale price of the laptop: $1,189
• Discount rate: 18%

Formula:

The sale price is given by: $\text{Sale Price} = \text{Original Price} \times (1 - \text{Discount Rate})$ Rearranging to solve for the original price: $\text{Original Price} = \frac{\text{Sale Price}}{1 - \text{Discount Rate}}$

Substitution:

$\text{Original Price} = \frac{1189}{1 - 0.18}$ $\text{Original Price} = \frac{1189}{0.82}$ $\text{Original Price} \approx 1450$

Final Answer:

The original (recommended retail) price of the laptop was approximately $1,450.

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Would you like further clarification or detailed steps? Here are related questions to consider:

1. What is the percentage discount in dollars for the laptop?
2. How can we calculate the sale price given the original price and discount rate?
3. What if the discount rate was 25% instead of 18%? What would the original price be?
4. Can you calculate the price reduction if the sale price was $1,200 at an 18% discount?
5. How does rounding affect the precision of such calculations?

Tip: When dealing with percentages, always convert them into decimals for easier calculations.