Zazbot Discount Shopping

Recently I bought an Acer laptop and it lasted about two to three weeks before I had had enough and took it back for a full refund. It had some software issues, I didn’t like the way the keyboard felt or how the mouse pad and click buttons felt. I went to Best Buy and grabbed something different. I didn’t have much hope of finding a PC that I was going to be happy with, after all the duds I have dealt with over the years. Vista really turned my off when it was launched, and I would not even buy another PC if it had Vista installed. I had pretty much given up on the whole PC experience and was quite frustrated, but the reality of some of the software I needed to run was the I was stuck with owning at least one PC. We have two Macs in the house which we swear by and we know from experience are far superior computers, but we had to have at least one PC that worked okay.

So when I went to Best Buy to purchase a new PC for the first time in my life I was not excited at all about getting a new computer. The last two I had purchased (Toshiba Netbook and the Acer laptop) were big letdowns and it left a bad taste in my mouth. So I decided that when I bought this PC I would buy a brand that I have never owned before, and the model that was brand-new this year. I went straight to the Sony Vaio that was sitting on the shelf, touch the keys a little bit, and touch the mouse pad and click buttons a little bit. I asked a salesman to wrap up one of these new Sony laptops that had a decent sized screen and told him I had to get to the airport to catch a flight so that he would move fairly quickly and get this transaction over with. I really didn’t have any high hopes about the Sony brand either, but I had to give it a shot.

I don’t know why I didn’t have any great expectations regarding the Sony laptop, because we have two Sony big screens in the house (an old Sony 42 inch projection big-screen, and a 52 inch Sony LCD flatscreen) and they have been very solid. We also have a Sony cupboard mounted CD/radio in the kitchen, which has been very reliable and we had it for quite a while. I remember as a kid when the first small Sony Trinitron televisions came out and my father raved about them, and he bought one. The picture was much better than any of the other brands that were available in the stores in that small town, so the Sony brand had made an impression upon me quite early. But for some reason, even with that I was never really a promoter of Sony equipment. They always have a good reputation for making quality electronic equipment but for some reason I never really bought into it. Now it is different, because we go through a lot of computers and electronic equipment with our business and over the years the Sony equipment has held up the best. Read the rest of this entry »

Bought a Toshiba netbook last week and it was kinda wierd at first because the keys are so much closer together than a typical laptop or desktop. However, after writing about 5000 words on it, it feels quite good and I’m actually typing very quickly now. I still have to pause when I reach for the ” (quote) key because it is so small. The delete key is easy because it is top/right corner of the netbook. Ironically, this netbook has allot more hard drive space than our past laptops, and the speed is faster too. All of my web browsers seem to be a little bit slower though. I’ve tried Google Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer, and they all seem to be a little bit slow when clicking around the Internet. It may be my home Internet connection that is the problem, we while I’m on the road again, we’ll see what it is like on other Wifi connections. I’m writing this in a pure .txt file which a prefer, so that I can copy/paste all of this content into the Zazbot.com blog.

Every new gadget we buy for the office, or for blogging, gets a small review on what we think of it in our opinion. A short review really. We write or blog about ANY product we buy since Zazbot is all about shopping, comparing, and buying. This goes for the RV, computers, gadgets, cars, trucks – you name it. As a matter of fact, we bought a GMC Canyon awhile back and we have not done a review on it yet – I’ll get to that soon.

So we like the netbook for how light weight it is, the built-in camera, and quick keyboard, and overall “smallness”.

As far as durability goes, we of course don’t know that yet, but we’ll be able to blog about that a little later after we’ve had this puppy on the road with us for awhile.

I’m at this minute sitting beside a Kal-Tire gas station/store in a wee little town called Elko (Elko, B.C (British Columbia, Canada) as we are meeting my parent here is a few minutes and then taking a left turn going south towards the Roosville border crossing. Then we’ll head down the road south through the Tabacco Plains and on to Whitefish and Kalispel – a short 3 day trip to hang out with Mom and Dad, see the sights, and do some shopping.

I’m sitting in the front seat of our 2300 Sunseeker RV, which we have posted about already. This machine has been fantastic so far (touching wood) and it’s the perfect size for us, and our two Golden Retrievers. It’s a pig on gas of course, but you just have to budget for it. I would say that if your family is on a tight budget, steer clear of motor homes, RVs, and boats. They’re all money suckers big time! It’s great if it’s affordable, and this is why so many elderly and retired people can afford to use these recreational vehicles.

