Lily’s Blog, Dragon Absconded!
Baking Until I Drop

When I wanted my laptop, I was thinking of it and about it since probably October 2004.
I first thought super light because it’s a laptop not some huge brick.
My friends at work were like…but…but…the weight of the other things I’d have to carry around would make the weight add up. I wanted to know what other things. Because if I don’t have a floppy drive, I’m not going to lug around a USB one. The 3.3-lb Sony Vaio I had fixated on had a DVD burner. What other things was he talking about? A mouse? The bag? Power cables?

Then gradually (was it really gradual?) in December I thought about Apple and I bought it in February.

As you can see I take my time over some things especially big budget purchases.

I figured also that however bad my choice was it would be my choice and I’d live with it.

But now I’m trying to buy for my parents. I never realised how hard it is to buy computers (probably especially laptops) for somebody else. With my sister (Chennette) she had some definite ideas of what she wanted. While I was dreaming of buying myself a laptop I was scouring around looking for reviews. I would send them to her also since she might’ve been going back to Edinburgh to study. She was involved in the process. She read all those anandtech.com articles on the Mac and could have/would have/may have been swayed if she didn’t go to Guyana far away from any known Mac support. So, by the time she got the job in Guyana, she was prepped, researched and ready and the anandtech.com article on the HP Pavilion dv1000 (acutally dv1310us) was very appealing. (I didn’t only look at anandtech articles if you were wondering). She’d also had an Compaq before, one which yet again I had obtained for her. I had a friend on some forums I visit and she was getting a new machine and decided to give away her old Compaq Presario 1234 (or something like that) to somebody who was going to visit her home country (Scotland). We got it for free and just bought a new power charger and battery. My cousin even donated an old laptop case she had.

When my brother came home that same holidays (June-August 2005) and our computers were dying he used mine alot. He was also taken with the dv1000 and was in a quandary over which to get. He’d be like which one! which one! He decided better the one he knew and he didn’t care about not getting Apple support where he was at because he would probably not get PC support either so it didn’t make a difference. (We hadn’t got my sister’s laptop yet. We were going to Floriday in July to pick it up and we had to order my brother’s in time for him to get it and figure it all out.)

Now it’s June 2006 and my other sister wants a laptop or needs one. The one she got as a wedding gift, well the screen died. It shows solid colours of various shades, hues? We hooked it up to a monitor and it was fine (but she did need a laptop for work). One morning, I wondered over too it and it was looking for the Operating System so I figured DEAD. The very old laptop she borrowed from her nephew was stolen in March/April. This one was just like Chennette’s from when she was in Edinburgh, just slightly larger. So my other sister and I decided we’d treat her to a laptop and I told Chennette that we had to make sure it was good and give her a good budget. My sister likes Chennette’s machine. But more RAM she wants. She knows what she wants too. So she got an HP Pavilion dv1650us. We just ordered it. She should get it by the end of the month…next month?

My parents now.
Gah!
It’s so hard.
When we had no computers in the house but mine (the Powerbook G4 12″), both my parents used it. Bit by bit they got accostomed to it and dad said he overcame his stigma of using a laptop and the trackpad (which you must admit is a pretty tricky thing when you consider the apple laptops still have one button by default!) So, when I told him maybe you should get a macbook and have it shipped to you while on study leave and I’ll build the PC, he didn’t have a problem. I was so happy. Then we heard about funds and what we could use. And he’s like well we don’t have to get a mac. And we don’t have to get such a small screen.

So, let’s list parents requirements:

• Most likely not a mac
• 14 inch screen is fine (so maybe 15)
• Not too heavy but it’s not going to do much travelling. It’ll travel on planes to come back home with them after study leave but aside from that it’ll spend alot of time on dad’s desk at home, maybe take a ride to work once in a blue moon and also wander upstairs for mom to use and watch tv or do whatever or on her bed/my couch so she can talk to her son and “rest” at the same time.
• They do like my sister’s HP. It’s nice.

So, you’re thinking get an HP for them. At least there is some direction to their likings, right? But but…the only pre-builts (we’ll have to buy pre-built) that I can find so far that I’d be sorta willing to buy all have Windows XP Home. Should I care? Don’t say install Linux on it because my parents may not want that (especially my father for whom it is mostly for…he sounds so excited…a computer all for him!!!)

I never realised HOW HARD IT IS TO BUY A LAPTOP FOR SOMEBODY ELSE. I hope the desktop isn’t the same.

Anywayz here are the ones I’ve been thinking about:

• HP Pavilion dv1650us which costs US$1229 @ www.jr.com
  Windows XP Home, 14″ widescreen, 1.66 GHz Core Duo, 1 GB RAM, DVD Burner, Wireless ABG, 5.33 lbs
• Toshiba Satellite M105-3004 which costs US$1149 @ www.jr.com
  Windows XP Media Center, 14″ widescreen, 1.66 GHz Core Duo, 1 GB RAM, DVD Burner, Wireless ABG, 5.45 lbs
• Asus W3V which costs US$1498 (hopefully less 200 with rebate) @ www.newegg.com
  Windows XP Professional, 14″ widescreen, Pentium M 1.86 GHz, 1 GB RAM, DVD Burner?, Wireless ABG/Bluetooth, 5.5 lbs?

Needless to say I don’t know which to buy.
I’m leaning towards the ASUS.
But…

ARGH!!!