I have to say that windows 7 is pretty freaking sweet.

I'm considering downloading the 32-bit version and re-doing my bootcamp partition for 7. What's the compatibility for games look like (Command and Conquer, the Steam games)?

Command and Conquer? What have you been running, windows 98? :lol: I have not played any games on it so I have no answer for you. I ran the windows 7 compatibility test on my home PC and it says that I can safely upgrade to 64bit windows7 so I might be doing that in the next month or so.

I just saw that Best Buy is selling the laptop that I bought for $50 less on black friday. I wonder what their policy is on price matching their black friday deals?

I heard of a trick from my old roommate where you take it back, then buy it right back from them for the sale price. It's a good way to make sure you get one before they sell out. Just make sure you're still able to return it then. I think you only have 14 days but I'm not sure.

And on the 360 arcade edition: isn't that one not in HD? My 360 is broken :( (thanks bob! Haha) and it needs a fixin' or a replacin'

Walmart will price match a BF deal if you just bring your receipt back within 30 days, so I've read. Not sure if BB does something similar, but generally if you could just return the one you bought and buy a new one for a lower price, it makes more sense for the store to just refund you the difference instead.

Not a Windows 7 Laptop, but a sweet deal on Aaron's favorite Netbook:

Lenovo S10-2 Netbook N270/1gb/160gb/BT $208+tax 2-day Shipped!!! 6 cell batt only +$40

Also, a great thread on some "hidden" Bing CB deals:

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1551705

Damn, that's a killer deal. I paid more than that for a used one recently.

Yah, I don't know what's up with Lenovo. They've had some insane deals lately. I guess they're deciding to beat HP at their game (low prices/good specs). Hopefully sacrificed quality isn't what's facilitating it.

I'm suggesting to my buddy that he buy this laptop for his wife:

MSI A6000-029US 16" Notebook: Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 2.2GHz, 320GB HDD, 4GB DDR2, DVDRW, HDMI, GeForce 8200M-G Webcam, Windows 7 Home Prem $430 B&M @ Officedepot (Starts Sunday)

If anyone's looking for a netbook w/ the power of a laptop and Windows 7 (Home Premium, not the stripped mobile version for netbooks), check out the Acer 1410:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834115656

I guess Fry's B&M had these on sale for under $400... which would be nice if we had a local Fry's to buy it from. But NewEgg's $430 price ain't too shabby.

Interesting:

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget....mpach0qw83.jpg

http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/17/l...-win-hp-fails/

I can verify Gateways suck dingo penis. The case/frame design on my friend's is so bad that the solid heat pipe that runs over the CPU and GPU torques when you even move the thing while it is on the case flexes crushing the GPU and causing it to wig out and take the system with it. Oh, they fixed it 3 times under warranty and then refused to do anything about it. :rolleyes:

I'm a little surprised to see that even the best manufacturer is barely below 10% over 2-years. That's pretty abysmal. I'd expect a company with just basic quality control to have less than 5% of their products returned within the first 2 years.

I have no idea how that data was collected... all I know is that I've owned a bunch of PC's and a few laptops, and I've never had a hardware failure unless it was DOA or failed like 5 years down the road. 1-3 years has been the sweet spot for reliability in my equipment.

Then again, I've never really bought budget stuff... I usually buy one step back from top-of-the-line, or get the latest and greatest expensive gear because the office bought it for me.

I don't really think its a matter a company having decent quality control. I would think that malfunction/failure rates with most portable electronics like cell phones are higher than fixed electronics like a home line or desktop PC. How many people of that 10% like to put the laptop on their lap completely blocking off the fan or drop it in and out of a case or leave it in the car during the heat of the day?

True, but most appliances are designed with the actual end-use in mind. It used to be people accepted that owning a car, for example, involved regular mechanical maintenance. Now people demand a car be get-in-and-driveable for at least 100,000 miles regardless of weather, basic abuse, and without much thought. Similarly, portable electronics are so mainstream now that you should expect your phone to work as an afterthought... it should be tossed around, splashed with a little water, and generally abused lightly without a glitch in operation.

Perhaps devices like netbooks & laptops aren't quite there yet, but ironically as the prices come down and adoption goes up, people will expect more and more that their portable computing devices become dead reliable appliances more than high maintenance cutting-edge tools.

Given how many people love Squaretrade (the source of the data) over on Slickdeals, they probably cover abuse as well as failure. Just a guess, but it lends credence to Joel's point.

OK, bumping a slightly old thread, but Señor Cheap Bastard needed a Windows 7 box for his business and could not pass up this deal... (thanks slickdeals.com)

Dual core 2.2Ghz, 3Gb, 250gb, 15.6", DVDRWDL =$298

http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/09...10_215X215.jpg

OK,it is an eMachine, and no Blue(tooth,-Ray), but I can't build a comparable desktop with no display for that.

According to the web site, only the pyramid store has any, but it may lie. 19 left when I left at 8:00am.

* Intel Pentium Dual Core T4400 2.20GHz
* 15.6" LCD Display (1366x768)
* Intel GMA 4500M
* 3GB DDR2
* 250GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive
* SuperMulti 8X DVD+ with Double Layer Support
* Built-in 802.11b/g WLAN
* 6-cell Lithium-ion Battery
* Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Sweet deal.

Well, looks like I might be in the market for one. My 2 or 3 year old Everex seems to have died. I get blank screen, and fan on full blast when I power it on. Looking for another 17" model. Would like HDMI out and maybe "N" wireless built in. If it can game, awesome, but not required. Two HDD bays would be sweet since that's what I had with the Everex. I'm thinking my budget should be around $500 but I can be flexible, just want dependibility and a good deal.

Pretty sure it's dead.

Thinking of picking this up to replace it:

MSI with 3 year warranty for $700 shipped after Bing.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...799&CatId=3985

It's actually down to $650 if the mail in rebate I found works.

Some preliminary benchmarks with the overclock button, "turbo", on and off.