Toys I Don't Need
Sep. 6th, 2003 01:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rowynLast night, Lut and I went out to CompUSA for the last time. (Hurrah!)
A bit of background. for three months, from November of 1996 to February of 1997, I worked for CompUSA, in what might be described as "the longest three months of my life". Summer vacations should have lasted so long.
I do not like CompUSA, as a company, although I'm actually quite glad that the upper management at my store were such unreedemed jerks. If there'd been a shred of decency or intelligence in them, I might have stayed at CompUSA longer. Fortunately for me, they were so obnoxious that they overwhelmed even my usual levels of inertia and complacency, with the result that I quit and, a few months later, started work for Toddler Bank, an organization in every way superior to CompUSA. So I have to give them credit for that. If a company is going to be bad, it's handy for them to be utterly atrocious. That way I don't wind up with inconvenient misgivings and wondering, "Were they really that bad?" No, they really were that bad.
Oh, all right, I shouldn't speak for the whole nationwide network when I talk about them. I only worked for one store, and not everything negative about that experience was the direct result of corporate policy. Maybe just half of it.
Anyway, I don't like CompUSA and prefer not to shop there.
Last night, however, Lut learned at 6:21PM that CompUSA was running a sale from 6PM to midnight, which included selling 80 meg hardrives for $100, with a $50 mail-in rebate -- so a final cost of $50, assuming the rebate thing worked. (I do not have great faith in rebate). Still, $100 for an 80 meg harddrive was not a bad deal, and Lut had been wanting a new harddrive for a while. The CompUSA website said the local store has 12 of these left in stock. So I got dressed, we hopped in the car, and drove out to the store. We arrived at 7PM, hunted around for the location of the harddrives, and eventually found where they would have been, if they'd still had any in stock, which they didn't. A sales associate eventually informed us that they had sold out within five mintues of the sale's start, meaning that they were already gone when Lut checked the web site and it said they still had twelve. This surprised Lut, though, since I had once worked here, it did not surprise me.
Lut went to wait in line at the customer service desk. I wandered the store, looking at techie toys I want and do not, by any stretch of the imagination, need.
I want a PDA, or maybe a laptop. The biggest thing I want one of these for is for writing while I'm on the way to work, or when I'm travelling to a con or whatnot. For a while, I thought perhaps I should just get a cheap old IBM laptop for this purpose. But a cellphone PDA has a certain appeal ... I could update my journal while on the bus. And while playing with one of the PDAs at CompUSA, I discovered that its handwriting recognition was actually not bad. It was slow, but I couldn't figure out if this was a flaw in the system, or simply a matter of me not understanding how it works. Anyway, I already find myself using a paper notebook to write while on the bus. Writing into an electronic notebook that could then upload to LJ -- now that would be cool.
Mmmm. PDA.
About half an hour later, Lut got to the front of the customer service line, and was told that he could pay for the harddrive now, and if it showed up in the next two weeks, he could still get the $50.00 rebate. If it didn't, he could get his money back, or wait for the HD to come in and get it at the full $100 price.
We decided this sounded unpromising, and left the store, vowing never to return. I'm not entirely sure that this episode merits a vow to never return on Lut's part, but, as I said, I hate CompIUSA, so never returning is fine by me.
Because we were already out, Lut wanted to go to Micro Center, another computer supply place. While he went to look at the harddrives there, I went to look for more toys I don't need. I found drawing tablets. Mmmm. Drawing tablet. I never had much interest in drawing tablets, until![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ursulav mentioned that it is much easier to do digital color with a tablet than with a mouse or a trackball. The idea that painting digitally might be as easy as painting with oils, and a lot less messy ....
Of course, I don't use the art supplies I have now. I've got oil paints and a bunch of canvases. I couldset up to do painting on top of Lut's old desk. I don't need to spend another $200 getting a new art toy that I won't use. (I could get a Graphire 2 for only $100. But I always have a hard time committing to a cheaper version knowing what I really want is the pricey one.)
Oh, and while I'm listing off things I want and don't need, I'd like a new printer. And a digital camera.
Weirdly, the thing I most likely to get is possibly the drawing tablet ... not so much because I'd get a lot of use out of it, but because at least I know exactly whcih one I'd get. Figuring out which printer/PDA/laptop/digital camera/etc. to get seems to be a huge pain. So many options!
But I really would like a PDA. When Lut and I go out to the park, I could get writing done ....
Sigh.
Do I really need any of this stuff?
No.
But I want it. And it's not that expensive, really -- but then I have to decide: which one?
Yargh.
A bit of background. for three months, from November of 1996 to February of 1997, I worked for CompUSA, in what might be described as "the longest three months of my life". Summer vacations should have lasted so long.
I do not like CompUSA, as a company, although I'm actually quite glad that the upper management at my store were such unreedemed jerks. If there'd been a shred of decency or intelligence in them, I might have stayed at CompUSA longer. Fortunately for me, they were so obnoxious that they overwhelmed even my usual levels of inertia and complacency, with the result that I quit and, a few months later, started work for Toddler Bank, an organization in every way superior to CompUSA. So I have to give them credit for that. If a company is going to be bad, it's handy for them to be utterly atrocious. That way I don't wind up with inconvenient misgivings and wondering, "Were they really that bad?" No, they really were that bad.
