Go Go Gadget Wallet
Buying new gadgets is easy ... at least, that's the rumour going around and we all know to take rumours with a pinch of salt, don't we?
When the iPad was first released, I was quite anti the idea as I couldn't see what use it could possibly be beyond being another glossy toy for Apple geeks to spray over. Don't get me wrong, I admire Apple and their incredible success at taking an existing idea and making it their own; they believed in the product and their customers believed in their marketing.
Personally, I was not sold on the idea so have spent all this time refusing to buy into the idea. Then I started Uni where a large proportion of students have tablets of one description or another ... okay, of one description; I now look like one of the old stalwarts I used to work with who preferred to work with pen and paper rather than one of those new-fangled computer thingies!
Damn, I'm getting old!!!
Needless to say, for the past 18 months, I've been coming around to the idea of a tablet, if only so I can travel a bit lighter and stop carrying the equivalent of a filing cabinet on my back every day, which probably won't work as I will just end up with more books in the space where the computer was.
So, filled with the idea of buying into the latest tech fad, I headed down to what passes for 'tech' stores around here to go make my purchase...
The astute amongst you will already have picked up from the above comments that it wasn't an iPad I was after, which correctly leads you to the conclusion that I am an Android fan.
*Pauses to soak up iGeek confusion*
Sorry guys and gals, I like choice.
Sorry guys and gals, I like choice.
Originally, it was the Motorola Xoom that was at the top of my list, especially after playing with it in-store and comparing it to what is allegedly the best Android tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. Then Asus announced the release of their Transformer Prime and my mind was made up ... until they announced the TF700T HD version to be released in either Q2 or Q3, when my mind was made up again!
The trouble is, I was in a 'must have tech' mood and figured that there really wasn't any need to get the latest and greatest for what I was going to use it for, so the Xoom was back at the top of the list, but could I get my hands on one? Could I buggery!
Nobody had them in stock with only Comet offering their display device, which I politely turned down: if I'm buying something, I want it new. So after several hours of traipsing between stores and, I dare say, being eyeballed by security because of it, I made my miserable way into the town centre and set my sights on a new target: a phone upgrade. I was going to have some new tech to play with!
Since my contract has just come to an end, I figured I could upgrade and decided some time ago that I was going to get the HTC Sensation. Having checked with the Orange store online and finding I could upgrade for £9.99 with a better tariff and that the Carphone Warehouse could offer me the same package for free, I headed into the Orange store where I told the sales guy exactly what I was after.
Even after telling him I wanted the Sensation, he tried to sell me the Sensation XE and it seemed to go straight over his head when I told him again what I actually wanted. Then he looked at the upgrade tariffs. Best offer? £99.99 or I could get the phone for free if I upped my tariff to £36 a month. Only two words were exchanged:
Me: No.
Him: Okay.
At which point I left, met up with Foshie and headed to the Carphone Warehouse to do business. After talking to the sales guy, he offered exactly the deal they were offering online and, after some deliberation (when have I not deliberated?!), I said yes to upgrading on Orange, despite being on the verge of offering them a few choice words.
It all seemed to be going well until the sales guy couldn't set the new phone up properly. It turned out they had no more 3G SIMs left so would have to order one in for Tuesday, which would mean returning later in the week and continuing the transaction.
So I cancelled it.
As impulse buying goes, this is most definitely a fail. I never realised spending money could be so difficult!
The trouble is, I was in a 'must have tech' mood and figured that there really wasn't any need to get the latest and greatest for what I was going to use it for, so the Xoom was back at the top of the list, but could I get my hands on one? Could I buggery!
Nobody had them in stock with only Comet offering their display device, which I politely turned down: if I'm buying something, I want it new. So after several hours of traipsing between stores and, I dare say, being eyeballed by security because of it, I made my miserable way into the town centre and set my sights on a new target: a phone upgrade. I was going to have some new tech to play with!
Since my contract has just come to an end, I figured I could upgrade and decided some time ago that I was going to get the HTC Sensation. Having checked with the Orange store online and finding I could upgrade for £9.99 with a better tariff and that the Carphone Warehouse could offer me the same package for free, I headed into the Orange store where I told the sales guy exactly what I was after.
Even after telling him I wanted the Sensation, he tried to sell me the Sensation XE and it seemed to go straight over his head when I told him again what I actually wanted. Then he looked at the upgrade tariffs. Best offer? £99.99 or I could get the phone for free if I upped my tariff to £36 a month. Only two words were exchanged:
Me: No.
Him: Okay.
At which point I left, met up with Foshie and headed to the Carphone Warehouse to do business. After talking to the sales guy, he offered exactly the deal they were offering online and, after some deliberation (when have I not deliberated?!), I said yes to upgrading on Orange, despite being on the verge of offering them a few choice words.
It all seemed to be going well until the sales guy couldn't set the new phone up properly. It turned out they had no more 3G SIMs left so would have to order one in for Tuesday, which would mean returning later in the week and continuing the transaction.
So I cancelled it.
As impulse buying goes, this is most definitely a fail. I never realised spending money could be so difficult!
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