How do I tell the wife?

[tspin46]

😕How do I tell the wife that I bought a new expensive notebook when she uses an ACER One (under $300.00) and is quite happy with the results.

I cannot for the life of me come up with any excuse for an expensive notebook. Several under $500.00 notebook do all of the on-line and productivity applications that I am likely to run (including EVE-online), how do I tell her I need a $1,500.00 or more expensive notebook.

In other words why spend more than $500.00 on a notebook for general use?

 

[Rockinacoustic]

Why do you need a $1500 notebook if you admit that you could suffice on a $500 one 😕

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: Rockinacoustic
Why do you need a $1500 notebook if you admit that you could suffice on a $500 one 😕

Yup... I'm a huge fan of cheap laptops. I consider them disposable, and buy accordingly. I'll never pay more than $700 for a laptop, and $500 or less is my preferred price point.

 

[mxnerd]

If you don't need a big screen with high resolution (like 1680x1050 or 1920x1200), or needs a lot of memory running several program or big hard drive storing tons of data, or play demanding game, then yep, I don't see why you need $1500 laptop.

If you really need more desktop space, buy a cheap laptop $500-$800 and hook up a large 2nd monitor. I just get an 22" monitor for $170.

Need more HD? Buy and external 3.5" USB HD, and put less used data on it. Price tag? under $120. Fry's now have Buffalo 1T USB HD for only $109.
http://frys-electronics-ads.com/ads/2009/01/16/40092/Buffalo-1TB-Turbo-USB-2-0-External-Hard-Drive

 

[tspin46]

Originally posted by: mxnerd
If you don't need a big screen with high resolution (like 1680x1050 or 1920x1200), or needs a lot of memory running several program or big hard drive storing tons of data, or play demanding game, then yep, I don't see why you need $1500 laptop.

------

My old Latitude D-610 with 1680 X 1050 resolution died (sob). I never really found any use for the high resolution on the laptop (my eyes are failing like every other 50 year old) and I was just searching for laptop by specifications, using the old D-610 as a basis.

I chickened out and bought an Acer Aspire with 14.1 inch wide XVGA screen, T3400 dual core CPU, 2 gig of memory, 801.1b/g/n wireless and 250 gig hard drive for $450.00. It seems to do everything that the D-610 did, and to my poor eyes, the display looks better.

My question was a general why for the high end laptops that every one seems to want.

Freedom from obsolescence is the very worst reason that I have found, since today's $500.00 laptop blows (almost) every three year old $2,500.00 laptop out of the water. It seems to me that you can buy for current use and if in the future you need more speed/storage/memory/cores/name-it you can buy another $500 laptop and you will still be ahead of buying a big bucks computer now. Not to mention that most of the high end/high resolution applications really will work better on a desk top.

 

[lxskllr]

Good choice, and I agree with all of your points. There's a very select group of people that are well served by high end laptops, but I think most would be better off with low end machine, and supplementing that with a decent desktop if need be.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

Originally posted by: tspin46

Originally posted by: mxnerd
If you don't need a big screen with high resolution (like 1680x1050 or 1920x1200), or needs a lot of memory running several program or big hard drive storing tons of data, or play demanding game, then yep, I don't see why you need $1500 laptop.

------

My old Latitude D-610 with 1680 X 1050 resolution died (sob). I never really found any use for the high resolution on the laptop (my eyes are failing like every other 50 year old) and I was just searching for laptop by specifications, using the old D-610 as a basis.

I chickened out and bought an Acer Aspire with 14.1 inch wide XVGA screen, T3400 dual core CPU, 2 gig of memory, 801.1b/g/n wireless and 250 gig hard drive for $450.00. It seems to do everything that the D-610 did, and to my poor eyes, the display looks better.

My question was a general why for the high end laptops that every one seems to want.

Freedom from obsolescence is the very worst reason that I have found, since today's $500.00 laptop blows (almost) every three year old $2,500.00 laptop out of the water. It seems to me that you can buy for current use and if in the future you need more speed/storage/memory/cores/name-it you can buy another $500 laptop and you will still be ahead of buying a big bucks computer now. Not to mention that most of the high end/high resolution applications really will work better on a desk top.

