₦airaland Forum

Wysiwyg,

It is curios that your ID is WYSIWYG. The Sony you see is the Sony you get .

Ok. Seriously, For what its what, I went into one of the Best Buys to get a firsthand look at the SONY VAIOS on display.

They all had the word "VAIO" italicized and engraved on the inside of the laptop. i.e. the same surface that houses the keyboard. This word was similarly engraved on the back surface of the panel that holds the display.

The word sony however was perhaps embossed (or printed?) on a thin layer over the panel that holds the display (same side as the display). For lack of a better description I would say the panel surface area around the word SONY was portrayed in a different colour from the surrounding area to enable the word SONY to be visually observable.

I looked at several models (VGN-N365EB, VGN-TZ160C, VGN-SZ140E, VGN-CR120E, VGN-N385E) and confirmed that this is Sonys style of physically branding the VAIOs.

I looked to see if I would find "made in china" written on the laptops themselves but I didnt find that phrase written on it. With the benefit of hindsight I should have looked for one still in the box to see what was written on the box.

When I got back I looked at the empty box of my HP laptop and surely enough I found the words

"Product of China"

HewLett Packard
,
,
Shanghai China

The model of my HP is dv6105us which may/may not mean it was built specifically for US customers.

AFAIK, there are no longer any factories in North America manufacturing commodity PCs/components. It all happens in asia now (70% in China). So I will be surprised to find a laptop that is made in america. Could you please take a second look at your friends laptop to confirm that it has "made in america" written on it?

I also checked again the VAIOs on www.sonystyle.com and the images I saw correlate with what I saw in BestBuy.

brume

Wysiwyg,

I will be frank with you. I'm not sufficiently familiar with the specifics of the aesthetics of the sony vaio laptops such as exactly how the sony logo is engraved or otherwise displayed in order to ascertain the authenticity or otherwise of the item.

Perhaps I will go into a store and take a close look at them to see if there are different ways in which the logo is displayed on different models.

I own a HP pavillon, so I am very familiar with how the HPs look but not the VAIOs.

But one thing I can assure you is that if you buy a laptop from one of the major American retailers or from Sony directly, it better be exactly as advertised by Sony, otherwise someone will face some serious litigation.

One thing you can do is go to www.sonystyle.com and look at the VAIO notebooks there and see if you can recognize specifically what you want there.

I certainly appreciate and understand your concerns and would like you to know and be comfortable with what you are buying before you spend any money.

regards,

brume

Wysiwyg,

The Sony VAIO prices I am seeing are real steep.

- What is your price range.
- what is your min HDD requirement
- do you have your sights set on any specific model


Please get back.

Thanks

brume

Wysiwyg,

The (American) versions are actually manufactured in China. When I buy computer equipment (that has not yet been manufactured) directly from HP here in America, it is built in china and then shipped from Shanghai direct to me. I know its coming from china because HP provides me tracking information - so I can see where its at and when I'm going to get it etc.

You need to realise that those factories in china are owned and run by these american computer manufacturers to american standards but using cheap chinese labor.

Brume

Wysiwyg,

The Sony VAIO prices I am seeing are real steep. Can you help a brother out here by providing the following information :-

- What is your price range.
- what is your min HDD requirement
- do you have your sights set on any specific model
- do you specifically require the 13"


Please get back.

Thanks

brume

Hey Wysiwyg,

Indeed you should be careful to ensure you are getting the real deal. Truth of the matter is all the Big guys (HP, Dell, etc) have their factories in China. 70% of Global products come from China - after all.

Dont get me wrong - I am not trying to endorse all IT products of chinese origin (there are some dubios manufacturers too) that you find carried as inventory on shelf at the Ikeja Computer village - I am only trying to apprise you of the fact that most of the genuine IT products are manufactured in China. You only need to make sure you are getting the products from the right source.

brume

Wysiwyg,

Just read your request. I'll get right back with you on that.

Thanks,

brume

Kempest,

Its interesting that your aunt applied the word Lemons to Laptops. It is commonly associated with cars - flood damaged cars, etc. I can see how it would apply to computers though. A lemon laptop would mean it arrives Dead on Arrival (DOA), just like a lemon car.

