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

On Fri, 08 Dec 2006 13:00:02 -0500, Barry Watzman
wrote:

"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.



Define "comparable" ? Unless it's identical, I can't necessarily
agree with you.

"journey" wrote in message

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

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.

That's great! I still like my cheapies! I rather have 2 cheapy computers
than one expensive computer any day. grin

--
Bill

Basically, they have been HP and Compaq models with similar or better
specs. No non-Dell computer is going to be identical. But the B130 is
pretty low-end, especially for December 2006 (e.g. Intel GMA900 might
have been ok a year ago, but in December 2006, they are just using up
inventories of a part that is no longer made, having been supplanted by
parts with GMA950. But that's a huge difference, because GMA950 will
run Vista with Aero/Glass, GMA900 will not).



RnR wrote:
On Fri, 08 Dec 2006 13:00:02 -0500, Barry Watzman
wrote:

"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.

Define "comparable" ? Unless it's identical, I can't necessarily
agree with you.

On Fri, 8 Dec 2006 12:04:29 -0600, "BillW50" wrote:

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.

MCE and Pro allow remote desktop, which enables me to tap into my
desktop computer via my notebook from wherever I am. Also, if one is
a developer or web programming student, there are some features they
would need on Pro. Otherwise, you're right -- many people don't need
MCE or Pro. Even if they want to have TV media features, there is
good hardware that will run on Home with no problem.

I agree with you about people not necessarily needing Vista if they
currently are running XP. Migrating to XP was more important because
it's much more stable than prior versions of Windows. I don't know
what the draw will be (for me) for Vista. I'm concerned that MS is
going to leverage its monopoly to slowly take over other segments. For
example, its replacement for Media Player may get closer to iTunes in
features, and since the MS version will come pre-installed, MS has
built-in marketing for their media player (descendents of Zune, which
is a really stupid-sounding name -- they could have come up with
something better than that).

For me, saying that XP will be fine and that I won't want to upgrade
to Vista is under the category of "famous last words". It's likely
that I will end up with a Vista laptop along with my current XP MCE
desktop.

On Fri, 08 Dec 2006 11:40:01 -0600, RnR wrote:

Some will want to do their heavy
work on the pc and consider the laptop for the portability factor not
workload.

Yes -- I would go with a 12" laptop but unfortunately it's XPS and
much more expensive. Portability and high battery life are the main
concerns for me righ tnow.

On Fri, 8 Dec 2006 11:51:35 -0600, "BillW50" wrote:

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

I have never backed up to DVD, but I really should backup my important
data to DVD and store it in a place other than my apartment such as a
safe deposit box.

Otherwise, I use externals, but if the externals are in the same place
as the computer, then there is no protection against things like fire.

Some of the externals like the Iomega silver would probably fit in
most safe deposit boxes so that's an option if a _lot_ of data would
need to be backed up.

I never back up my system state, only my important data. If my
system's hard drive goes bad I just consider it an opportunity to
start clean again.

I recommend a program like Second Copy to automate the backup of
important data, and to review the backed up data occasionally to make
sure that it's working as it should. With programs like that pay
close attention to what happens when data is deleted. I choose the
option that if data is deleted from the primary drive, then it's
automatically deleted from the backup, but the deleted information is
put on a 3rd drive.

On Fri, 08 Dec 2006 18:10:51 GMT, "Tom Lake"
wrote:

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

Yep -- this is the bottom line.

"journey" wrote in message

On Fri, 08 Dec 2006 11:40:01 -0600, RnR wrote:

Some will want to do their heavy
work on the pc and consider the laptop for the portability factor not
workload.

Yes -- I would go with a 12" laptop but unfortunately it's XPS and
much more expensive. Portability and high battery life are the main
concerns for me righ tnow.

Oh that is important to me when I don't want to lug my laptop around
(most of the time). So I grab my PDA and put it in my pocket. If I will
need a full size keyboard, I put that (it is a folding one) in my other
pocket. I think it will run 12 hours straight on a charge, but I usually
need to charge it only weekly. grin

--
Bill

"journey" wrote in message

On Fri, 8 Dec 2006 11:51:35 -0600, "BillW50" wrote:

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

I have never backed up to DVD, but I really should backup my important
data to DVD and store it in a place other than my apartment such as a
safe deposit box.

Otherwise, I use externals, but if the externals are in the same place
as the computer, then there is no protection against things like fire.

Some of the externals like the Iomega silver would probably fit in
most safe deposit boxes so that's an option if a _lot_ of data would
need to be backed up.

I never back up my system state, only my important data. If my
system's hard drive goes bad I just consider it an opportunity to
start clean again.

I recommend a program like Second Copy to automate the backup of
important data, and to review the backed up data occasionally to make
sure that it's working as it should. With programs like that pay
close attention to what happens when data is deleted. I choose the
option that if data is deleted from the primary drive, then it's
automatically deleted from the backup, but the deleted information is
put on a 3rd drive.

Oh I don't know? I don't worry about having a backup do to a fire,
because if I ever did have a fire, my backup would be the last thing I
would worry about. I don't know anybody personally and I never had a
fire. So I don't think it is anything to worry about yet. I do stock up
on fire extinguishes though. grin

--
Bill

it is unrealistic to compare this or any offer to the black friday offers of
$299 and $399 that only exist for the first dozen or so people that get to
the store at 4am to wait in line for the 5am opening... and often just leave
disappointed. as far as other offers that are readily available i only see
a comparable model right now offered at staples. for $549 (after rebate)
you can get a lenevo 3000 with celeron/412mb/40gb/cdrw-dvdrom/15"non-wide
screen... i think this low end dell deal beats that in price and
configuration, but since you can't walk home with it today i am sure there
are people that will indeed go to staples and pick up the lenevo and fill
out their rebate forms. what other *current* deals do you see?

"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.


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.