http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=23655

YKhan wrote:

> http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=23655

Is that supposed to be journalism, or is it just some random blog?

On 2 Jun 2005 13:54:03 -0700, "YKhan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=23655

Why would one go to Lenovo direct sales for a notebook? - even IBM's direct
sales were always mostly 1-2 weeks delivery. Just go to NewEgg or CDW and
you can have a Thinkpad P-M 1.7 or 1.8 the next day. In a recent
emergency, I had one in my hands about 15hrs after ordering on-line at CDW
- price was just a few $$ higher than the IBM site... less than the sales
tax.

--
Rgds, George Macdonald

On Fri, 03 Jun 2005 00:01:06 +0200, Grumble <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>YKhan wrote:
>
>> http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=23655
>
>Is that supposed to be journalism, or is it just some random blog?

Aw, c'mon. News hacks gotta eat, too. Without rumor and speculation,
where would The Inquirer be?

RM

On Thu, 02 Jun 2005 18:41:14 -0400, George Macdonald
<fammacd=!SPAM^(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On 2 Jun 2005 13:54:03 -0700, "YKhan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=23655
>
>Why would one go to Lenovo direct sales for a notebook? - even IBM's direct
>sales were always mostly 1-2 weeks delivery. Just go to NewEgg or CDW and
>you can have a Thinkpad P-M 1.7 or 1.8 the next day. In a recent
>emergency, I had one in my hands about 15hrs after ordering on-line at CDW
>- price was just a few $$ higher than the IBM site... less than the sales
>tax.

Sage advice. I had pretty good luck with IBM direct sales in the past
but Lenovo was taking forever to get me a new T42. Lenovo definitely
has some problems at present in shipping products. Everything seems to
be out of stock with an indefinite wait.

Since my old T21 was failing and I needed a new system, I cancelled
the Lenovo order and bought from Newegg instead. I received the
ThinkPad (identical model to what I ordered from Lenovo) exactly 29
hours after ordering it. With FedEx 2nd day service, it came out to a
few dollars less than the Lenovo price, but I missed out on the free
Port Replicator that Lenovo was offering. Since I already have a Dock
II and extra power adapters, it wasn't a big loss. CDW and
Computers4sure also had the same model in stock for just a few dollars
more.

BTW, what is this "Thinkbook" mentioned at the end of the Inquirer
article? A cross between a ThinkPad and a PowerBook?? Perhaps a Mac
portable with an Intel processor, or a ThinkPad with a PowerPC
processor (like the still-born "Personal Power" systems)? Or just a
poor excuse for a journalist that can't even get the product names
correct in his concocted story.

On Fri, 03 Jun 2005 05:23:53 GMT, Gary L. <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On Thu, 02 Jun 2005 18:41:14 -0400, George Macdonald
><fammacd=!SPAM^(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>On 2 Jun 2005 13:54:03 -0700, "YKhan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>
>>>http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=23655
>>
>>Why would one go to Lenovo direct sales for a notebook? - even IBM's direct
>>sales were always mostly 1-2 weeks delivery. Just go to NewEgg or CDW and
>>you can have a Thinkpad P-M 1.7 or 1.8 the next day. In a recent
>>emergency, I had one in my hands about 15hrs after ordering on-line at CDW
>>- price was just a few $$ higher than the IBM site... less than the sales
>>tax.
>
>Sage advice. I had pretty good luck with IBM direct sales in the past
>but Lenovo was taking forever to get me a new T42. Lenovo definitely
>has some problems at present in shipping products. Everything seems to
>be out of stock with an indefinite wait.

My experience with IBM direct was so-so: one tolerable and the other got
into a whole mess of double billing.

>Since my old T21 was failing and I needed a new system, I cancelled
>the Lenovo order and bought from Newegg instead. I received the
>ThinkPad (identical model to what I ordered from Lenovo) exactly 29
>hours after ordering it. With FedEx 2nd day service, it came out to a
>few dollars less than the Lenovo price, but I missed out on the free
>Port Replicator that Lenovo was offering. Since I already have a Dock
>II and extra power adapters, it wasn't a big loss. CDW and
>Computers4sure also had the same model in stock for just a few dollars
>more.

On the subject of NewEgg, I just noticed during an ordering session
yesterday that the shipping charges seem to be creeping up, e.g. $5.50 for
a mouse... higher than some of the mice.:-) That's ridiculous - I'll pop
down to CompUSA or Best Buy and pick up mouse & keyboard I know I like.

