Trying to keep up....
...with the Joneses...sort of. Well, not at all, but in our pathetic sad way we went to Office Depot today to get a new computer monitor and a new printer/copier/scanner.
By pathetic and sad I mean that I actually asked the salesman for "an old sort of monitor, you know--the fat kind". The new ones are sleek and gorgeous and worth way too much for our hand-me-down PC. He did have ONE left, and it was a great deal. Except, as we found out when we checked out, the "deal" was a mail-in rebate.
I hate those.
It is for $100.00, so of course, I have to do it. I came home and dutifully filled out the paperwork, cut out the original UPC code, and got it ready to mail. Then I saw that it will be TEN WEEKS before we see that $100.00 again. You know, I think I could have found a good deal that was actually a "real deal" if I had looked longer. But DH needed a monitor, and needed it yesterday. We had been using Perfect Daughter's after our old one died last week. It's kind of like getting a new car where everything works (after years of driving clunkers, the likes of which I could blog about for pages). We didn't even realize how dim our old monitor was as it was in the death throes for the last few months. I actually thought President Bush had developed a deep tan, and all I ever saw of Anna Nicole Smith on CNN.com was her white smile (very like the Cheshire Cat). Also, who knew how nice it would be not to have to highlight emails that come to me on colored "stationery"? So, even though I'm peeved about the "pseudo-good-deal" (we'll just see if that $100.00 ever shows up. I'm still waiting for a Sprint rebate I earned last December!), I'm happy to type and see what I'm writing. Perhaps this will be a factor as I ratchet up my blogging again.
The printer? Oh dear. I had picked out the Epson. My old one was an Epson and I "understood it". I often yelled at it, shook my fist at it, and cursed it in a girly way, but we had an understanding. I picked out a new Epson with familiar sorts of model numbers and took it to the checkout. This, seriously, is what the cashier said: "Well, if you're not going to go with HP, this is a good printer".
I looked up from the swipe-screen. DH groaned. He knows me all too well. "What?" I asked, "Are you telling me HP is better?"
He explained that HP used less ink, and for the money (ie, it was $10.00 cheaper too, woohoo), I would end up saving over the long run. Of course, they are both good printers, but for MY purposes (printing off the internet, and running copies for school assignments), I should go with the HP. This is where DH really rolled his eyes (and we won't even mention the people behind me in line). I did nicely get OUT of line, and sent DH back with the Epson to find me the HP. I mean, if I was finally getting some new computer/printing equipment after all these years of hand-me-downs (have I mentioned this was the first computer-type purchase the herewegoagain family has ever made?), I wanted the best.
So, we got it all home. We hooked it up. I made a few copies.
I hate it. I hate it. I hate it.
It's slow. The box says 22 cpm. I thought that meant "copies per minute", but I know now that it actually means 22 minutes per copy. As I watched the paper slowing ooch (ooch is a word, and it means just what it sounds like) out, I really dreaded the thought that was forming in my head.....
I am going to have to return it. I am going to have to pack it all up, drive 35 minutes, show my receipt and get the other printer. Worse than that, I am going to have to install the new one when I get home. By myself. Because DH is NOT going to open another computer related item for at least 25 years. He has informed me the new one is just fine, (and that, by the way, he was happy with the Epson that we picked out first.)
I just want to be a 15-year-old boy right now so much. Take away the self-esteem angst, the bad skin and the fear of pretty girls, and you have a computer guru just hoping someone will ask for printer installation and computer upgrades. Rowdy Son is 12 and he has been a great help. He is really enthusiastic about helping me and can't wait to go and get another printer, but well, he's not that perfect teenage age yet.
So, we'll see how nice they are about my return tomorrow. And we'll see if the Epson really does come through for me. Because right now, I gotta tell you, our computer stuff looks kind of cool and high-techy and "like we know what we are doing" for the first time ever. If we ever graduate to an actual new computer, then I will know we've arrived. Can't wait.
By pathetic and sad I mean that I actually asked the salesman for "an old sort of monitor, you know--the fat kind". The new ones are sleek and gorgeous and worth way too much for our hand-me-down PC. He did have ONE left, and it was a great deal. Except, as we found out when we checked out, the "deal" was a mail-in rebate.
I hate those.
It is for $100.00, so of course, I have to do it. I came home and dutifully filled out the paperwork, cut out the original UPC code, and got it ready to mail. Then I saw that it will be TEN WEEKS before we see that $100.00 again. You know, I think I could have found a good deal that was actually a "real deal" if I had looked longer. But DH needed a monitor, and needed it yesterday. We had been using Perfect Daughter's after our old one died last week. It's kind of like getting a new car where everything works (after years of driving clunkers, the likes of which I could blog about for pages). We didn't even realize how dim our old monitor was as it was in the death throes for the last few months. I actually thought President Bush had developed a deep tan, and all I ever saw of Anna Nicole Smith on CNN.com was her white smile (very like the Cheshire Cat). Also, who knew how nice it would be not to have to highlight emails that come to me on colored "stationery"? So, even though I'm peeved about the "pseudo-good-deal" (we'll just see if that $100.00 ever shows up. I'm still waiting for a Sprint rebate I earned last December!), I'm happy to type and see what I'm writing. Perhaps this will be a factor as I ratchet up my blogging again.
The printer? Oh dear. I had picked out the Epson. My old one was an Epson and I "understood it". I often yelled at it, shook my fist at it, and cursed it in a girly way, but we had an understanding. I picked out a new Epson with familiar sorts of model numbers and took it to the checkout. This, seriously, is what the cashier said: "Well, if you're not going to go with HP, this is a good printer".
I looked up from the swipe-screen. DH groaned. He knows me all too well. "What?" I asked, "Are you telling me HP is better?"
He explained that HP used less ink, and for the money (ie, it was $10.00 cheaper too, woohoo), I would end up saving over the long run. Of course, they are both good printers, but for MY purposes (printing off the internet, and running copies for school assignments), I should go with the HP. This is where DH really rolled his eyes (and we won't even mention the people behind me in line). I did nicely get OUT of line, and sent DH back with the Epson to find me the HP. I mean, if I was finally getting some new computer/printing equipment after all these years of hand-me-downs (have I mentioned this was the first computer-type purchase the herewegoagain family has ever made?), I wanted the best.
So, we got it all home. We hooked it up. I made a few copies.
I hate it. I hate it. I hate it.
It's slow. The box says 22 cpm. I thought that meant "copies per minute", but I know now that it actually means 22 minutes per copy. As I watched the paper slowing ooch (ooch is a word, and it means just what it sounds like) out, I really dreaded the thought that was forming in my head.....
I am going to have to return it. I am going to have to pack it all up, drive 35 minutes, show my receipt and get the other printer. Worse than that, I am going to have to install the new one when I get home. By myself. Because DH is NOT going to open another computer related item for at least 25 years. He has informed me the new one is just fine, (and that, by the way, he was happy with the Epson that we picked out first.)
I just want to be a 15-year-old boy right now so much. Take away the self-esteem angst, the bad skin and the fear of pretty girls, and you have a computer guru just hoping someone will ask for printer installation and computer upgrades. Rowdy Son is 12 and he has been a great help. He is really enthusiastic about helping me and can't wait to go and get another printer, but well, he's not that perfect teenage age yet.
So, we'll see how nice they are about my return tomorrow. And we'll see if the Epson really does come through for me. Because right now, I gotta tell you, our computer stuff looks kind of cool and high-techy and "like we know what we are doing" for the first time ever. If we ever graduate to an actual new computer, then I will know we've arrived. Can't wait.
posted by herewegoagain at
10:56 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home