Madness
Like a flea circus at a dog show.
join:2000-01-05
Quincy, MA | That Makes Sense....Not!
One's gonna pay $1500+ over the life of the contract for a $500 notebook.  |
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mikef1
Mike
join:2004-10-28
Littlestown, PA
| said by Madness  :One's gonna pay $1500+ over the life of the contract for a $500 notebook. If you are going to word it like that then you should also mention one will also get free 3g and att wifi internet access over the life of the contract. |
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Camelot One
Premium,MVM
join:2001-11-21
Sarasota, FL
clubs:
| Relying on a Dell Portable for 2 years?
I see SO many dell laptops on the repair bench, there is no way I would lock myself into a 2 year contract on one. They just don't last that long, even under the best conditions.
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Intel Q6600 @3400Mhz/GA-EP35-DS3P/2x 2048Mb G.Skill/Seagate 750.10/EVGA 8800GT's SLI/Silverstone 850W/Custom water cooler |
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vrp
vrp
Premium
join:2002-12-05
terra
 ·AT&T Southeast
| said by Camelot One :I see SO many dell laptops on the repair bench, there is no way I would lock myself into a 2 year contract on one. They just don't last that long, even under the best conditions. .
my last Dell laptop was purchased in 2004 ... still working ... wonder what is wrong with it !!! ...
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We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. - Aesop
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My Photo Gallery |
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Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
| reply to Madness
Re: That Makes Sense....Not!
said by Madness :One's gonna pay $1500+ over the life of the contract for a $500 notebook. It's a NETbook ... I still can't find a good use for these things. Even my Thinkpad with a 1024x768 screen is becoming obsolete. I have to scroll left and right on a good number of websites so web browsing on one of these (or the Acer) would be like pulling teeth. |
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chemaupr
join:2005-06-06
Alexandria, VA
| reply to mikef1
said by mikef1 :said by Madness :One's gonna pay $1500+ over the life of the contract for a $500 notebook. If you are going to word it like that then you should also mention one will also get free 3g and att wifi internet access over the life of the contract. OR if you were planing to get the service anyways now they throw a notebook for $99.
I guess the OP miss the point. You can buy your cheap notebok anywhere without contract. But the idea here is that if you are going to get the service anyways now you have a good incentive... |
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MicrotoastXP
A State Of Trance
join:2001-06-05
Bayamon, PR
clubs:  | reply to vrp
Re: Relying on a Dell Portable for 2 years?
This is a tech related website, if most people here think its a bad deal IMO the average joe will go nuts for a $99 computer even if it means being attached for 2 years. |
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Anonuser
join:2003-01-03
Milwaukee, WI
| reply to Camelot One
I've had my Inspiron B120 for just about 4 years, it's used 14 hours/day, taken home and to work daily, used in the car daily for gps, on 24/7/365, most of the letters are worn off the keys, has had 2 glasses of hot tea spilled directly on the keyboard on 2 seperate occasions now, touchpad is pretty much worn down but still works great!
NOT ONE SINGLE PROBLEM WITH THIS LAPTOP! Purchase price was under $400 new from dell.
My first computer, a Inspiron 7000, purchased October 21, 1998, used in the exact same way my B120 now is used, STILL WORKS GREAT! Not only did it use it as my main computer for 7 years, now it sits on top of my entertainment center being used as a media server for watching my movies on my TV!
Dell has permintly won my business. Not to mention We have 9 other Dell laptops and desktops, the worst we've had happen was worn out a few CD-Roms and DVD-Roms. Big deal ^_^
I've found, when most peoples laptops "break", it's because they did something stupid; and ya know what, YA CAN'T FIX STUPID!
^_^ |
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
 ·Comcast
1 edit | reply to Matt
Re: That Makes Sense....Not!
said by Matt :said by Madness :One's gonna pay $1500+ over the life of the contract for a $500 notebook. It's a NETbook ... I still can't find a good use for these things. Even my Thinkpad with a 1024x768 screen is becoming obsolete. I have to scroll left and right on a good number of websites so web browsing on one of these (or the Acer) would be like pulling teeth. But netbooks become more viable as more and more web sites come out with mobile versions of their pages to lessen the amount of screen real estate they consume. All the major players(Google, MSN, Yahoo, NFL, MLB, etc) are all now providing pages designed for mobile use.
Here is a link I have that has 3 pgs of web sites set up for mobile use. It is only a sample, but it gives a taste of what was available over a year ago. There are many more being added all the time.
»delicious.com/tkjunkmail/mobile
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My BLOG .. .. Internet News .. .. My Web Page
Ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk? |
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Comcast
| reply to chemaupr
said by chemaupr :I guess the OP miss the point. You can buy your cheap notebok anywhere without contract. But the idea here is that if you are going to get the service anyways now you have a good incentive... And that is the incentive. You are going to sign up for a mobile data plan anyway, so why not take advantage of a discount on the hardware.
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My BLOG .. .. Internet News .. .. My Web Page
Ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk? |
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DrModem
Premium
join:2006-10-19
USA
·EarthLink
 ·1and1
 ·PeoplePC
2 edits | reply to vrp
Re: Relying on a Dell Portable for 2 years?
said by vrp :said by Camelot One :I see SO many dell laptops on the repair bench, there is no way I would lock myself into a 2 year contract on one. They just don't last that long, even under the best conditions. . my last Dell laptop was purchased in 2004 ... still working ... wonder what is wrong with it !!! ... . Same.
But I've had to replace the keyboard 4 times (keys kept falling off, even though I am not rough with my keys) and the F key fell off the current(5th) keyboard.
Had to get a new power supply since the original went bad.