I'm getting quite confused by some of the stuff going on at NewEgg just now
and I hope it's not the start of the (inevitable) rot setting in. While my
recent experience, in buying a Samsung 920T 19" LCD, was extremely
pleasant, it almost seemed like someone made a major blunder: this monitor
lists for $730. and at most on-line vendors it can be had for $600. +/- a
few $$. NewEgg was selling it for $419. and it's now out of stock - that
really seems like a mistake rather than just aggressive pricing.

>BTW, what is this "Thinkbook" mentioned at the end of the Inquirer
>article? A cross between a ThinkPad and a PowerBook?? Perhaps a Mac
>portable with an Intel processor, or a ThinkPad with a PowerPC
>processor (like the still-born "Personal Power" systems)? Or just a
>poor excuse for a journalist that can't even get the product names
>correct in his concocted story.

What I read from it is that for AMD CPUs they're going to use the brand
name Thinkbook - hope it's not bowing to Intel pressure to target the "home
market" with AMD and leave the business-oriented Thinkpads as Intel only.
There have also been rumors for a while of an IBM Thinkbook which would run
the Mac OS - dunno where it fits in there.

--
Rgds, George Macdonald

On Fri, 03 Jun 2005 19:38:58 -0400, George Macdonald
<fammacd=!SPAM^(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

[snip]

>On the subject of NewEgg, I just noticed during an ordering session
>yesterday that the shipping charges seem to be creeping up, e.g. $5.50 for
>a mouse... higher than some of the mice.:-) That's ridiculous - I'll pop
>down to CompUSA or Best Buy and pick up mouse & keyboard I know I like.

Shipping costs in general have been on the rise. When the seller pays
the shipping you don't really notice, but Newegg does charge for
shipping. It simply has to be factored into the deal. Driving to the
store involves costs as well, including gas and the value of your time
spent driving.

[snip]

>>BTW, what is this "Thinkbook" mentioned at the end of the Inquirer
>>article? A cross between a ThinkPad and a PowerBook?? Perhaps a Mac
>>portable with an Intel processor, or a ThinkPad with a PowerPC
>>processor (like the still-born "Personal Power" systems)? Or just a
>>poor excuse for a journalist that can't even get the product names
>>correct in his concocted story.
>
>What I read from it is that for AMD CPUs they're going to use the brand
>name Thinkbook - hope it's not bowing to Intel pressure to target the "home
>market" with AMD and leave the business-oriented Thinkpads as Intel only.

Perhaps I was too quick to criticize the author of the article, based
on the questionable comments about Dell buying all the CPUs. The
licensing of the "ThinkPad" name by IBM may carry some restrictions.
And an appeal to the home user that IBM had turned away is not a bad
marketing strategy for Lenovo. A "ThinkBook" line with less expensive
AMD CPUs and marketed to home users and college students (like the
Apple iBook and the old ThinkPad i series) doesn't seem too
far-fetched.

>There have also been rumors for a while of an IBM Thinkbook which would run
>the Mac OS - dunno where it fits in there.

If the rumors about Apple's switch to Intel processors is true, then
perhaps the Mac OS will be available for any PC. Given Mr. Job's prior
disapproval of the Mac clones, I doubt that Apple will market a
version of Mac OS that will run on anything other than an Apple
system. But perhaps time and dwindling market share have changed
Apple's position.

Gary L. wrote:
>>What I read from it is that for AMD CPUs they're going to use the brand
>>name Thinkbook - hope it's not bowing to Intel pressure to target the "home
>>market" with AMD and leave the business-oriented Thinkpads as Intel only.
>
>
> Perhaps I was too quick to criticize the author of the article, based
> on the questionable comments about Dell buying all the CPUs. The
> licensing of the "ThinkPad" name by IBM may carry some restrictions.
> And an appeal to the home user that IBM had turned away is not a bad
> marketing strategy for Lenovo. A "ThinkBook" line with less expensive
> AMD CPUs and marketed to home users and college students (like the
> Apple iBook and the old ThinkPad i series) doesn't seem too
> far-fetched.

If Lenovo is going to make this IBM acquisition work for it, it's going
to have to push for sales in the consumer market. It can't just stay in
the corporate market forever. So it's likely we'll start seeing IBM's in
the BestBuys and Futureshops and CircuitCities again.

Lenovo has a big relationship with AMD in the Chinese market, where
pricewars tend to have even Dell hurting. Some of these manufacturers
can only get to their desired pricepoints by going with AMD and VIA
processors.

>>There have also been rumors for a while of an IBM Thinkbook which would run
>>the Mac OS - dunno where it fits in there.
>
>
> If the rumors about Apple's switch to Intel processors is true, then
> perhaps the Mac OS will be available for any PC. Given Mr. Job's prior
> disapproval of the Mac clones, I doubt that Apple will market a
> version of Mac OS that will run on anything other than an Apple
> system. But perhaps time and dwindling market share have changed
> Apple's position.

