Flutterby™! : Laptop Shopping 2007-08-15 03:53:13.388248+00

Laptop Shopping

2007-08-15 03:53:13.388248+00 by Dan Lyke 8 comments

Got an HP Pavilion dv6000 (or, as it says on the sticker on the bottom, dv6452se). The process, however... So, we're going to San Rafael, we know, barring anything really weird, we're going to spend a thousand dollars, this evening. This is the attitude with which we walk into each store.

First we went to Best Buy. Looked at various computers they had, best selection, was approached by a completely computer ignorant salesperson who got all huffy when I asked about checking for Linux compatibility (and had not heard of Linux). We said "well, if we can't check we should go elsewhere", he said "yes, you probably should".

Went to CompUSA. Got somewhat computer ignorant person who promised to go find more knowledgeable salesperson to help us out. Waited while browsing computers. None of the computers really excited us, but still we waited. Eventually we gave up.

Went to Staples. Really lousy selection of computers.

Went to Office Depot. Looked at computers. Guy came up, asked if we could help. We asked if we could run a Linux live CD to check browser compatibility. He said "sure". We talked computers for a bit, he was a user, but he'd heard of Linux. He left us alone. We booted Ubuntu on various computers, played around for a bit, settled on the HP. Yay for Office Depot San Rafael. And, come to think of it, two of my four laptops have come from there...

Congrats on the new tool/toy! I've know several people with these (dv6xxx) and they've been happy.

Yeah. Office Depot seems to hit a sweet spot in "just knowledgeable enough to stay out of my way" around here, too.

Hmmm... I guess you didn't read my comment... I've got an HP dv60000 - it's a "dv6451". It's not that it's a bad machine - it's just that at least two of the components - the wireless card and the DVD drive - don't work as well as my Toshiba. Granted, the Toshiba has a slightly "cheaper" feel to it (plastics are a little thinner). But I'll likely stick to Toshiba for future purchases.

And I'm a big fan of Office Depot. I on there "worklife rewards" program and get their coupons in the mail. Sometimes they are pretty sweet - like $20 off a $40 purchase. I don't go in Circuit City or Best Buy anymore. Those places are more annoying than anything else. CompUSA is better but not as good as they could be.

I tried Ubuntu on the various Toshibas there and had issues, which is why I went with the HP. There was one that looked great, ATI graphics, Atheron wifi, so on and so forth, but Ubuntu horked up a lot of hairballs on startup.

And if you ever decide you want me to get you an employee discount on the ones I can get from my employer, just let me know. I just purchased two as off-to-college equipment for the young 'uns, they are VERY happy.

I'll see how it works. As much as I malign the Best Buy guys, Alec has been doing the Geek Squad thing recently and he said HP and Toshiba are the ones he sees least.

Just bought a new HP. Note to anyone using an HP laptop (and possibly others) with Vista, do NOT switch to the display driver offered by Windows Update. It makes it seem like your machine locked up on you.

Another note about my HP: Speedfan is reporting scary CPU temperature numbers. Researching the problem says that too-high readings seems to be a common problem for HP laptops.