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alfreda89 ([personal profile] alfreda89) wrote2012-08-31 09:11 am
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Stymied on Computers...

So I went to Costco last night to buy the more expensive Toshiba laptop.

No Toshibas.

The sales person said they aren't on the list as coming in. He apologized, since he likes Toshibas and Apples best, too.

I write a comment card explaining that they'd lost an $864 dollar sale, bought berries and left.

*sigh*

I can order it from Toshiba, but only get a one year warranty that way. Maybe I will wait a couple days, see if it comes back to the web site.

[identity profile] originalkitsune.livejournal.com 2012-08-31 03:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Costco doesn't care it lost a sale. I still belong to costco and shop there, but they just don't give a crap.

Try Fryes! just go up there and look around!

[identity profile] alfreda89.livejournal.com 2012-08-31 03:22 pm (UTC)(link)
I think I need to go take a look at the store -- the web site stuff is all more expensive than the Toshiba site laptops, and souped up for gaming, not media or text.

Since Half Price is also having a sale right now, this is a great reason to drop by the Parmer location, if I get other things done today first!

[identity profile] originalkitsune.livejournal.com 2012-08-31 03:59 pm (UTC)(link)
yeah just go look...you don't have to buy. But all my computer friends all swear by Fryes. And yes buy the warranty.

[identity profile] tylik.livejournal.com 2012-08-31 03:52 pm (UTC)(link)
https://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=37&Code=X230_BASE_SAP&category_id=42D5009B1EABB377BFC4965EE083D306

or

https://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=37&Code=E430_BASIC_SAP&category_id=77160E70986F3A542955F35F555662EF

if you're wanting to keep costs down, but the form factor of the first is really nice. (My last laptop was an earlier version of their tablet version of that. My current one is a souped up w530, but then I'm doing pretty computationally expensive simulations for my research right now.)

Really, the build quality can't be beat (with the possible exception of apple, and apple is kind of changing their philosophy there), and the pricing is great, too.

[identity profile] alfreda89.livejournal.com 2012-08-31 04:27 pm (UTC)(link)
They have Lenovos on sale at Fry's this weekend. I need to look at them. I have two concerns -- Chiclet keyboards, and their monitors are not rated as easy on the eyes in the price range I'm looking.

Both of those are very big things for me right now.

Otherwise, they are clearly a competitive computer!

[identity profile] tylik.livejournal.com 2012-08-31 04:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, drat, just realized I didn't respond to your last response.

One of the reasons I buy Lenovo is because of the screen, so I'd be really interested in what criteria was used to pan it, because frankly it's better than the Macs we have in the lab (including some very high end boxen, though I haven't seen the new retina displays).

Now, keep in mind, I'm talking about Thinkpads, not their other machines. (But then, the links I sent you were for Thinkpads.)

Last I checked, they had better color accuracy than Macs, but I haven't been following that closely (Apple made a few decisions that make most of their hardware essentially non serviceable so I didn't even look at it this time out). One of the reasons I got my w530 is that it offered a higher res screen - because I'm a massive resolution snob. And the backlights are very bright and easily adjustable, the screens are matt finish by default (why the *hell* do so many manufacturers make high gloss screens? they look pretty when off, I guess, but they're horrible to use, glare city) and the keyboard lights are wonderful (I mean the little bitty light on top that lights your keyboard in a dark room, not the glowing keys, which I didn't get).

For more general eye-ease, I would look seriously at a color temperature package - which is to say f.lux on Windows or Mac, redshift on linux or Neyetlight on android - easier on the eyes and means that your computer won't screw up your diurnal cycle. (Which is way more important to health than most people realize. klf15, a major signal molecule for regulation of metabolism and all kinds of stuff is controlled via diurnal regulation, just to name one - and there's more here that we don't know than we do.)

Re: the chiclet keyboard. So, the old Thinkpad keyboards were generally acknowledged to be the gold standard in the industry - my last computer had them, people were buying them to use as stand along keyboards, everyone loved them. So I was pretty dubious when I heard about the keyboard redesign and was pretty ready to dislike it.

So far, I'm really pleasantly surprised. They promised the community that they spent an awful lot of time and testing on the redesign, and darn, it's a good keyboard. Sometimes I think I like it better than my old Thinkpad keyboard - but I'll get a better sense of that after I set up my old computer as a web server. Really good key feel.

[identity profile] alfreda89.livejournal.com 2012-08-31 06:03 pm (UTC)(link)
This is very good to know, but no, I wasn't looking at thinkpads because every one I clicked on was over budget. Maybe I'm not looking at the right ones? I haven't played with one yet. I don't remember your sending me links?

Here's the one I found while researching laptops:

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=6524&review=lenovo+ideapad+z580

My desktop is 7+ years old, so this new machine will become my dominant writing machine.

[identity profile] tylik.livejournal.com 2012-08-31 06:39 pm (UTC)(link)
I only sent you the links up above, on my first reply to your post. And they're direct to the Lenovo site, as my experience is that you get much better prices that way. (I paid less for this year's mobile workstations than I would have paid for last year's model through a US reseller.)

The resolution on either of these isn't as high as I'd like, but it's useable. What are you used to now?

[identity profile] alfreda89.livejournal.com 2012-08-31 10:18 pm (UTC)(link)

An old Dell. The problem is, the Lyme affected my eyes, and I am trying to get the best monitor I can, in case the current treatment doesn't improve things anymore than the status quo.

The resolution on either of these isn't as high as I'd like, but it's useable. What are you used to now?

PS--

[identity profile] alfreda89.livejournal.com 2012-08-31 06:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I am not interested in buying a non-serviceable Apple, especially with no hard drive!

I do not trust the Cloud, and there are places I go I can't reach it. And I can lose a flash drive in a heartbeart.

[identity profile] alfreda89.livejournal.com 2012-08-31 06:19 pm (UTC)(link)
I think you're right, I should research the Lenovo before buying, since Costco failed me. Looks like there are laptops in my price range, I don't care about style as much as smooth function and comfort, and if some have great screens, I'm interested!

Now, I must go get a duplicate of my voter registration and research a DBA....

[identity profile] sheilagh.livejournal.com 2012-08-31 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
plus, you should be able to check out look/feel in person at Frye's, even if their prices aren't as good as online vendors!