This is true. It is certainly a buyers market for hardware now. Hell, my Inspiron e1505 is less than three years old yet your Acer will outperform it for more than half what I paid for it. The only reason I could see investing upwards of $1000 dollars on a Laptop is if you need the dedicated graphics (be it for rendering or gaming). It's the only component that not an easy upgrade to the average user or tech.

Of course desktops run a cheaper price, but some people need the portability.

 

[DaveSimmons]

There is no good reason for you to do it, you can even find dual-core models under $500 if you hunt for deals.

Put the money towards paying off your debt, or if you're debt-free put it into high-interest savings somewhere like INGDirect.

 

[recoil80]

Originally posted by: tspin46
😕How do I tell the wife that I bought a new expensive notebook when she uses an ACER One (under $300.00) and is quite happy with the results.

I cannot for the life of me come up with any excuse for an expensive notebook. Several under $500.00 notebook do all of the on-line and productivity applications that I am likely to run (including EVE-online), how do I tell her I need a $1,500.00 or more expensive notebook.

In other words why spend more than $500.00 on a notebook for general use?

Which model would you like to buy?
Is it a Mac? Otherwise I think you can find something very good with 600 or 700$...

 

[heymrdj]

I'm quite happy to stroke my e-penis to my HP9550t that cost me 3200$ 😀. But then again, I needed the largest dedicated graphics chip, the largest mobile processor, 4GB of ram (which i added myself because HP rapes on RAM prices), and 2 HD's. The shortside of this is it runs *incredibly* hot, even in the 800mhz "powersaver" mode it's cooking in your lap. I now wish I could afford something that would serve me just for internet browsing. Considering maybe a cheap 200$ refurb desktop to run here in my room and just keep my laptop for on the go. What I really need though is to stop using my tv for a second "fuzzy" monitor and get a real 22" LCD screen.

Oh well I'm done thread crapping now 🙂. If you missed the point, I was trying to say big bad laptops aren't all their cracked up to be. If all you do is officework and multitask, get a cheap one with little processing power that will run cool, make sure it supports 4GB of RAM, then when you get it, go immediately to newegg, by one of the 80$ 4GB laptop RAM kits (I got mine from OCZ, 2x2GB DDR2-800 SODIMM), and change the ram out. You'll have a system that's badass for office work, online flash games, ect that doesn't cook your future generation inside your genetalia 🙂.

 

[wwswimming]

how's this for temptation

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834147924

HP HDX 18-1180US NoteBook Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000(2.00GHz) 18.4" 4GB Memory 500GB HDD 5400rpm BD Combo NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT - Retail

$1849.

maybe it will help if you name your computer after your wife.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

i love cheap laptops, i'm had my current $400 toshiba m55-s1001 for almost 3 years now. next laptop i'll buy will either be another cheap laptop or a netbook.

 

[heymrdj]

Originally posted by: wwswimming
how's this for temptation

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834147924

HP HDX 18-1180US NoteBook Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000(2.00GHz) 18.4" 4GB Memory 500GB HDD 5400rpm BD Combo NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT - Retail

$1849.

maybe it will help if you name your computer after your wife.

I got hard...

 

[mxnerd]

Originally posted by: wwswimming
how's this for temptation

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834147924

HP HDX 18-1180US NoteBook Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000(2.00GHz) 18.4" 4GB Memory 500GB HDD 5400rpm BD Combo NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT - Retail

$1849.

maybe it will help if you name your computer after your wife.

With that money for that 18" desktop replacement, he can buy 2 1920x1200 28" LCD monitor like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824254026

plus a decent desktop. Yet he gets to keep his 2 LCD monitors for several years.

 

[heymrdj]

Originally posted by: mxnerd

Originally posted by: wwswimming
how's this for temptation

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834147924

HP HDX 18-1180US NoteBook Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000(2.00GHz) 18.4" 4GB Memory 500GB HDD 5400rpm BD Combo NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT - Retail

$1849.

maybe it will help if you name your computer after your wife.

With that money for that 18" desktop replacement, he can buy 2 1920x1200 28" LCD monitor like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824254026

plus a decent desktop. Yet he gets to keep his 2 LCD monitors for several years.

You can't move a desktop around.

 

[mxnerd]

Originally posted by: heymrdj

You can't move a desktop around.

I know. 🙂

I just can't see the reason to buy a "laptop" that is as big as 18".

Unless someone is a CAD engineer or architect and is on the go, I really don't think average people need and should spend that kind of money. You will throw away hard earned money, create lots of toxic waste every few years, and put a huge burden on the environment.