Had to fully disassemble the laptop to solder the power supply socket back onto the motherboard, it somehow detached.
The LCD has some weird backlight issues.
The hard drive is dieing.
The mouse buttons under the touchpad don't work much anymore.
The laptop just turned 4 years old(bought it in late 2004). It's still working(barely), I'm tired of all the crap issues with it, but I unfortunately don't have the money to replace it at the moment. My parents recently got rid of a 10 year old Toshiba dinosaur, and it had none of those issues when it died(except for the hard drive, it just died one day).
Next laptop I get is going to be an ASUS. |
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Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
| reply to TKJunkMail
Re: That Makes Sense....Not!
said by TKJunkMail :said by Matt :said by Madness :One's gonna pay $1500+ over the life of the contract for a $500 notebook. It's a NETbook ... I still can't find a good use for these things. Even my Thinkpad with a 1024x768 screen is becoming obsolete. I have to scroll left and right on a good number of websites so web browsing on one of these (or the Acer) would be like pulling teeth. But netbooks become more viable as more and more web sites come out with mobile versions of their pages to lessen the amount of screen real estate they consume. All the major players(Google, MSN, Yahoo, NFL, MLB, etc) are all now providing pages designed for mobile use. That is a good point. A Netbook may be more functional with a mobile page. Although I'd counter with the fact that I don't want to carry a 2lb device around with a 9" screen for a page with 6 text links.
»us.m.yahoo.com/
»wap.nfl.com/
»info.mobile.msn.com/en-us/default.aspx |
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Chiyo
Save Me Konata-Chan
Premium
join:2003-02-20
Minneapolis, MN
clubs:
·Comcast
| reply to Anonuser
Re: Relying on a Dell Portable for 2 years?
I own an Inspire one net book and I Love it I don't get tons of use out of it right now but I Love knowing that its light and very portable and wifi penetration is everywhere or I can tether my PDA its not 3G speeds but it will work in a pinch.
I wouldn't do this though its cheaper in the long run to purchase the netbook in one chunk than shell out tons more over a long period of time. |
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iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO
·Comcast
·Qwest.net
 ·magicjack.com
·BeeCreek Communica..
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| Meh...
My Inspiron e1505 is now my brother's...extended the warranty another three years for five total, wasn't terribly expensive to do so...
1. Speakers quit working correctly relatively quickly after purchase. Dell guycame to my schooland fixed them.
2. Dust under screen. After a bit of work, Dell guy ended up chasing me around town to fix that one.
3. Keyboard messed up. Dell guy came to my house to fix that one.
Gotta love onsite warranties...
4. After a year or so of heavy usage, the battery went from four hours of life to two hours. Dell sent me a new one.
I paid a bit over $600 for the computer. Has been reliable ever since the first three problems were fixed, all within the first month or two of purchase. I know plenty of people with Dells and they seem to work just fine, though my last two computer purchases were Lenovos.
If the Mini 9 was offered free with a Sprint or Verizon data plan, I'd probably take the offer. The carriers routinely discount phones by $350 i they're high-end smartphones, so why not a netbook? As it stands,You could think of the offer as getting AT&T's mobile broadband service for about $50 per month instead of $60, with purchase of a Dell Mini 9 and use of the service ONLY on the Mini 9. Sorry, not interested...AT&T still doesn't have incredibly widespread 3G coverage, whereas Sprint and Verizon, especially Verizon with their purchase of Alltel, do. Sprint has a smaller footprint than Mega-VZW but their service is faster. So I'd take either. But I want a $350 subsidy on my computer if I'm going to sign a 2-year contract on a service that's limited to 5GB of transfer per month, when I can do the exact same thing with Millenicom for a little more, with no cap. |
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sensualpoet
join:2004-09-19
Toronto, ON
·Rogers Hi-Speed
| reply to Camelot One
Re: Relying on a Dell Portable for 2 years?
I've been using the ASUS 901, cousin of the Acer, since July 2008. It's WinXP, wireless b/g/n, bluetooth enabled, 6-8 hr battery life, 2.2 lbs, crisp screen (and yes, 1024x600). I wanted the solid state version (no mechanical HD); an SDHC card adds tons of additional, secure storage.
Low-end netbooks aren't intended for "the only computer you own" but for what they do -- full computing power on the go with a tiny form factor -- they are terrific. Mine has travelled around the house and across the continent on three trips so far. It's a dream. Marry that with reasonable data plan and it's one powerful tool. |
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Comcast
| reply to Matt
Re: That Makes Sense....Not!
I agree about some of the bigger netbooks. But I use a Nokia N810 and it is only a little bit bigger than an iPhone and fits easily in a pocket.
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My BLOG .. .. Internet News .. .. My Web Page
Ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk? |
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Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
| said by TKJunkMail :I agree about some of the bigger netbooks. But I use a Nokia N810 and it is only a little bit bigger than an iPhone and fits easily in a pocket. Now something of that size I can see being carried around to be used for a quick internet search, or a quick check of email. |
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ninjatutle
Premium
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| reply to Matt
I have a Netbook plus ATT USB 3G. Perfectly useful and sites work just fine for me. I wish I could have gotten in on this $99 deal. I have a 10" netbook and also gave away the same one for Christmas. |
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ncbill
Premium
join:2007-01-23
Winston Salem, NC | No deal, service just keeps getting cheaper
I can turn 3G data access on/off monthly on my cellphone & tether via Bluetooth with no contract required.
For those w/o a current cell plan locally, Cricket offers unlimited data for $40/month. |
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battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000 | reply to Madness
Re: That Makes Sense....Not!
So they get 2 years of free 3G internet when they buy a $1500 laptop? I hear there is a deal on $30k keys that come with a free car. |
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