Hmmm……..so much for my review of the Toshiba Netbook – oh well, we’re allowed to have the odd disjointed post that goes in all sorts of directions.

This Toshiba Netbook is black and is 10.1 inches for screen size. It came with Windows XP (Home Edition) already installed. I was SO relieved when I noticed this, because all my software runs on the WinXP OS. I don’t own any computers that run the Vista OS, and I’ve heard good things and bad things about Vista. I’m sure that in time Vista will be the norm for me too, so I’m trying to manage all of our work online with fewer and fewer software programs and use only web based solutions. This makes it much easier when we have a computer go down, get lost, stolen, or burnt in fire. We back everything up on mulitple flash sticks for this very purpose.

We have three computers in the family business now. No desktops anymore. We have a Mac, this Toshiba Netbook, and my wife’s work laptop, which is an old Dell I picked up off Ebay for $180 bucks. The Mac has been the most solid as far as any computers we’ve owned, and the 2nd place honor goes to the 14.1 Gateway laptop, which this Netbook replaced. The Gateway just sort of died with instant blue screens of death after just a few minute of starting up. Now it won’t even start up anymore. Luckily I got most of our data off the machine before it totally calved.

So my parents look like they are rolling in to Elko here, so I’ll update on this Toshiba Netbook review a little later. We’ll talk about memory, RAM speed, and much more then. Bye for now!

Well I’ve used many different laptops in the past with my online and offline businesses. I spend a whole whack of time on these infernal notebooks, laptops, or whatever you want to call the damn things.

They stopped being toys a long time ago and that’s fine, because they’re just objects. I used be really anal about cleanliness and handling of my desktops and laptops, but that has change over the last 6 years. I toss them sometimes, close them up and use them for coasters and dinner trays. I throw them in and out of my car(s) and sometimes I don’t bother with a laptop bag. I let me dog (96 pound golden retriever) sit on my laptops if they so choose warm up the infernal pieces of crap.

Now I say with all humility that I am my own worst enemy when it comes to the endless stream of money I have to spend on laptops, but I don’t believe notebooks and laptops are meant to last for a decade. Maybe two years at the most. The hardware, chipsets, peripheals, and software always takes another leap within two years so you are due for a new one anyway. This is why I treat my laptops with such disrespect I suppose. Also, I did what is not a great idea – I made my hobby a job, and this is why these laptops are only tools now and not toys.

Which Laptops Have Stood Up to My Abuse

So you’re likely wondering which laptop brands I’ve used. Toshiba, Gateway, Hp, Dell, and Mac. I use mostly PC software and computers for my work, and I use Mac for recreational work such as DAW’s (google it) and Photo and Movie work. As far as durability goes, the Mac notebooks are not really any tougher than some of their PC counterparts. Some Mac fans would of course disagree and that debate is now nauseating

However, overall the Mac notebooks and and the Gateway laptops have been the most durable and resistant to my constant abuse. I have found the Hp laptops to be very fragile and don’t far well with constant abuse. I was going through an Hp laptop every 6-10 months, Toshiba laptops lasted about 12 -16 months with constant disregard for care.

The clear winner in my case has been the Gateway laptops. I mean driving over them with your car is not a good idea, but the two that I’ve had have been “done over” with complete disregard for longevity. I’m actually writing this post on one of these abused Gateway machines. The exterior case is scratched beyond belief and 4 of the keys are black because I have worn the paint off of them.

There about 8 little specs in the screen where the LCD finally gave up from my excessive nastiness. These specs are at the lowest center position of the display so it’s not really a big deal – does not affect my work at all. The screen is still bright, but not as bright as a new machine. Actually, this is the only complaint I have with the Gateway machines. The screens, displays, monitors (whatever you want to call it – don’t care) are not as bright as some of the other machines I’ve used.

Toshiba machines are quite durable too, but their power connection breaks like the HP models. One of the reason this Gateway has lasted so long is because the AC power connection is a 90 degree thin wire connection. Not as smart as the Mac laptop power connections with their magnet attachment and ultra thin wire.

Enough….my experience shows these are the toughest in order.

Toughest Laptop List 

#1 – Gateway

#2 – Mac

#3 – Toshiba

#4 – Dell

#5 – Hp