Not long ago, Sweetie looked at me across the dinner table and said, “So how much do laptops cost?” This seemingly innocuous question paralyzed me with fear as my central nervous and digestive systems teamed up for a collective balk. As soon as the words left her lips, I knew it was only a matter of time before I’d be forking over a fistful of dollars for a new laptop.
“You can probably get a decent one for about $1200,” I said, desperately trying to remember how to perform a self-Heimlich.
Now I’m no pushover. When it comes to major purchases, I know how to stand my ground. It’s because of me that we don’t own a Range Rover, a grand piano, a jet ski, an HDTV, an elliptical trainer, or a Ronco Showtime Rotisserie. But the laptop was a scary proposition for a couple of reasons: 1) it was inexpensive enough to be within reach; and 2) Sweetie had a pretty good case.
Between running her own piano studio and home-schooling our three future Nobel winners, Sweetie was quickly outgrowing our desktop PC. From maintaining invoices to scheduling appointments to hosting online forums, time-sharing on the family computer was becoming laborious and downright impractical.
“Why don’t we go down to the computer superstore and just look around,” she asked.
“Forget it,” I said. “Everything looks too good at that place. I can never get out of there without buying something.”
“Let’s just look.”
“Sorry Sweetie, but it’s out of the question, and that’s my final word.”
As we walked through the computer superstore the next day, I was struck by the number of laptops they had on display, all of them open, all of them working. Compaq, HP, Sony, Toshiba. Dozens of them glistening in the fluorescent lights and angled for your typing convenience. When it comes to laptops, I’m most familiar with Toshibas because they’re all I’ve ever used at work. As Sweetie tested the keyboard on a Toshiba Satellite, a salesman snuck up on us. “Like the Satellite? Do yourself a favor and switch to the higher model. It’s got a bigger hard drive, twice the memory, it’s two pounds lighter, and only a hundred dollars more. Hi, I’m Vic.”
Vic is a real salesman. He has a slight speech impediment, wears a bad tie, and you get the idea that he’d be equally successful whether he’s selling a new laptop or a ’95 Suburban. As Sweetie switched to the higher model, Vic shifted into higher gear. In less than a minute, he’d learned that Sweetie’s laptop had to be lightweight, wireless, and have a nice screen. Everything else was academic.
“The system you’re tapping on seems to meet the bar. What do you think?” he asked.
“What about this one?” said Sweetie, switching to a $1500 Fujitsu LifeBook with white keys. “It’s a LifeBook. I like the sound of that.”
“One of our top sellers. Even though it costs a bit more, it’s a great value. And it’s got Centrino.”
Sweetie turned to me. “Is that good?”
I hedged. I’d never heard the word before in my life, and it sounded to me like some form of foreign currency. (“Loaf of bread? That’ll be eleven Centrinos, please.”)
My pause gave Vic time to fill the void with the value of Intel’s Centrino technology, which has 802.11b/g wireless built into the chipset so you don’t need a separate card to attach to a network. Also, Centrino is supposed to extend the laptop’s battery power by running at a lower speed. The Fujitsu with which Sweetie was quickly becoming infatuated claimed to run for five hours on a single charge. All of my office Toshibas seemed to max out at about two hours. We walked out of there with the Fujitsu, satisfied with our purchase and armed with the store’s guarantee that we could return it for a full refund within 15 days for any reason at all.
It’s been a week now and we still don’t have buyer’s remorse, so maybe we made a good decision. At the moment, I’m finishing up this column on the desktop, Sweetie is working on her laptop, the world is silent, and the time-sharing issues have disappeared. The silence is broken as our teenage daughter emerges from her room, smiles and asks, “Dad, how much do laptops cost?”
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