Just to clarify what I meant by my earlier comment/suggestions about celerons/semprons, I did not mean to imply all celerons were lemons in any away - only that you may sooner need to replace/upgrade them to meet the ever increasing demand for system resources by newer applications. While a brand new (or even factory refurbished) celeron based systen will be fully functional, there is a high risk of obsolesence in the medium to long term. If innovations in software continue at the current pace, In the not too distant future you will need more than a celeron to run certain applications.

A lemon on the other hand typically will apply to any damaged goods that fail to function even upon delivery. E.g. a used laptop that suffered a coffee spill may fail to function initially or subsequently. New systems ideally should not arrive DOA due to the rigorous nature of the manufacturing tests carried out by manufacturers prior to factory release.

regards

brume

Hey Kempest,

I replied you in the other thread. I wouldnt like to clutter the board with duplicate responses. Please read my response there. Sorry for the confusion.

Thanks,

brume

Kempest,

Sorry I wasnt aware you had replied that thread - I am watching that thread but usually get an email notification that prompts me to look at the response (don't think I got notified though). You are right, I am out of the country. I have 2 trusted/reliable partners (both my brothers) in Lagos and Portharcourt that handle things at the other end.

I don't have any on ground now save for the HPs (I recently dropped prices on those to raise cash but still outside your range). If you are not in a crazy rush to get something - I can get you a decent system at =N=110000 (3 weeks delivery lead time) like I mentioned before - sorry I can't really do much with the price. I know your budget is constrained but I can't provide more than a celeron at =N=100000.

I am always online so I can easily respond to requests, but you may be offline at the time. If you want a quick notification of good deals in your ball park region send me an email with a number to call and I will call you as soon as I find anything.

Thanks,

brume

Hey oyb_v1.01

I quite understand you. Anytime you are spending your hard earned bucks you always always have to make sure you get the biggest bang for your buck(like everyone else who trades). With each of us trying to get the best we can, sometimes offer and acceptance only happens with some compromise.

Seriously no ill/hard feelings or anything like that - goes with the territory - its like a hit and miss thing. You know, you win some and lose some and all that good stuff.

As per the low end laptop. I think you might have to go a little higher to get anything new that is not a celeron or sempron. For 110k I am confident I can get you something quite reasonable. Let me see what I can find.

thanks,

brume

PS: Please email me a number to reach you at, JIC I need to holler pronto. Thanks.

Update: 5% Price Drop. See New Lower Prices in effect!!!!!!!!

1. HP Pavilion dv6000t
- Intel(R) Pentium(R) dual core processor T2130 (1.86 GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB)
- 15.4" WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
- 1GB DDR2 System Memory
- Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 950
(224MB Shared video memory)
- Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
- 120GB 5400RPM SATA HDD
- SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
- 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
- Microsoft(R) Works 8.0

Sale Price : =N=129,500

2. HP Pavilion dv6000t

- Intel(R) Core(TM) Duo processor T2450 (2.0 GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB)
- 15.4" WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
- 1GB DDR2 System Memory
- Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 950
(224MB Shared video memory)
- Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
- 120GB 5400RPM SATA HDD
- SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
- 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
- Microsoft(R) Works 8.0

Sale Price : =N=135,500


Contact : brume2020@yahoo.co.uk

adewaleafolabi,

Why would anyone want to buy a celeron (or an AMD sempron) today - when you can go much higher up in spec for a slight increase in price.

Contemporary applications (such as Windows Vista, etc) are designed to require more and more system resources, so in the passage of time the minimum required standard/basic configuration changes to a higher spec than was required before. So I think it is always safer to go with a spec that is somewhere in between bleeding-edge(quad-Core) and entry level(celeron) so you don't get caught with an outdated system so soon after your purchase.

To answer your question - you and I are in fact rightfully biased against buying celerons because they are at this point soooo entry-level. But hey, if anyone is not willing to accept your honest opinion/advice its their own cup of tea.

JMHO,

brume

Ok Kempest,

I can see from your other posts that you probably have a budget outlay of $600 for your proposed laptop with the stated config.

For starters I don't think $600 can fetch you that laptop from a local retailer who is directly/indirectly commercially importing through a Nigerian entry port in Nigeria. Here are some added costs you have to account for :-

1. There is a $49 shipping fee from HP to a US purchaser (HP Will not ship to destinations outside the US).
2. There is a US sales tax of approx $40 for that item (varies depending on the state). For TX and NY its probably close to appox $40.

This brings the costs so far to about $540.

Add to this shipping to Nigeria & clearing and margins(for the local supplier) and the price will easily lie somewhere in-between $750 - $900 depending on the supplier.

