I recently started working on a project which requires some doodling, so after much consternation, I decided to buy a Tablet PC. While my Mac would continue to serve as my primary machine, I needed a cheap and cheerful digital sketchbook.
I decided to drop into the local Best Buy, and asked to try out their only Tablet PC, the HP TX2000 series laptop. Pretty good machine for the price - around $1,000 - all I needed to know was whether the digitizer was pressure sensitive (press harder with the pen, and get a thicker/darker line). I had done some preliminary research on the web, but there were conflicting reports on this aspect of the machine.
There were a lot of sales reps standing around the computer department, not really doing much of anything, except socializing with each other. I asked one of them if I could get the digitizing pen for the tablet. He rolled his eyes and told me to use my finger. When I insisted, he dug up the pen and stood behind me, watching my every move as I stumbled around the Vista interface, checking to see whether the tablet was indeed pressure sensitive. He was frustrated that I pulled him away from chat time with the other reps, having to make sure I didn't steal the pen. So, when I couldn't figure it out and asked him, he just said "I don't know". I gave him back the pen, and his spirits immediately lifted. He hurriedly put the put back under lock-up. Then, he asked "so you're going to buy one, right?" Yea, right. And just in case you're thinking that this was some pimply-faced 16 year old, it wasn't. He was the "supervisor" of the computer department.
I was actually thinking of just buying it, taking it home, and figuring out it later. After all, these places carry price and satisfaction guarantees, right? However, the experience was so painful, I decided against that.
I left the store empty handed. Over the weekend, I spent a few hours doing some research on the tablet. Finally, after sifting through many pages of disinformation, I found my answer. (it is pressure sensitive, to 256 levels, btw). Now I'm ready to pounce.
Staples carries the
HP tx2110ca for $1,004.96, but doesn't carry it at the store closest to my house. I called Future Shop (which was acquired by Best Buy in 2001) to see if they would match the price. After all, these guys have "Get it for less. Guaranteed" as a trademark. They carry an identical machine with a different model number: the HP
tx2104ca - for $1,099.99 - a difference of about $95.

I asked nicely if they would match the price, given that it was pretty much the same machine. Maybe they wanted my business, I figured. Not only did they refuse, but they were actually quite rude about it - as if I was trying to pull a scam on them. After my experience at Best Buy, I don't know why I was expecting anything different.
So, back to the Staples website. 2 minutes after I got off the phone with Future Shop, I was the proud owner of a HP tx2110ca, saving myself any further frustrations of having to deal with either Best Buy or Future Shop employees. In the process, I also saved myself $95 plus taxes, and a bunch of gas money, since Staples ships for free.
Just in case you think I'm going off the deep end with consumer advocacy talk, think again. I'm just saying: buyer beware. Future Shop and Best Buy pour hundreds of millions of dollars into marketing and advertising, and recovers it by selling products for profit. To maintain higher margins, they hire marginal staff, and sell overpriced cables and warranties. This is old news.
Best Buy/Future Shop aren't the only companies with questionable practices. Companies like HP help support the deceptive marketing practices of Best Buy/Future Shop, by creating exclusive model numbers for each retailer. You can buy the exact same HP tx2000 series computers at a variety of retailers, however, you will never find Future Shop's tx2104ca at any other retailer. Thus, Future Shop will never have to price match on that unit. They win the argument in the fine print. Unfair? Yes. The only thing you can do about it? Your homework.
To close: a homework assignment. Try to figure out why HP has so many model numbers for such similar computers.
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