It might well be that Apple wants a bigger market for its MacOS, so it
might not just limit sales of MacOS to its own computers.

Yousuf Khan

On Sun, 05 Jun 2005 15:39:26 GMT, Gary L. <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On Fri, 03 Jun 2005 19:38:58 -0400, George Macdonald
> <fammacd=!SPAM^(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>[snip]
>
>>On the subject of NewEgg, I just noticed during an ordering session
>>yesterday that the shipping charges seem to be creeping up, e.g. $5.50 for
>>a mouse... higher than some of the mice.:-) That's ridiculous - I'll pop
>>down to CompUSA or Best Buy and pick up mouse & keyboard I know I like.
>
>Shipping costs in general have been on the rise. When the seller pays
>the shipping you don't really notice, but Newegg does charge for
>shipping. It simply has to be factored into the deal. Driving to the
>store involves costs as well, including gas and the value of your time
>spent driving.

Well $5.+ for shipping a mouse is a wee bit high - no?:-) What's really
rising here, I believe, is the handling part of "S+H". When a mouse is
shipped with other items, like mbrd, HDD, DVD, keyboard etc. the cost of
shipping for the mouse is essentially zero. Some vendors claim to adjust
for this and charge only for actual shipping cost but there's always
"handling" which makes it difficult to really see actual shipping charges.

I know that I found NewEgg S+H on the low side when I started using them
vs. my previous vendors. Maybe it's time to do a fresh comparison.

>[snip]
>
>>>BTW, what is this "Thinkbook" mentioned at the end of the Inquirer
>>>article? A cross between a ThinkPad and a PowerBook?? Perhaps a Mac
>>>portable with an Intel processor, or a ThinkPad with a PowerPC
>>>processor (like the still-born "Personal Power" systems)? Or just a
>>>poor excuse for a journalist that can't even get the product names
>>>correct in his concocted story.
>>
>>What I read from it is that for AMD CPUs they're going to use the brand
>>name Thinkbook - hope it's not bowing to Intel pressure to target the "home
>>market" with AMD and leave the business-oriented Thinkpads as Intel only.
>
>Perhaps I was too quick to criticize the author of the article, based
>on the questionable comments about Dell buying all the CPUs. The
>licensing of the "ThinkPad" name by IBM may carry some restrictions.
>And an appeal to the home user that IBM had turned away is not a bad
>marketing strategy for Lenovo. A "ThinkBook" line with less expensive
>AMD CPUs and marketed to home users and college students (like the
>Apple iBook and the old ThinkPad i series) doesn't seem too
>far-fetched.

Yeah well I'm coming from the opposite angle here: I'd like to see a
Think(thingy) of the quality of a Thinkpad but with an Athlon64-M for
business use.

--
Rgds, George Macdonald

On Mon, 06 Jun 2005 04:18:51 -0400, George Macdonald wrote:

> On Sun, 05 Jun 2005 15:39:26 GMT, Gary L. <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>On Fri, 03 Jun 2005 19:38:58 -0400, George Macdonald
>> <fammacd=!SPAM^(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>
>>[snip]
>>
>>>On the subject of NewEgg, I just noticed during an ordering session
>>>yesterday that the shipping charges seem to be creeping up, e.g. $5.50 for
>>>a mouse... higher than some of the mice.:-) That's ridiculous - I'll pop
>>>down to CompUSA or Best Buy and pick up mouse & keyboard I know I like.
>>
>>Shipping costs in general have been on the rise. When the seller pays
>>the shipping you don't really notice, but Newegg does charge for
>>shipping. It simply has to be factored into the deal. Driving to the
>>store involves costs as well, including gas and the value of your time
>>spent driving.
>
> Well $5.+ for shipping a mouse is a wee bit high - no?:-) What's really
> rising here, I believe, is the handling part of "S+H". When a mouse is
> shipped with other items, like mbrd, HDD, DVD, keyboard etc. the cost of
> shipping for the mouse is essentially zero. Some vendors claim to adjust
> for this and charge only for actual shipping cost but there's always
> "handling" which makes it difficult to really see actual shipping charges.

I was rather off-put by their $5 shipping charges on $5 round IDE cables,
so I posted a bitch here (IIRC). The next day I got an email refunding
$5 (for the second cable) to my CC. Coincidence? ;-)

> I know that I found NewEgg S+H on the low side when I started using them
> vs. my previous vendors. Maybe it's time to do a fresh comparison.

I've been thinking the same. I really do like their service though.
Office Depot, OTOH... What a loser company!

--
Keith