Taipei Computer Expo

I went to the computer expo here last weekend and picked out a computer. Due to me switching jobs, I didn't have a computer of my own for almost two whole weeks! I was pretty close to commiting suicide a few times. I'm so glad that ordeal is over. . . I'm currently typing on an Acer Aspire 5583

Specs:
14.1" WXGA
Intel Core 2 Duo 1.66 GHz
1 GB of RAM
256 MB Nvidia GeForce Go 7300
120 GB Hard Drive
DVD SuperMultiDeluxePro#-^&+=*

Pretty good upgrade considering my last notebook only had 256MB of memory TOTAL. . . the video card in this Acer has 256MB all by itself.

Anyways, back to the computer expo. That place was a freakin' madhouse! Sooo many people all over the place, can't move an inch without pushing someone or someone pushing into you. The most annoying thing was the salespeople. At the notebook section, the salespeople pretty much attacked us. At the HP booth, five salespeople simultaenously came up to me and in almost perfect unison they asked me "Are you looking for a notebook?" It was kinda funny since they looked at each other right afterwards, with a slightly confused look. I think they were all just trying to get to me first, but ended up being a five way tie. This was the worst example but pretty much all the booths were annoying with their salespeople. After awhile I went to the bathroom to check if I had "Looking for Notebook" written on my forehead.

We ended up going into the Toshiba booth. . .

This pic is what it looks like inside the booths. That's where the salespeople demo the notebooks for you and the negotiating starts. The idea of negotiating for a computer is so foreign to me. I don't really like it, but it's only way to get a decent price here. At some booths, they'll slash 10% off the listed price immediately. After the deal is done, they give you a bunch of freebies like a portable mouse, mousepad, pens, etc. . . To me the experience is more similar to buying a car than a computer.

The whole thing is really tiring. I miss how simple it was in the US. . .
1. Get newspaper, find Sunday circulars, pick out a computer,
2. go to the store, ask salesperson to get computer you picked out,
3. find out it's sold out, they offer you a more expensive computer, you say no, they tell you the closest store that has this computer in stock,
4. drive to next store, ask salesperson to get the computer for you, salesperson pushes extended service plan on you, you say no
5. Wait in line for register, cashier person pushes extended service on you, you say no
6. drive home with new computer

Almost done. . .

7. fill out the Mail in rebate forms, make copies of the mail in rebate, make copies of the receipt, cut out the UPC barcode from the packaging, make copies of the UPC, put it all in an envelope, mail it in.
8. wait 8 weeks, remember rebate check never came
9. call rebate center phone number, they tell you "Oh, yeah, it's in the mail"
10. Receive rebate check a week later. Deposit check.

That's how I remember it, the process is probably different now, i haven't bought a computer in awhile.

Anyways, here's a crappy video I took from the computer expo. I'm pretty sure this is the only possible way to make people interested in flash memory cards.