ProPortable or ISTNC, that is the question. - Page 2

First off, they aren't the only ones sold out. Second, ISTNC and a few others also give educational discounts. Third, Geared2Play mentioned on notebookforums.com that they received LESS Z70V's than the competition (selling out faster?). Fourth, why $50 for shipping from ISTNC? Mine was $38 across the whole freaking country from ISTNC. Fifth, do you work for Geared2Play? You’ve been giving out a lot of misinformation.

I'm not saying Geared2Play is bad. They are probably great. MadMike just seems a bit zealous.

No, I dont work for them. The original poster wanted a good place to buy this product. I just thought it was a good deal. I was willing to pass it on. I see that a lot of peeps on this board are kids anyways (anywhere from HS to College) I thought all those discounts that Geared2play would save them an extra $175 (ballpark figure- that was a lot of $ when I was in college). Also, when I priced them all out, you can see that it's pretty much lower than everyone else's... even before the discount. Dont know if they raised the price now since they're giving that extra $50 off for pre-ordering. That's my first purchase from them. I was going to buy from ISTNC but I got a shipping rate of $49 and I'm only in CA. It was either spend more money & get it earlier, or save & get it in a couple days later (Geared2play is in NY). If I was totally desperate, I'd just buy it locally and pay the damn sales tax (tax is even more than shipping!).

No misinformation. 1- of the 3 stores mentioned, it is the only one sold out. 2- Didnt say that they were the only ones that gave out student discounts. 3- If they got less than the other peeps, oh well, they're still sold out, didnt ask them for inventory numbers. 4- That's what I got buddy, I set up a shipping manifest for our company, you know and I know it doesnt take $49 for shipping, I figured it was their packaging charges or whatever. I dont ask questions, I just move on. 5- No I dont work for them, but after reading this thread, I really should be getting a little something from them.

I dont care where you get it. I dont care who Rick, John, Manny, Moe, or Jack is. I just saw this deal, I figured the original poster would like to know. If he wants to go elsewhere, hey it's freedom of choice. I dont care, I just know a lot of us is willing to save a little money on exact same product.

ISTNC is sold out.

ProPortable warranties all of the "whitebook" ASUS notebooks they build for 2 years, standard. This is above and beyond the ASUS 1 year warranty and the "30 days" you get with stuff at Best Buy, etc. It also includes all components and labor - something which, just having a HDD warranty, for example, does not. By the way, G2P is a good dealer, but no offense man, the other two being discussed in this thread are markedly better for not a huge difference in $ - especially if you consider stuff like ProPortable's warranty and dead pixel check.

since when did being sold out become a good thing? :P

As a canadian student, which of ISTNC, PROportable or geared2play.com would be best for me? I really like proportable's policy of testing screens for dead pixels before shipping them out. Do any of you know if ISTNC does this? I know that geared2play charges $75 for that service.

Sandeep

BAHAMA.LLAMA-- that's so true. Dead pixels really suck, I'm lucky to never have gotten a dead pixel. I've purchase 8 laptops/LCD monitors for my current company and over 20 for my previous company. Never one incident, so I haven't gone through any stories of misfortune like that. If I get one on mine, I'll just pass it on to one of our sales guys. I did get one on my Digital Camera though, but Canon took care of it in about 2 weeks.

Whoops! I screwed up. Sorry, it's not a guarantee $50 off for students, but that's how much it would've came out to with the 2.5% discount on a $2k computer. I do a lot of researching and purchases for the company I work for. Budget reasons, so excuse me for typing that out- might've gotten mixed up.

The discount was 2.5% to all students & teachers, firemen, police, military and cash/check/cod is 2.3%- and they can be combined too. I'm only taking advantage of the shipping refund because I dont fall into those brackets. I was about to use my little brother's Student ID. Hee, Hee!

both istnc and ProPortable do free dead pixel scans, and both companies will bend over backwards to help you out. Geared2Play is decent and provides good service to their customers, and I think they have a very good policy of reviewing everything before they sell it. The main reason why I'm not as comfortable recommending them is because the owner can come across as kind of abrasive in some of his posts, and I'm wired so that bugs me. They're still a good reseller, but just not my top choice.

