Canadians are getting held back

Been happening for years. Dont know why. Ask Fidget is Canadien

I seriously doubt it's a conspiracy, my first guess would be that it mostly has something to do with import/export laws and tariffs/taxes.

I feel for you guys, it would make me really mad if I were in your shoes.

you dont need to go to all that trouble.

i happened to be in a local costco the other day and saw the HP you were talking about for sale there are a very reasonable price. the HDX from HP is available here, the model name is different and some of the specs are slightly different (we get more ram from the factory) but regardless of that it is the exact same machine, available direct from HP or from some of their retail partners. as for the asus... look what i found available in canada from a reputable company (and authorized asus dealer).

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...22627(ME).aspx

yes its more money than the US version, that is in part due to the lower dollar and also due to the higher cost of importing. as for bringing in an HP or an asus from the US, be careful on the warranty as they can be sticky about it and it can cause trouble. most american companies wont sell computers and electronics across the boarder because of different laws regarding fraud (it happens) and also because of returns and warranty considerations.

you can buy top of the line stuff from many local dealers, also from dell canada. in fact we have some options here that do not exist in the US such as LG machines (which are absolutely gorgeous but very high priced).

seeing as i found both of these within a few minutes of searching (less than 5 with google) i assume you saw them as well and discounted them due to higher price, no way around that though.

so you do have options within canada, its not some conspiracy to keep you away from laptop joy.

you do realize that the difference on the asus is minor, the processor although important is not critical and with the rest of the specs will provide exceptional performance in combination with the rest of the hardware. the hdd size difference is nothing really since drives are fairly cheap and you can always put in your own (which will likely be faster as well). as for the HP, i know what i saw since i was rather surprised to see it here, but the machines i saw sitting there were definitely the HDX 16t models.

the differences are pretty minor, the biggest being a slight processor difference which as a whole is not a huge issue and for 99% of applications, even gaming will not hurt your performance enough to cause issues. yes americans get a slightly better processor, we get more ram, in the end the difference is minor. if you really cant live without the US model buy it and get it brought in for you, but realize that you are putting your warranty at risk and you are risking your money.

the price difference for a minor at best difference in real world performance isnt worth it to me, especially with that much risk involved.

the dollar is low at the moment, machines are designed not only to hit certain performance targets but also end market price points, in places with weaker currency (canada, australia, etc) you will see come compromises made on the specs to hit the target price while still getting reasonable performance. if you want to blame someone blame asus and the canadian economy, but dont expect alot of change any time soon.

in the meantime you can still pick up a very good machine here at a very reasonable price which will fulfill prettymuch all needs without the risk of a foreign buy.

Very true for everywhere. Especially for global corporations, try getting a certain model for the offices, and then trying to get the lowest price possible, only to be hit afterward for business taxes/vat

cheers ...

in the majority of computer use you are not even touching the max capacity of the processor, even alot of games wont do that, its part of the reason that you can multitask ( on my xps i had frequently been downloading things, listening to music on itunes, and playing CS:S on its 2.0ghz processor without a hitch). yes some programs will pull alot of CPU use, especially cad type programs and some more recent games.

that said, on the actual machines we are looking at. i cant find the specs of the exact model you saw in the states, link me if you can, but i can find similar ones which is what im basing my opinion on.

right now the toshiba im using has the same processor that comes in the machine i linked you to earlier (the t5800 processor) with 4gb of ram and an intel integrated card it actually is giving me very good performance (admittedly not gaming on it).

now if you can spring for a couple hundred extra over the link i posted earlier i would (if it was my money) pick up this

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...22628(ME).aspx

its basically exactly the specs of the one you wanted (based on what you said it had). its not cheap but its a good machine, the use of a P series processor should give you slightly longer battery life and overall lower power consumption (so slightly less heat) over the t series. both will still give very good performance and if i was going strictly on budget and couldnt really jump over the 1200 mark between the two i would be very happy with the first machine i linked you to. if i had a more broad budget and had the option i would get the p series processor machine i just linked. the actual processor performance between a p series and t series at equal GHZ are the same, going up of course will increase performance but its not a huge leap between the 2ghz and 2.5ghz, and you need to decide if a fairly minor difference in speed/power consumption/heat is worth the extra $$$.

its about the whole package, performance is not strictly processor related, its about having lots of ram, a fast hard drive, good GPU, and the processor combined. you will likely for budget reasons need to compromise a bit there since very few people can just drop 4000 on a new ultra top of the line system. but both the asus machines i linked to should do the job depending on what you are planning to do.

so there are some questions for you here:

-do you game? if so which games?
-how portable do you want it?
-how long do you plan to keep it?
-what other needs are you having for it? main system or just augmenting a desktop?
-what exactly is your budget?

i have used both the 32 bit and 64 bit flavours of vista, there is in my opinion from every day computing little difference that you will notice.

vista 64 bit is the way i would go if i could be assured that i had a full set of drivers, it will run 32 bit programs without issue but when you do find the 64 bit ones it is a little faster, plus it is generally the future way things are going. the downside is that the driver base is more limited at this point, i know that some devices dont like the 64 bit OS's and so you need to be careful there.

the 32 bit is a bit more common and easier to find drivers for so if you have to go that route dont worry but 64 bit is still my favorite flavour.

the p8600 processor is a 2.4ghz speed and should be very good for most peoples needs.

I share your frustrations - I might as well be in a Third World country right now...I can't customize an HP notebook at hpshopping.ca, but my American friends can at hp.com. What a load of crock....

yeah thats what happens when we have a population of 30 millions and they have ten times as many people....