If I were to do this specific laptop, I will ship for US$768 with a reasonable down payment received. Thats approx =N=100k @ =N=129:$1

Now, I wont suggest that you spend =N=100k for a celeron with 512MB/80GB when you can add 10-15k more to get a 1.73Ghz pentium dual core/1GB/120GB. Being a student, you are probably budget constrained or may not wish to fork out more for a laptop. But IMHO if you buy a celeron now 1-2 years down the road you will wish you had bought a higher spec system for only a marginal increase in cost.

JHMO,

brume

Hey Kempest,

Thanks for your understanding and patience. I will give you a shout back shortly soon as I have looked further into your request.

peace,

Brume

Hey adrian5,

I think the bases have been covered by previous posters. But from the below quote it appears you might be able to establish a checkpoint at which you deemed the system to serve you "right" (i.e. it appeared to operate in an inviolable state) beyond which point it slowed down noticeably,

but its so slow to do anything nowadays

Perhaps you may want to consider the following as well if you are unable to easily identify the culprit from what has already been pointed out by previous posters:-

Do you have a specific recollection of what you may have changed just before it became noticeably slow?. I.e. was it shortly after adding some specific piece of software or after a download incident that system perfomance noticeably degraded?.

Are there any pending patches/fixes you are missing for your platform (i.e. is your software up to date w.r.t recent operating system/application software patches/updates/service packs/etc.)

Are all the hardware devices functioning correctly (or is there a single device retrying a failed operation forever).? For this look at logs and LEDs.

Is this system solely available for your use or do others have access to it. If others also use it are they also able to download/install software on the system?

Is it part of a LAN - and if so, do the other systems on the LAN appear to be Ok - or have they also recently developed similar performance problems.?

I hope you have your data organized in such a way that you can easily back it up and re-install the underlying operating software/restore the backed up data JIC all else fails.

All the best,

Brume

Hey Kempest,

Sorry. Thought your request was meant to elicit a general response. I will be glad to provide you the requested info anytime, but will allow Chino to respond first since the message was originally meant for him.

Thanks,

brume

Kempest,

What presario config are you requesting a quote for?.

brume

adewaleafolabi,

Ok. Sounds good. I will look for one and get back with you with info if I find one.

brume

adewaleafolabi,

Good find!. I should be talking to folks like you more often!.

Thanks for the great suggestion. Much appreciated.

I will certainly look further into that.

brume

Hey,

If anybody wants the new IPOD email me at brume2020@yahoo.co.uk and/or indicate your interest here. If I see sufficient interest in it, I may speculatively purchase a few and ship to Lagos. If confirmed orders are significant I will be offering a very reasonable price to ship to Lagos. Nevertheless I'll offer quotes to anyone asking (and the price may drop if I am ordering a sufficient number of them at a time).

Thanks,

Brume

I was finally able to read my email and I have responded to your request. Thanks,

brume

I have a new Universal USB travel charger for sale ($25).

here are detailed specs from http://www.accstation.com/dothusbtcad1.html

* High quality generic (non-OEM) product.
* Charge any devices that rely on USB for power. You name it, digital cameras, high tech accessories, PDA and mobile phones, etc,
* World traveler (100-240V). The innovative travel charger automatically adjusts to all voltages and frequencies in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
* LED charging indicator shows charging status.
* Patented circuit board design to protect your valuable gadgets from short circuits.
* Fit all electronic appliances that use a USB charging cable.
* Compatible with:
Dell Axim X5 / Palm (PalmOne) m500 / m505 / m515 / m125 / m130 / i705 / Tungsten T / W / C / Zire / Zire 71 / Treo 600 / Treo 650 / HP (Compaq) iPAQ 3100 / 3600 / 3700 / 3800 / 3900 / 3955 / 3975 / 1900 / 1910 / h1910 / 5400 / 5455 / h1935 / h1940 / h1945 / h2210 / h2215 / h5455 / h5550 / h5555 / HP Jornada all 500 series like 548 / 565 / 567 / 568 / all T series Sony Clie including PEG-NR70 / NR70V / T415 / T615 /T665 / NX60 / NX70 / NX70V / SJ20 / SJ30 / SL10 / all N or S series Sony Clie / all 300 / 500 / 600 and 700 series including PEG-N760C / PEG-N710C / PEG-N610C / PEG-S360 / PEG-S320 / PEG-S300 / Toshiba e310 / e330 / e335 / e740 / e750 / e755 / Handspring Treo 90 / 180 / 270 / 300 / O2-XDA (T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition) / HTC Wizard / Apache / Cingular 8125 / 8525 (HTC TyTN, JasJam, Hermes) / UTStarcom / Audiovox PPC-6700 / VX6700 / Orange SPV M3000 / Qtek 9100 / i-Mate K-Jam / O2 XDA Mini S / T-Mobile MDA Vario / Dash (HTC Excalibur, S620) / Blackberry 7130v / 8703e / 8707g / 8800