Hello
I tried to stay out but i had to but in yett again. Sorry of my presence offends any mods here. if you want to contact me directly I am always on aim or email or phone and most times of the day on our forum
Mike:
Dont feel like people are disagreening with you. The posters on this forum cary strong ties to companies that they bought from. This is very normal. For the record I unlike some others have no employee spies here except my self not even Mike though he is doing an excellent job of keeping a neutral open mind.
Rob:
You kind of guessed a part of my personality. If by abrasive you mean I like to bump heads with people who get on my nerves you are absolutely right. There are no shortage of my posts in these forums from when i started posting in online forums many months ago before i even realized how diverse and competetive these parts are. I think you do your homework well and i even saw you give us credits on many of your posts. I totally appreciate that and think you provide a service to many forum goers. I think you took away about the only thing i have going for the biz and the only thing that i can provide as a sales rep and technician. That would be service. Without a knowledgeble staff you simply cannot provide great service. I would be more then delighted if you can point me to mistakes that i have made (not including my spelling please). I know I made plenty. I am just not seeing how 30% of my word is wrong. Blowing out of proportion is an understatement. I really would appreciate if you can post here or any other place that is appropriate (namely our forum) how exactly you get to this conclusion. If you mean you saw me wrong in a prediction that i made please point it out i would love to recant my statement there. The last thing i want is to feed misinformation. If you want to get a feel for rom g2pwhy i scour but not post look into my history here if you have not already.
I saw someone mention Justins name. For the record the man is a walking talking asus autobiodictionary. Please dont make baseless comments about a reseller without some backup. If you think i am embelishing you truly are 1 in a couple thousand.
Thanks for reading
Eddie *g2p*

Rob
I am a little confused by the dead pixel scans you talked about. If you are trying to incite we charge to have a dead pixel scan you are not looking at the whole picture.We charrge absolutely nothing for a pixel scan. We scan all built on's for dead pixels completely free of charge. We do charge to guarantee no dead pixels. I would never tell someone "i will scan your dead pixel and pass it on to the next sucker if i found one". In the very rare case we find a laptop with a dead pixel and the customer elected to pay for a guarantee we will post the laptop with a dead pixel as a refurb and give the customer a new laptop without a dead pixel. I am no expert on policy but i do belive this should be the policy for all resellers of this product and infact it is. if i am wrong i would love to see where you read otherwise.

Eddie,
fair enough. I was exaggerating, and I'll edit my previous post. I think your product reviews are great, and you're usually the first to provide actual tested info about the products you sell. I know you provide good service to those who order from you, and I'm willing to admit that we just have personality differences. I don't have anything personally against you or your company, and I'm sorry if I got carried away. I understand that this is your livelihood, and I'll try to be more clear when stating my personal opinions in contrast with proven facts. Truce?

Your website says that you charge $75.00 for a dead pixel scan. I understand that as you do, that you are guaranteeing no dead pixels. And of course you wouldn't pass machines that didn't pass the scan onto other unaware customers. You're obviously a qualified professional, and you wouldn't do something that was beneath you.

Hey man dont get me wrong. Please read between the lines when I write long replies. Alot of people think i come off with my gloves on when i post in these forums. That is not true i just speak my mind and think about the consequence later. I should give you a free laptop. God only knows how many customers read your review where to my surprise you mentioned your truly. Had a customer yesturday who read it again come to me for advice and a sale.
I do not enjoy taking credit away from any resellers. I do know something you don't and something you may not see looking in from your side. I have good ties to certain individuals and certain others I have something against becuase of something i read or disagree with. I dont just wake up one day and say "I don't like the way this person conducts business". There is always a measure of personal preference in my opinions.
Also some of you may be very surprised about the term sell out. Over the last 6 months we were almost forced to drop our notebook prices almost by 8%. Trust me it was alot easier to make money in this nitche market before it blew up to what it is now. I ve been here a pretty long time comparatively speaking. All the resellers mentioned here give asus the throne they sit on. Dont mean to bump heads with anyone. I am pretty calm from the medications i am taking for my broken foot but i may come back swinging after a few beers

Ok i think i see what you dont see. Our policy says nothing about the free pixel guarantee we do offer. It should be a bit more detailed. That would be the part where we send a laptop back for a refund to the manufacturer if we find more dead pixels then i would like to see on a laptop usually it is below what the manuafcturer warrantys but we find way to get around it. This is really a horrible thing to say on my behalf in a live forum. Hopefully I dont get ratted out....Again Like i said your looking from the outside in but you dont see whats under the cover. Honestly this is probably more publicity then i hoped for here. If you have further questions we do maintain our own forums. Anything is a go. If you think i provide good insider details please take advantage of it. You are always welcome to ask me whatever. We do share a common ""hobby"" and i hope you get paid for your as well because you do know your stuff.......almost to well for an end user

I agree, and I edited that part out.
ouch! that must kill. I hope your foot heals up soon. and the first beer's on me. I hope you get better soon.

I hope the poor car on which my foot fell feels better too. All jokes aside though. i was completely serious in what i said. I do owe you a debt of gratitude. You did me no harm here or any place else, on the contrary....