As mentioned in a previous post, I have been looking at purchasing an ASUS 'power' notebook and/or a Samsung netbook. Well, it seems that I think the economy is going to be okay and I needed to do my part in contributing to the spurring of the economy. Sounds cooky, huh? I decided to take a chance with my computer purchasing power and I purchased both the ASUS G50Vt-X5 over at Best Buy AND the Samsung N110.
The ASUS I was able to purchase through BestBuy.com with a Geek Squad two-year service plan. By purchasing online, I was also able to get a free HDTV tuner. I don't know how good it is since there are no ratings at this time on BestBuy.com but it retails for $89.99 and I thought for free cost and free shipping that it would be a good time to try it out. The other benefit of ordering online is I could use my Best Buy number since I don't have the actual card AND I could do pick up at store. The HDTV tuner is shipped but the notebook can be picked up. Which is what I did. I originally picked my store at the Walnut Hill/US 75 location but turns out they were out of stock. I had to call the 1-888-Best-Buy number to get another store put on my order. They had one at the Midway/635 (LBJ Frwy) location which is also where I had to pick up my Aiptek HD mini video recorder some time ago. So far since I've gotten it home (two evenings ago), I have had no issues with updates or the machine itself. I've installed a few of my own programs like Firefox, Revo Uninstaller, and some others. I uninstalled the MS Office 2007 package that was on there because I have my own disk and I can't use the same product key to activate the one it came with. One reason is because it came with the student edition and I have Pro. Not that I know if there is much of a difference since I still use Office XP on my work machine and Office 2003 on my Toshiba laptop. I do know I have to uninstall the previous version to install the new. I've uninstalled but haven't installed my version yet. I don't foresee a problem. I'm still loading, unloading and tinkering but I will soon get to the nitty-gritty of it and comment here and on BestBuy.com what I find. I've just been busy with finals coming up and having to deal with the older Toshiba laptop which keeps shutting off randomly (I think because it overheats) and the LCD screen will need to be replace once again (twice before). The LCD problem I think will get me a new machine although it may be one of those 4-times instead of 3-times same problem lemon clause. We'll see.
Now onto the Samsung N110. I purchased it from Newegg.com. Although at every other online store (like 10 of them) it was out of stock (except for eCost.com had it in stock but I called to confirm. They said they would call me back, they never did, and then in the evening it showed out of stock. Newegg didn't say, "in stock" but it also didn't say, "out of stock." I emailed Newegg to see where I find this status and the customer service rep said that if the "add to cart" button is there, then it is in stock in real-time...which means that someone could take the last one right before I click it and it would be out of stock but my view didn't reflect that yet. Confused? Anyway, it was cheaper at eCost ($449.99) compared to Newegg ($469.99) but then there was the in or out of stock issue. Newegg won due to this simple but important factor. I purchased a two-year service plan for $59.99--which is way cheaper than that bend-over-and-take-it Geek Squad plan at $159.99 or something like that--and a neoprene sleeve for it. I added rush order for $2.99 but don't know if it will "rush" or whatever it really means but they said they would try to work my order and get it out the door by noon 4/29 since I purchased on 4/28. We'll see. I'm still leery about if it was actually in stock or not. I have received follow-up emails saying my order has been processed and billed (to Bill Me Later...no interest for 3 mos). So, they are giving me hope that all is well but I'm still not completely convinced. Again, I wait and see. I will followup on Newegg and here as to how it all goes and how I like the machine if I actually receive it.
I think with the addition of these two things, I have covered my total unnecessary expenditures for the year. Between the 9mm Beretta, the Savage 308, and now these two computer purchases, I have effectively spent about 2,100 bucks! The wife has knowledge of 3 out of the 4 purchases and has been okay with them but the fourth? We'll see...It will ship to me so she may be home when it arrives. Yikes!
The ASUS I was able to purchase through BestBuy.com with a Geek Squad two-year service plan. By purchasing online, I was also able to get a free HDTV tuner. I don't know how good it is since there are no ratings at this time on BestBuy.com but it retails for $89.99 and I thought for free cost and free shipping that it would be a good time to try it out. The other benefit of ordering online is I could use my Best Buy number since I don't have the actual card AND I could do pick up at store. The HDTV tuner is shipped but the notebook can be picked up. Which is what I did. I originally picked my store at the Walnut Hill/US 75 location but turns out they were out of stock. I had to call the 1-888-Best-Buy number to get another store put on my order. They had one at the Midway/635 (LBJ Frwy) location which is also where I had to pick up my Aiptek HD mini video recorder some time ago. So far since I've gotten it home (two evenings ago), I have had no issues with updates or the machine itself. I've installed a few of my own programs like Firefox, Revo Uninstaller, and some others. I uninstalled the MS Office 2007 package that was on there because I have my own disk and I can't use the same product key to activate the one it came with. One reason is because it came with the student edition and I have Pro. Not that I know if there is much of a difference since I still use Office XP on my work machine and Office 2003 on my Toshiba laptop. I do know I have to uninstall the previous version to install the new. I've uninstalled but haven't installed my version yet. I don't foresee a problem. I'm still loading, unloading and tinkering but I will soon get to the nitty-gritty of it and comment here and on BestBuy.com what I find. I've just been busy with finals coming up and having to deal with the older Toshiba laptop which keeps shutting off randomly (I think because it overheats) and the LCD screen will need to be replace once again (twice before). The LCD problem I think will get me a new machine although it may be one of those 4-times instead of 3-times same problem lemon clause. We'll see.
Now onto the Samsung N110. I purchased it from Newegg.com. Although at every other online store (like 10 of them) it was out of stock (except for eCost.com had it in stock but I called to confirm. They said they would call me back, they never did, and then in the evening it showed out of stock. Newegg didn't say, "in stock" but it also didn't say, "out of stock." I emailed Newegg to see where I find this status and the customer service rep said that if the "add to cart" button is there, then it is in stock in real-time...which means that someone could take the last one right before I click it and it would be out of stock but my view didn't reflect that yet. Confused? Anyway, it was cheaper at eCost ($449.99) compared to Newegg ($469.99) but then there was the in or out of stock issue. Newegg won due to this simple but important factor. I purchased a two-year service plan for $59.99--which is way cheaper than that bend-over-and-take-it Geek Squad plan at $159.99 or something like that--and a neoprene sleeve for it. I added rush order for $2.99 but don't know if it will "rush" or whatever it really means but they said they would try to work my order and get it out the door by noon 4/29 since I purchased on 4/28. We'll see. I'm still leery about if it was actually in stock or not. I have received follow-up emails saying my order has been processed and billed (to Bill Me Later...no interest for 3 mos). So, they are giving me hope that all is well but I'm still not completely convinced. Again, I wait and see. I will followup on Newegg and here as to how it all goes and how I like the machine if I actually receive it.
I think with the addition of these two things, I have covered my total unnecessary expenditures for the year. Between the 9mm Beretta, the Savage 308, and now these two computer purchases, I have effectively spent about 2,100 bucks! The wife has knowledge of 3 out of the 4 purchases and has been okay with them but the fourth? We'll see...It will ship to me so she may be home when it arrives. Yikes!
