So this morning I was flipping through the TV and came across a channel where they were selling a “great deal you can only get here.” And I listened knowing I wasn’t going to buy one, but just to see what they were selling. It’s good when you are in the industry to know what’s being offered and the prices it’s going for. So for me it’s just to stay current even though I won’t buy one.

As I listened I couldn’t believe my ears.First they were selling a laptop with a 15.6″ screen, the system looked decent and for the most part they were truthful. But when one person asked about battery life the response wasn’t “you are expected to get X number of hours of battery.” Instead the response was “it’s a 6cell battery so  you’ll get hours upon hours of battery.” Well, to the average consumer that means nothing, how many hours will 6 cells provide? Or does the average consumer not care? And is it “hours upon hours” as long as you turn the wifi off, dim the screen, disable the CD and external peripherals? No details.

And the reason the battery thing irritates me is because some computer makes say they can run for hours, but that’s only if you optimize the system and turn everything off…. And I just got an iPad it was sold as having a 10 hour battery, they make that clear. I use the thing constantly and get way more then 10 hours out of it and that’s with full wifi, watching movies, listening to music, surfing the web, etc. So truth in battery life is important, a company that won’t say what is expected is questionable. After all, would you want a laptop if you can’t use it on the go because the battery won’t last more then the time it takes to boot the system up?

Then the kicker that made me question the integrity of the tv salesman who happens to be a regular on this particular channel. He mentioned it came with a 2gb SD card loaded with software that would ordinarly cost you $300 to buy seperatly but they are including it FREE!!! Great deal when the laptop is only $699 and getting $300 in software free. But hang on, pay close attention because they aren’t really fraudulent, but more deceitful. If you listen closely they tell you all the titles and after the ones that would cost the most they add the word “trial” to it and skips right on by that. So yeah you are getting an SD card loaded with software, but 90% of it is TRIAL software that expires in 60 days. It’s the same software you could download directly from a particular website free of charge and get the same 60 day trial.

So for this tv personality to try to sell the consumer that they are getting $300 worth of software free is just a load of dung. They are getting a 2gb SD card which retails for about $8 at most electronic stores loaded with trial ware that if you install you’ll regret because it will constantly ask you to buy it, when you remove it most won’t remove completely. It’s a mess.

And then they put that product away and switch to a netbook and explain how it’s the 4th generation and it’s now got the new style keyboard where each button is it’s own…. Ironically it looks identical to the MAC keyboard I’ve been using for a long time…. This isn’t new technology, they used the same layout as Mac… I guess that’s why Mac has the slogan “think different.” Because they are truly on the edge of new technology and everyone else always copies them….

Then as I listen more about this netbook they get excited because it has built in wifi, and a built in webcam as if this was new technology to netbooks… Let me explain briefly why this annoys me. Because netbooks are designed for one thing and one thing only. To get on the internet. Hence the word “net” in the title. So built in wifi exists in ALL netbooks, that’s sort of what makes them a netbook. And as for built in webcam, nothing special, I haven’t seen a netbook without a built in webcam……

I know that these people need to sell computers, but they could do it in a way that isn’t misleading to the everyday consumer. The prices are competitive, there are some reasons to buy what they have over others and if they would simply focus on those points instead of being deceitful and making it sound like on this channel, this is the only place you can get a laptop with trial software but do it in a way it sounds like your getting the full version included or a netbook with standard hardware then they could really be good. But after watching and hearing this I can’t believe it and this particular channel has lost all credibility to me when it comes to them selling products.