Please contact me if you require this item.

brume

Hi,

Someone has sent me email today about the HPs (a nairaland user - you know who you are). just wanted to let you know that I saw that email but when I tried to read it, I kept getting timeout messages from yahoo.co.uk. As soon as I am able to read it I will respond to the email.

Thanks for your enquiry,

regards,

brume

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/apple-revamps-ipod-line-cuts/story.aspx?guid=%7B1AD005D1-E60C-4564-98C3-9842358467B7%7D

,

The price of the 8GB version of iPhone will drop by $200 to $399. That's $100 cheaper than the current price of the 4GB version of the device, which Jobs said will continue to be sold "while supplies last."

,

kdships,

A nairaland user had asked about a laptop which could run XP with no issues. I thought the 640M had been around long enough that it might run XP seemlessly - but you are keeping yours.

As for me, I'm mulling a high end HP Core 2 Duo for a speculative buy. I'm waiting to first sell at least one of the HPs and acers I shipped to Lagos recently before I do that.

enjoy,

brume

Hi

The current estimated factory ship date is September 12th. It will take 2 weeks from that date to receive in the US and ship/clear in Lagos. That translates to a minimum lead time of 3 weeks.

I have also sent you email about this and various options that determine the actual price.

Please let me know your thoughts.

brume

PS : Please bear in mind that I have 2 HPs in Lagos available for immediate purchase dv6000t (1.86ghz intel pentium dual core core and 2.0ghz core duo). If you would rather purchase either of these now, please let me know.

Ok. Thanks for clarifying that.

The only reason I asked was that intels own name branding nomenclature can be somewhat confusing to the uninitiated.

I may be wrong but as far as I can tell, you can build a Dell 1420(the sucessor to the 640M) with any of the following processors :-

Intel Pentium Dual core* (Intel Pentium processor family)
Intel Core Duo (Intel Core processor family)
Intel Core 2 Duo (Intel Core processor family)

All have 2 processors (and hence are all dual cores in a generic sense), but one of them is simply reffered to as "intel pentium dual core" and the Cores do not specifically say "(dual core)" although they actually are dual cores. The Core 2 Duo has the greatest claim to fame i.e :-

up to 40% faster with improved energy efficiency, etc.

Your ad stated Core 2 Duo(Dual Core). Which is correct in itself, just wanted to be sure what exactly you had.


Thanks,

brume

jero_dawiz,

Your request seems to be targeted at local sources (i.e. for an immediate purchase). If you are curios about a fresh import (with a 3-4week delivery lead time) hit me up.

brume

kdships,

I know you have decided to keep your laptop after all. Just out of curiosity was it dual core or core duo?. They are not one and same same.

brume

oyb_v1.01,

Using your numbers, 1.e. $1836 before tax(estimated state tax is $152), I would deliver the unit to Lagos for :-

between =N= 283,500 and 310,000. (using the closer to actual exchange rate of =N=129:US$1)

The exact amount would be determined by how much of a down payment you are willing to offer.

This quote would probably have to change if a new Lenovo price kicks in today.

Since the manufacturer ships 1-2 weeks after the order is placed, the unit will take approx 4-5 weeks to be delivered to Lagos.

I will provide another quote for the 15.4" acer later today if you have no interest in the 14.1" I quoted earlier today. Please get back on that.

thanks,

brume

Important Update

HP #2 has cleared customs and is available for sale. Please contact me if you have an interest.


Here once again are the configuration details and price :-

2. HP Pavilion dv6000t

- Intel(R) Core(TM) Duo processor T2450 (2.0 GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB)
- 15.4" WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
- 1GB DDR2 System Memory
- Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 950
(224MB Shared video memory)
- Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
- 120GB 5400RPM SATA HDD
- SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
- 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
- Microsoft(R) Works 8.0

Sale Price : =N=143,500