DELL finally has a deal!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On Fri, 08 Dec 2006 07:57:29 -0500, Barry Watzman
wrote:

No, this is no deal. It's a crappy Celeron, it's incapable of running


WRONG. It is a deal for the one who values the item. We can't tell
him what is and is not important to HIM. For example, say I was
shopping for a Toyota and they told me that for another $50, you can
have a sunroof. Probably for most, this is a good buy but suppose I
said I'll never use it so $50 is not worth it to me. In my case I am
right but yet for others, probably not. Ok, you mention or someone
else mentions obsolescence but that again depends on how you use it.
If you never upgrade software and it fits your needs years from now,
it's not obsolete.

Inotherwords we shouldn't tell a willing and able buyer what is or
isn't a deal. Sure nothing wrong in saying for another $$$ you can
get xxxxxx but for that buyer, perhaps not worth it.

Perhaps the mistake (I use this term loosely) is that the buyer asks
our opinion of the deal but doesn't realize our values are different
than his/hers.

Disclaimer: I haven't looked at the item in question but I think any
new laptop under $500 is worth considering at first. For some the
additional $150 at that moment, may not be worth the difference in
potential use. And for some, the difference in money is better saved
for the next system. Depends on your values and budget.

On Fri, 08 Dec 2006 12:13:28 -0500, Barry Watzman
wrote:

Correct; but it does not write DVDs, which I consider essential for
everyone. Not to make "movies", but to backup your data.


Again, I disagree if you have a PC. Some will want to do their heavy
work on the pc and consider the laptop for the portability factor not
workload. Of course not every agrees with me but to say for
"everyone" I think is wrong !! BTW, you don't have to have a DVD to
back up data.

RnR wrote in message
On Fri, 08 Dec 2006 07:57:29 -0500, Barry Watzman
wrote:

No, this is no deal. It's a crappy Celeron, it's incapable of
running


WRONG. It is a deal for the one who values the item. We can't tell
him what is and is not important to HIM. For example, say I was
shopping for a Toyota and they told me that for another $50, you can
have a sunroof. Probably for most, this is a good buy but suppose I
said I'll never use it so $50 is not worth it to me. In my case I am
right but yet for others, probably not. Ok, you mention or someone
else mentions obsolescence but that again depends on how you use it.
If you never upgrade software and it fits your needs years from now,
it's not obsolete.

Inotherwords we shouldn't tell a willing and able buyer what is or
isn't a deal. Sure nothing wrong in saying for another $$$ you can
get xxxxxx but for that buyer, perhaps not worth it.

Perhaps the mistake (I use this term loosely) is that the buyer asks
our opinion of the deal but doesn't realize our values are different
than his/hers.

Disclaimer: I haven't looked at the item in question but I think any
new laptop under $500 is worth considering at first. For some the
additional $150 at that moment, may not be worth the difference in
potential use. And for some, the difference in money is better saved
for the next system. Depends on your values and budget.

I like the way you think!

--
Bill

RnR wrote in message
On Fri, 08 Dec 2006 12:13:28 -0500, Barry Watzman
wrote:

Correct; but it does not write DVDs, which I consider essential for
everyone. Not to make "movies", but to backup your data.

Again, I disagree if you have a PC. Some will want to do their heavy
work on the pc and consider the laptop for the portability factor not
workload. Of course not every agrees with me but to say for
"everyone" I think is wrong !! BTW, you don't have to have a DVD to
back up data.

You are so right! My favorite is on external HDs. They are so fast and
reliable. And no disc swapping!

--
Bill

On Fri, 8 Dec 2006 09:16:05 -0600, "BillW50" wrote:

Okay Barry, you made your point. But I was referring to in general. CPUs
don't make a hill of beans difference to me, nor most people. If you
want more speed, buy RAM. And if that isn't enough speed for you, buy a
faster HD. Both is far better for more bang for your buck than shopping
for faster CPUs anyway.

In my experience, having had Pentium-M's at a variety of speeds, from
1.3 Ghz up to 2 Ghz, the CPU made quite a difference. Note that was
through various P-M's with different levels of cache and other
technologies.

It depends quite a bit on what you are going to use the laptop for.

If I were to buy now I would want a Core 2 Duo at the 1.8Ghz or above.
I would want the 1g RAM to be 1 DIMM, and I would want the faster hard
drive, now that capacity is up to around 100g.

"It is a deal for the one who values the item."

No it's still not a good deal, because for what you are getting, $499 is
still too much money. There have been a dozen deals offering laptops
comparable to that one for $399 and even $299 in the past 6 weeks.

