Gadgetlustus Interruptus
I’ve been lusting after a modern laptop. (I have an archaic 233 MHz Pentium laptop that strains under Emacs in console mode.) HP has been collaborating with Ubuntu to ensure it works well on (one line of) their business notebooks (though they won’t ship it that way in the US.) When I saw one of those laptops, the nx6110, for $550 after rebates, I took the plunge and ordered one.
The website said of that item, “In Stock. Ships Tomorrow.” The next day, my order status said “Back-ordered.” The website still said of that item, “In Stock. Ships Tomorrow.” I called their Customer Support to see if they could explain this.
The first person I spoke to promptly claimed there was a credit card problem, and shifted me to someone in credit card processing. That person verified there was no credit card issue, making clear the first person just didn’t want to deal with me. She investigated and explained that the machines they had in stock were being used to satisfy existing back-orders (thus, “in stock” was misleading at best, and “ships tomorrow” was wholly a fiction.)
I cancelled the order and don’t plan to do business with PC Connection again.
Oh well. Now I can wait to see if Yonah and whatever Steve Jobs announces today drive down prices of existing machines. (And besides, what I’m really lusting for is the ultralight HP nc4200.)
I had a similar experience when ordering a book.
In the fall of 2003, I was poking through Amazon and happened to notice that they had a copy of Daydreams and Nightmares by Winsor McCay. They listed the availability as "In Stock - Usually ships within 24 hours".
I purchased the book in the same order as Robert Heinlein's For Us, the Living, which I knew wasn't going to ship until February of 2004. I asked Amazon to ship them both together, anticipating some nice reading treats for the winter.
Well, February 2004 came, and I got my copy of the Heinlein book. No sign of the McCay, though. Amazon said that it was not available yet, so I'd have to keep waiting. The book was published by Fantagraphics, who have an excellent reputation for reprinting old comics. I didn't have much choice of actions, since nobody else was going to provide this book. I could either cancel my order, or wait.
So wait I did, until I finally forgot all about my order. And even longer than that, until last month, just after Christmas. I found a box from Amazon on my doorstep. "That's odd," I thought, "I haven't ordered anything from Amazon lately." And, of course, what should prove to be inside but the long-delayed McCay collection which I'd ordered more than two years earlier.
Worth the wait? It certainly was, as I've been an admirer of McCay's work since I was scarcely older than Little Nemo. I'd first seen a copy of Daydreams and Nightmares in the late 80's, and neglected to buy it then, much to my regret. So after waiting about fifteen years, why fret over a couple more?
But it was the longest "Ships in 24 hours" I've ever seen.
Posted by Jimcat on January 12 2006 04:16
Not HP nc4200. Fujitsu P1510D. Love, love, love mine.
Posted by Jerry Kindall on January 14 2006 23:40
That does look like a very nifty little machine. But my employer is actually coughing up an old laptop for me on Tuesday -- something sufficiently outdated for them to have replaced with a modern machine (for someone else.) On my budget, old, clunky, and without cost has to beat new, lightweight, and expensive.
Posted by Zed on January 15 2006 10:48