 

[heymrdj]

Originally posted by: mxnerd

Originally posted by: heymrdj

You can't move a desktop around.

I know. 🙂

I just can't see the reason to buy a "laptop" that is as big as 18".

Unless someone is a CAD engineer or architect and is on the go, I really don't think average people need and should spend that kind of money. You will throw away hard earned money, create lots of toxic waste every few years, and put a huge burden on the environment.

I use it for VM serving, gaming, and art with the tablet. As for the environment thing, meh.

 

[tspin46]

I think that the answer to my original question is that I can't justify anything more that a $500.00 laptop. In fact most of us can't justify the laptops that we lust after.

The old adage that the computer that you want always costs $5,000.00. is still alive and kicking, the only problem is it is getting harder and harder to find one for that much.

On the other hand there is always that Cray super desktop {http://www.cray.com/products/CX1.aspx}...

 

[heymrdj]

Originally posted by: tspin46
I think that the answer to my original question is that I can't justify anything more that a $500.00 laptop. In fact most of us can't justify the laptops that we lust after.

The old adage that the computer that you want always costs $5,000.00. is still alive and kicking, the only problem is it is getting harder and harder to find one for that much.

On the other hand there is always that Cray super desktop {http://www.cray.com/products/CX1.aspx}...

Do they make it in a laptop 😀

 

[Inspector Jihad]

Originally posted by: heymrdj

Originally posted by: mxnerd

Originally posted by: wwswimming
how's this for temptation

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834147924

HP HDX 18-1180US NoteBook Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000(2.00GHz) 18.4" 4GB Memory 500GB HDD 5400rpm BD Combo NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT - Retail

$1849.

maybe it will help if you name your computer after your wife.

With that money for that 18" desktop replacement, he can buy 2 1920x1200 28" LCD monitor like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824254026

plus a decent desktop. Yet he gets to keep his 2 LCD monitors for several years.

You can't move a desktop around.

you can barely move that thing around 😉

 

[heymrdj]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad

Originally posted by: heymrdj

Originally posted by: mxnerd

Originally posted by: wwswimming
how's this for temptation

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834147924

HP HDX 18-1180US NoteBook Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000(2.00GHz) 18.4" 4GB Memory 500GB HDD 5400rpm BD Combo NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT - Retail

$1849.

maybe it will help if you name your computer after your wife.

With that money for that 18" desktop replacement, he can buy 2 1920x1200 28" LCD monitor like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824254026

plus a decent desktop. Yet he gets to keep his 2 LCD monitors for several years.

You can't move a desktop around.

you can barely move that thing around 😉

Aww cmon now. I carried around the 20" HDX when it came out for a day. It wasn't that bad with the briefcase handle 🙂.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: lxskllr
There's a very select group of people that are well served by high end laptops,

Yo. I want a high powered laptop when I visit family. I can't well lug my desktop across conus, can I?

I will be getting a Sager NP 8660 around Marchish. ~2400 USD

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: Bateluer

Originally posted by: lxskllr
There's a very select group of people that are well served by high end laptops,

Yo. I want a high powered laptop when I visit family. I can't well lug my desktop across conus, can I?

I will be getting a Sager NP 8660 around Marchish. ~2400 USD

Sounds like a lot of money for limited utility to me :shrugs: It's your dough, but I think I'd haul the desktop, or build a sff system for traveling horsepower.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: lxskllr

Originally posted by: Bateluer

Originally posted by: lxskllr
There's a very select group of people that are well served by high end laptops,

Yo. I want a high powered laptop when I visit family. I can't well lug my desktop across conus, can I?

I will be getting a Sager NP 8660 around Marchish. ~2400 USD

Sounds like a lot of money for limited utility to me :shrugs: It's your dough, but I think I'd haul the desktop, or build a sff system for traveling horsepower.

An SFF system might work better, but I'd still have to lug a display over the air ways. Since they charge extra fees for weight, extra baggage, etc, the notebook is still the way to go. It gets use at home a great deal as well, but my primary machine at home is definitely the desktop.

 

[wwswimming]

i think the best strategy (if you can afford it) is to buy the computer of your dreams, and,
as soon as it is delivered, initiate 1 or more QBX' (quality bedroom experience's).

if all goes well, your wife might buy you a gift card to the etailer of your choice.