So Little, Yet So Much

It is extremely difficult being a nerdy goof that loves techie things when you are on a tight budget. You begin to try and find the simplest of gadgets to feed your addition. For example, I recently got a pen with a laser pointer at a conference. I play with it almost every day, as my coworkers who sit near me will testify.

However, recently, one person's misfortune proved to be my gain. As many have read, Circuit City is closing their doors. As a result, they are liquidating inventory. Now, typically, when a company liquidates, it means they mark everything up 20%, then take 10% off. But occasionally, you will find a deal.

Last weekend I found a deal!!

I have been planning to save for a real cool new laptop...a Macbook Air. But, as Chris will testify, I am not strong on discipline. In fact, I am incredibly weak.

So, last week I decided to stroll through the local CC to look for any bargains. As I walked around the PC's, trying out some HP's with 8 freakin gigs of RAM, I happened upon a small laptop. In the news, these are called Netbooks. This one was from Lenovo, had 1 gig of memory, a 10.2" screen and a 160 gig hard drive. Pretty descent numbers.

I played with it for a while, then walked away. Out of sight did not translate into our of mind. I ended up spending about 3 hours that night seeing if the price was a good deal. To my surprise, the machine had good reviews, and was marked down about $65....likely because it was an open box model.

So, a day later I went back to CC to try it out some more. Since it was still there, I was able to give it a few WHW tests (tested things such as Paint, spelling Shell Oil with the calculator, and made sure the sound worked). Then I walked away again.

Next work day, a coworker, at my request, brought in their netbook (a different brand, but a similar machine). I tried it out again (this one had been loaded with Windows 7). Again, very pleased with the response, the display, and the overall convenience of it.

Next day, I went to lunch with my wife and three of our kids. I let the kids pick a restaurant, and they picked one across the street from the Circuit City!! As we ate, I explained what a great deal it was to everyone (not directly approaching the keeper of Quicken for our family). All seemed in agreement that I should buy the laptop.

So, after eating I made the big buy!! The machine is extremely cool. When coupled with my Flip Camera, I now possess enough neat techie stuff to last at least through July.

Here are some pics of my new laptop:

My new laptop next to my old workhorse (same memory in both, the new one has larger hard drive)




Here's my new on sitting on top of my old one.



Here is my new one, in all its new glory.....