Buying a Laptop at Wal-Mart
When the 81 year old wife of my 88 year old father-in-law decided to buy a laptop, she selected Wal-Mart.
She liked the price ($478) of the entry-level Everex Stepnote NC1502 Widescreen Laptop PC. It’s a decent machine, but I was afraid she might outgrow the Via CPU.
So we went to the local WalMart to see the $598 Everex StepNote 15.4″ VA2000T Widescreen Laptop PC w/ Intel Pentium Dual-Core processor T2080. I told her that for $120 more she was getting a LOT more headroom for the future.
Our shopping experience at our WalMart in Pismo Beach, CA was a mixed bag. When we finally found the aisle where laptops were located, only one model was on display, and the locked case was empty.
We talked to a very friendly and polite “associate” who looked up the model, and said yes, they had them in stock. But…
The WalMart had recently fallen victim to an elaborately choreographed laptop heist. Thieves had cleaned them out!
So now all stock was kept in a locked room that was located at the far end of the store. This is not a WalMart Supercenter, but it’s a hike from one end to the other.
This friendly person called for a manager. We chatted a bit, and while we waited I looked at high-definition flat panel TVs. Their selection was not as broad as CostCo. but it was not bad, and prices were competitive.
Time passed. Fortunately, the 81-year old was holding up well. She could pass for 70, easily. She was not focusing on why this was taking so long, but I was getting ants in my pants.
Finally, our associate had to leave, as her shift ended. But she was pleasant and assured us someone was headed our way, soon.
Finally, a laptop that costs $598 showed up. However, it was a Compaq, rather than the Everex. The specs were fine, and we bought it on the spot.
That evening I set up her laptop. This was my first taste of Vista, which was not as painful to get going as I’d expected.
The laptop has been in service for over a week, and the owner is delighted.
I forgot to mention her application: playing Solitaire. Honest, that’s it. No internet, no email, no word processing no spreadsheets, or online banking, IM or Jaiku. She plays Solitaire while her 88 year old husband sleeps. Since at that age one sleeps a lot, and as a VERY young 81 she doesn’t sleep so much, this laptop is helping improve her lifestyle.
That’s my “buying a laptop at WalMart” story.
Next time, I’ll share the story of buying my wife a lovely (!!) HP laptop on sale at CompUSA. In only a week, my humble ranch has gone from (proudly!) being a “Vista free zone” to a place where two important women in my life are happily using Microsoft Vista.
Me? I’m a Kbuntu Linux kind of guy myself. But when it comes to operating systems, I need to live and let live.