Misinformation: It Pains Me

Looking around the interwebs, I saw this: http://tech.yahoo.com/blog/null/26470. Normally, I use Yahoo! to read up on news and sports, but I decided to see how these "experts" can improve my knowledge. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I HATE PEOPLE.

A few excerpts:

To see this just breaks my heart. Now I've been here long enough that most of you know I hate fanboyishness, but this is ridiculous. I'd expect this from a noob, but from the Yahoo! "Experts" who have more credibility than anyone of us here. Just makes me want to shed a tear.

I know people don't like Vista, that it's a memory hog, that it requires a powerful computer. Apparently, Vista's so damn heavy that you need a dedicated card to run it too. Getting told by an expert that IE and Word will run much faster with a dedicated card. Another tear.

Remember, these guys are catering to the average joe, not us - crazy "I want the last frame, and I'll shoot my laptop to get it" type. Telling everyone that they need a Core 2 Duo and the latest GPU when a much cheaper option exists is horrible. Think how much money people waste by trusting these sources - ones that should be very accurate. I just wish we had more influence to be able to take on Yahoo!

 

I know what your saying, and agree the guy is wrong for all the reasons you say. With that said I guess I just accept it or I understand this guy is a journalist/tech guy not tech guy/journalist. My cousin was an editor and writer for PCMagizine for about 10 years. He was an English major in college not computer science. In other words he didn't really understand what he wrote about at a technical level to give thoughtful opinions, he was fed info by MFG's and spit it back out. At one time to the point of having to write a retraction. Don't want to say more if I do they could ID me and I don't want that. This guy is the same way I think. I think NBR has a lot of visibility on the WEB for those looking for answers, and once they get here they see the level of info and figure out who to listen to.

 

I agree.

In fact, I was just working with someone about making a budget rig, and to be honest, the AMD X2 lineup gives very good bang for the buck still and is more than adequate for many people's needs.

I feel you pain.

 

they sound like the sales people at best buy

 

I understand that, however, this guy gets automatic cred, almost 100%. If I didn't know much about computers, I would take his word without question. It takes us here a few hundred posts to build up cred, yet none of us have near the audience of this guy.

I was a sales person at Best Buy.

 

One thing I never understand is why best buy (or any of the other big box retailers) doesn't really offer any notebooks with discrete graphics options except for super high-end stuff. It's like the most common config on a mainstream notebook is: C2D 1.6-2.0GHz, 120 GB HDD, intel X3100, 1-2GB ram.

I wonder why more brick & mortar stores don't sell more medium-high end stuff?

 

All about the customer base. The stores are segmented to cater to a specific group, and the largest stores usually cater to the "rich white guy/girl" group who buy a laptop for either basic family use or business, neither of which normally requires a dedicated GPU.

Also, most people who need a gaming/technical laptop know their stuff, and won't buy from a store like BestBuy.

 

Never mind.

 

I double posted?

 

Wow that's a terrible article.

Also just read this part:

So many people were incorrectly informed by this guy to buy an expensive notebook when they would have been more than satisfied with a much cheaper machine.

 

I don't or didn't. But I did know I wan't buying from Best Buy. I consider myself quite fortunate to stumble on this site. I've been doing things with my rig that I never would have thought of doing.

No snide comments please :laugh:

 

I guess thats why most of us will not be hired as Best Buy sales reps. Because of a customer comes by and asks about a laptop, we will know which of the lower priced laptops would suit their needs, and BB will not sell any of the overpriced higher end laptops.

 

When working for BestBuy, it didn't really matter which computer you sold. The margins on the computers were either very small or nonexistent, whether the computer was $500 or $2000. You were being paid to sell services and accessories.

 

Dude, you are way too sensitive. They are strangers and its just a computer.

 

Don't worry about the article's effect on readers. Just read all of the negative feedback he received in the comments section!

 

I second the AMD X2 comment. It DOES provide a very good bang for the buck processor for a budget system. Even for a laptop, Turions run slightly cheaper than the Intels. Just goes to show, go to a real place for tech advice.

 

Last year I questioned a Best Buy sales guy about the differences between lcd monitors and TVs. The guy was so bad at bull****ting that he told me monitors had better protection against viruses. Best Buy really needs to hire better bull****ters if they want me to shop there anymore.

 

This guy doesn't know what the hell he's talking about and he writes like crap. They should sack him and replace him with someone that can write, at least