This is a not-very-good computer at a low but still too-high price
relative to what you are getting.


RnR wrote:
On Fri, 08 Dec 2006 07:57:29 -0500, Barry Watzman
wrote:

No, this is no deal. It's a crappy Celeron, it's incapable of running


WRONG. It is a deal for the one who values the item. We can't tell
him what is and is not important to HIM. For example, say I was
shopping for a Toyota and they told me that for another $50, you can
have a sunroof. Probably for most, this is a good buy but suppose I
said I'll never use it so $50 is not worth it to me. In my case I am
right but yet for others, probably not. Ok, you mention or someone
else mentions obsolescence but that again depends on how you use it.
If you never upgrade software and it fits your needs years from now,
it's not obsolete.

Inotherwords we shouldn't tell a willing and able buyer what is or
isn't a deal. Sure nothing wrong in saying for another $$$ you can
get xxxxxx but for that buyer, perhaps not worth it.

Perhaps the mistake (I use this term loosely) is that the buyer asks
our opinion of the deal but doesn't realize our values are different
than his/hers.

Disclaimer: I haven't looked at the item in question but I think any
new laptop under $500 is worth considering at first. For some the
additional $150 at that moment, may not be worth the difference in
potential use. And for some, the difference in money is better saved
for the next system. Depends on your values and budget.

"Barry Watzman" wrote in message

"CPUs don't make a hill of beans difference to me"

Can't argue with you about what matters to you.

"nor most people"

There I take issue with you. In fact I'd go so far as to say that it
matters even to most people for whom it really shouldn't. A Celeron
is truly inadequate for many people (no need to quibble about how
many), but even for many of the rest, it's unacceptable even if it
shouldn't be.
And you really clearly don't get my point about Media Center, because
it's NOT about Media Center, but about the fact that you are BOTH
getting Pro for the price of Home AND you are going to save almost
$200 when you get the Vista upgrade (which you should do, even if
only for the day when you go to resell the computer).

OMG! My CPU usage is up to 58% while I am typing this and recording
video from my USB TV tuner. Geez! Maybe I need more CPU power, not! lol
Yes people are fooled by all of the marketing hype and they (most
people) only believe they do. grin

No I didn't miss the point at all. I don't believe most home users need
MCE (let's call it MS Bob 2005) or the Pro version. Nor do they need
Vista either. Although many will buy into the marketing hype and will
want it anyway.

But thank goodness for the ones that do. As this makes all of the
technology they don't want as dirt cheap. Here is where guys like me
come in and buy it for next to nothing. grin

--
Bill

"journey" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 8 Dec 2006 09:16:05 -0600, "BillW50" wrote:

Okay Barry, you made your point. But I was referring to in general.
CPUs don't make a hill of beans difference to me, nor most people.
If you want more speed, buy RAM. And if that isn't enough speed for
you, buy a faster HD. Both is far better for more bang for your buck
than shopping for faster CPUs anyway.

In my experience, having had Pentium-M's at a variety of speeds, from
1.3 Ghz up to 2 Ghz, the CPU made quite a difference. Note that was
through various P-M's with different levels of cache and other
technologies.

It depends quite a bit on what you are going to use the laptop for.

If I were to buy now I would want a Core 2 Duo at the 1.8Ghz or above.
I would want the 1g RAM to be 1 DIMM, and I would want the faster hard
drive, now that capacity is up to around 100g.

Thank you! I love it when people spend their money on expensive
computers. As it drops the cheapies that much lower. grin

--
Bill

"Barry Watzman" wrote in message
...
"It is a deal for the one who values the item."

No it's still not a good deal, because for what you are getting, $499 is still too
much money. There have been a dozen deals offering laptops comparable to that one
for $399 and even $299 in the past 6 weeks.

This is a not-very-good computer at a low but still too-high price relative to what
you are getting.


If the person is happy with it then it *is* a good deal to that person
(even if ONLY to that person) no matter what else is available.

Tom Lake

On Fri, 8 Dec 2006 12:07:33 -0600, "BillW50" wrote:

Thank you! I love it when people spend their money on expensive
computers. As it drops the cheapies that much lower. grin

--
Bill

I didn't say it would be expensive. If the $750 off comes out it will
be a good value with respect to the hardware -- basically, the coupon
let's me add things like extended warranty. If you were to add that
to your minimilistic system, the price wouldn't be that much more.
Also, at resale time you will be able to get more for it -- maybe a
few hudred vs. your desktop paperweight.