A few years ago, I added two items to my list of common advice that I give.
1. Don’t let your kids fix your computer, no matter how old they are or who they work for.
2. Blood relation does not equal computer expertise.
I know that this makes me sound arrogant at times, but my first appointment this morning was a case in point.
It was a simple enough job, I was to setup a laptop and get it online. My client didn’t need any information transferred or any special tutoring, she just needed someone to tackle the initial setup with confidence.
Since this was my client’s first laptop she had consulted me a number of times about what to get and what to spend. Since Christmas, I had told her about a few good deals that were in the paper.
Essentially I told her that brand wasn’t important and she shouldn’t have to spend more than $700 including shipping or tax since all she needed was something for email and a journal while she was traveling. I told her to make sure it had wireless and at least 512 MB of RAM.
Her son in law knew she was looking for laptops and told her about a good deal that a friend of his had lined up. She didn’t know the specs of the laptop, but she went on her son’s advice that it was a “good” laptop since he worked for a big computer company.
(At this point refer to my two points of advice at the top.)
The machine she received was a custom built (home built kit) that had a Pentium III processor, no wireless, a 40 gig hard drive and only 256MB of RAM. She paid $569 – and it had a “Reason for Return” sticker on it from when it had been purchased previously.
I told her that she could have got a better deal with her money, but we could make it work. I went to Wal-Mart and bought her a $30 wireless PCMCIA card and brought it back.
When I went to install it, I found that the laptop didn’t even have a PCMCIA slot in it – something that every laptop I have ever seen since the days of Windows 95 has had. At this point I told her that she should research where the laptop came from and try to return it. We looked all over the box but only found one vague website address.
I left without the job completed so she could call her son in law so he could call his friend to find out how she could return the laptop and get something more for her money.
Here are two examples of how much more she could have got for her money:
HP with 512MB RAM, 80GB, DVD BURNER, WIRELESS – $549 (after rebates)
ACER with 512MB RAM, 60 GB, CDRW/DVD, WIRELESS – $679 (after rebates)
Before purchasing a new computer, do some research, know your product and know your price (as Tedd always says).
