[kwlug-disc] Netbook+ manu. suggestions?

[unsolicited]

Richard Weait wrote, On 03/14/2009 2:01 PM:
> On Sat, 2009-03-14 at 13:06 -0500, unsolicited wrote:
>> John - can NetDirect come anywhere close to Canada Computer, Tiger
>> Direct, et al, on their IBM laptop pricing?

Do please note I said anywhere near. 'Near' being a subjective term. 
It could be +/- $1,000, or +/- $100. Other, in-line.

>> Can NetDirect recommend models based on recent list threads? Mine
>> (below), or Bob's?
> 
> disclaimer: I do not speak for John or NetDirect, only for me and I just
> heard something *snap*.  Sounded like my brain stem.  So that's cool.

You really mean 'fly off the handle', here, right? (-:

> John has just left for vacation so his reply might be delayed by a

Thanks for letting us know, good to know.

> couple of weeks.  He's on a yacht with his harem, burning $1,000,000
> bills for entertainment[1].  That sort of profligate spending can only
> come from YOUR PURCHASE OF A SINGLE NETBOOK at the lowest possible
> retail price.  
> 
> So I urge everyone on this list to ask the other members of this list to
> beat the prices of the retail big boxes even though they are Value Added
> Resellers, even though they don't normally carry retail stock and even
> though they actually love, KWLUG, Linux, Freedom and each and every one
> of us.  Because after all, that's worth nothing if they can't beat an
> on-line house by a dollar. 

We didn't ask to beat. We didn't ask if in stock. We asked if less 
than outrageously far apart. Perhaps, for example, somewhere between 
Kahlid's lenovo.com (presumably list or more) and other 'big box' web 
stores, such as tigerdirect.

> In fact, KWLUG members are going to give me my next house and car at a
> loss.  I don't even care if you are in real estate or autos.  You all
> have to save me money because we're in KWLUG together and you're going
> to give me the best deal ever, even if that isn't your business model.
> So make sure to be at the next meeting because I'll be selecting my
> donors at random.  I may choose a spare kidney or two while I'm at it.
> Hey, we're in the LUG....

Give the LUG members some credit beyond the average public 
know-nothing who walks into Future Shop.

I posted my question as a result of realizing in a different thread 
how much John does NOT impose NetDirect's aura on the list or 
meetings. It occurred to me, having popped over to NetDirect's site at 
my own inclination without the merest suggestion of subliminal list 
urging, to see they like IBM laptops. It then occurred to me, 
particularly given my laptop question with regard to Linux compatible 
hardware, hey, they would know!

	Support is in general useless (not that I in general need it), and in 
this particular case, combined with NetDirect, the most I might need 
is "Hey, do you know where I can get the driver for this little bit of 
yet another instance of IBM's too-integrated hardware chipset?" And, 
being NetDirect, I wouldn't get this crazy, stunned, 
deer-in-the-headlight look of "Am I nuts?", "What you talking 'bout 
boy?", or "Why would anyone want to do that, anyways?"

	And I could reach out and touch someone, if I _really_ had to.

And all of that has VALUE! Value that I'd be willing to pay a bit more 
than rock-bottom price for. To satisfy the need, keep it local, try 
and help NetDirect a tiny bit, and to thank John.

At the same time, John will have a sense of whom he's dealing with, 
based on reading the list, and be able to make a judgement call as to 
how much padding he needs to add to cover off stupid user questions.

Presumably something, and presumably something less than for George 
the business owner who just walked in off the street. And, at the same 
time, having that spidey-sense, will understand that the inquiring 
members understand that there comes a point where something has 
reasonably become chargeable, and they will present far less 
aggravation than George, should it come to that point.

> Best regards,
> Richard
> 
> [1] I'm kidding.  Royal Canadian Mint only prints up to $1,000 bills
> 
> *snap*
> 
> Aw, drat, my forebrain is back and thinks this email might be a little
> too, er, visceral for the list.  
> 
> I don't always shop on price and I almost never shop on price first.
> Sometimes I shop to support something or someone I believe in.  Like the
> FLOSS Fund, sorta.  Sometimes I just put my faith in a person or project
> and say, "I'd like a laptop, John" or something.

Isn't that what at least 3 list people have just said? Nobody asked 
price. Everyone started with features, compatibility, and "What's good 
these days?" And that faith is what made us ask in the first place, 
giving him a shot that we might otherwise have assumed he can't take.

> And then I know that I'm supporting somebody I know, John.  Something I
> believe in, a local Linux vendor.  A local business that hires locally,
> even at times from the LUG.  

Which is why we asked in the first place. Rather than making 
assumptions, or ignoring John, and straight off snapping over to the 
big box store.

> I'm not stupid.  I don't expect to beat every other price.  It's a
> purchase and an investment.  I don't know what FutureShop's tech support
> is like though I have my suspicions, and I sure do know what kind of
> support I get on this list.

As above, nobody has asked for prices to be beaten, they have merely 
asked. John has no opportunity to say yes, or no, to something he 
hasn't been asked. So we asked.

> I can't say that I'm untouched by price concerns.  I've enough
> "cheapskate heritage" in me that I temper all this nobility by happily
> accepting any offer of a discount.  And I certainly don't go price
> comparison shopping.  That way lies madness.

If like draws near to like, such as at K-W LUG, what makes you think 
we're any different than you on this?

Consider the nature of those posing the question. Nobody has asked, 
hey, can you beat the cheapest price we can find by a $100, just 
because we're personal acquaintances? We've merely asked, Hey, what 
have you got, and what can you do?


With apologies to John for discussing him in this 3rd party way, in 
absentia. We don't really mean to put you in this awkward position.