So, this is what a cash representation of the now-departed Toshiba NB205 looks like - a half inch thick stack of bills. Thank you Staples, for adding another step to my return process - putting the money back into the bank. (Who the heck authorized a return in CASH? It was a $430 computer, for God's sake! What would they have done if I had bought a real laptop? Given me a shopping bag full of $20 bills?) Mercifully, the rest of the return went quickly and smoothly. "Was there a problem with the unit, sir? Why are you choosing to return it?" Me: "Uhh, no, the unit is fine. But in order processing sucks, so I decided to return the Atom-based netbook to purchase a notebook with a real processor." Yeah, she just gave me a weird look. Maybe I'm too much of a nerd for my own good health.
Anyways, for better (probably) or for worse (probably not, though, I just traded in a Toshiba for an Acer - oh god), the Toshiba is gone. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't very good and overpriced by a ways. Let's try scaling netbook pricing down by a good 30-40% and see where we are then.
J&R.com has no idea when the 1410T units are coming (much less shipping), and as of the second day of preorder, there were over 2000 preorders, mine among them. I'm hoping before the end of September, but if something nicer comes out, I think I'll have no qualms canceling. I've been an Acer hater for so long, but I feel oddly optimistic that the build quality in the new Timeline series won't suck as much as Acer quality has in the past. Still, the thought of having bought an Acer and actually being eager for it to arrive is a very foreign concept to me. I've tended to hate Toshiba's too, but I actually didn't mind the NB205 - my returning it is more a result of me questioning the netbook market as a whole and nothing really personal to the device. I will admit, the Dell 11z made me question my 1410T decision for a full quarter of a second before realizing that I definitely got the better deal. Celeron processor, not-full-size keyboard, Dell's famously ludicrous option pricing ($150 for a 6 cell battery??!!!!), tax - yeah, no, I think I'm fine, thanks. However, that new HP 11.6" CULV notebook that's supposed to come out soon....I might have to consider that one, so long as HP takes themselves seriously and makes it reasonably priced (unlike the dv2z, which, as the AMD alternative to CULV, looks pretty bad now).
Haha, you're too much of a nerd for your own good. OfficeMax: "Sir, why are taking this back?!"
I'm curious to if you received the Acer 1410 or not. I recently ordered on this (a red one) past week after stumbling on a deal that was too good to be true with J&R and BING cash back. (Came to $370 after %'s off....no tax or shipping.)
According to Amazon, it seems that a lot of people like the unit. The price is excellent (even at $450) and the resolution coupled with a much better processor is quite a deal. So, what are your thoughts on the unit if you still have it and haven't returned it. I really like the new design of the Timeline series, I can understand how they've come the #2 PC manufacturer word wide for the third quarter.
Posted by: Josh | October 17, 2009 at 06:36 PM