Oh, all right, I shouldn't speak for the whole nationwide network when I talk about them. I only worked for one store, and not everything negative about that experience was the direct result of corporate policy. Maybe just half of it.
Anyway, I don't like CompUSA and prefer not to shop there.
Last night, however, Lut learned at 6:21PM that CompUSA was running a sale from 6PM to midnight, which included selling 80 meg hardrives for $100, with a $50 mail-in rebate -- so a final cost of $50, assuming the rebate thing worked. (I do not have great faith in rebate). Still, $100 for an 80 meg harddrive was not a bad deal, and Lut had been wanting a new harddrive for a while. The CompUSA website said the local store has 12 of these left in stock. So I got dressed, we hopped in the car, and drove out to the store. We arrived at 7PM, hunted around for the location of the harddrives, and eventually found where they would have been, if they'd still had any in stock, which they didn't. A sales associate eventually informed us that they had sold out within five mintues of the sale's start, meaning that they were already gone when Lut checked the web site and it said they still had twelve. This surprised Lut, though, since I had once worked here, it did not surprise me.
Lut went to wait in line at the customer service desk. I wandered the store, looking at techie toys I want and do not, by any stretch of the imagination, need.
I want a PDA, or maybe a laptop. The biggest thing I want one of these for is for writing while I'm on the way to work, or when I'm travelling to a con or whatnot. For a while, I thought perhaps I should just get a cheap old IBM laptop for this purpose. But a cellphone PDA has a certain appeal ... I could update my journal while on the bus. And while playing with one of the PDAs at CompUSA, I discovered that its handwriting recognition was actually not bad. It was slow, but I couldn't figure out if this was a flaw in the system, or simply a matter of me not understanding how it works. Anyway, I already find myself using a paper notebook to write while on the bus. Writing into an electronic notebook that could then upload to LJ -- now that would be cool.
Mmmm. PDA.
About half an hour later, Lut got to the front of the customer service line, and was told that he could pay for the harddrive now, and if it showed up in the next two weeks, he could still get the $50.00 rebate. If it didn't, he could get his money back, or wait for the HD to come in and get it at the full $100 price.
We decided this sounded unpromising, and left the store, vowing never to return. I'm not entirely sure that this episode merits a vow to never return on Lut's part, but, as I said, I hate CompIUSA, so never returning is fine by me.
Because we were already out, Lut wanted to go to Micro Center, another computer supply place. While he went to look at the harddrives there, I went to look for more toys I don't need. I found drawing tablets. Mmmm. Drawing tablet. I never had much interest in drawing tablets, until
ursulav mentioned that it is much easier to do digital color with a tablet than with a mouse or a trackball. The idea that painting digitally might be as easy as painting with oils, and a lot less messy ....Of course, I don't use the art supplies I have now. I've got oil paints and a bunch of canvases. I couldset up to do painting on top of Lut's old desk. I don't need to spend another $200 getting a new art toy that I won't use. (I could get a Graphire 2 for only $100. But I always have a hard time committing to a cheaper version knowing what I really want is the pricey one.)
Oh, and while I'm listing off things I want and don't need, I'd like a new printer. And a digital camera.
Weirdly, the thing I most likely to get is possibly the drawing tablet ... not so much because I'd get a lot of use out of it, but because at least I know exactly whcih one I'd get. Figuring out which printer/PDA/laptop/digital camera/etc. to get seems to be a huge pain. So many options!
But I really would like a PDA. When Lut and I go out to the park, I could get writing done ....
Sigh.
Do I really need any of this stuff?
No.
But I want it. And it's not that expensive, really -- but then I have to decide: which one?
Yargh.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2003-09-07 07:48 am (UTC)(Or, rather, my hand is too shaky. I generally don't draw pictures on paper so small as this tablet, blow them up as large as my screen, and expect them to look good.)
I keep a trackball plugged in, for general use. I don't like using the Wacom for general computer use - trying to select folders, and that sort of thing. It's usable for that, but it's not practical for tedious file-shuffling maneuvers I often have to do when I need to process several files in sequence, such as when making fonts.
All that said, while the tablet is too small and fiddly for me to draw pictures entirely on the computer, it does seem quite sufficient for coloring in pictures. (Most of my coloring methods are a little more forgiving of where the color goes than the detail required in drawing line art. But then, I don't exactly consider my color jobs to be expert.)
And as for rebates ... I have no luck with them whatsoever. I especially dislike how they generally require that I send in the receipt with them. I suppose that if I were more competent, I would simply photocopy or scan receipts as proof before mailing them off, so I have something to fall back on when nothing materializes ... but I've been so disgusted by the consistent failure of rebates to pay off as promised that I generally steer AWAY from anything that has a rebate listed on it. (I know that probably sounds fairly illogical, but I am not often shopping for expensive electronics or other items that would regularly have rebates offered, so it's usually a moot point.)
no subject
Date: 2003-09-07 11:14 am (UTC)With rebates -- I don't avoid them, but I have to feel like the price before the rebate is pretty good. I'd value rebates at, I dunno, 30-50% of their face value. They're worth something (at least the ones that are for more than a few bucks -- for less than $5, it's hardly worth the bother of filling out forms), but they're definitely much inferior to a discount at the register.