Loulou goes loopy over laptops

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I’m currently on a train tootling my way up to the big smoke for a couple of days of meetings. And after 2 coffees, some breakfast Jaffa cakes (don’t judge me i was up at 5am!) 2 hours of studying and all before 8am I fancied a break and was musing on potential blog posts that I could get crack on with and thought of this one....

My study kit gained a new addition this week after my faithful old laptop crashed out on me one too many times. So in desperation I hit the high street seeking a replacement. Now any of you who read my blog know that while I adore shopping, especially for handbags, I baulk at spending large amounts of money on technology. It just seems alien to me (as you can read about here) so I can assure you dear readers that I didn’t take the new laptop purchase willingly or in haste. It’s been a decision looming for some time L

Of course I could have done without it being 2 days after I signed up to buy a brand new car but these things are sent to try us. So off to PC World/Currys I went in Bournemouth after work on Monday. Now while I think it is fantastic these stores on retail parks open until 8pm and  I appreciate the hard job they have in the face of internet comparison shopping, crippling economic conditions and decreasing profit margins I can’t say this too lightly, this one was RUBBISH.

Appalling selection of products despite the fact the store was the size of an average Tesco superstore, almost zero staff available and those who were of course were both chatting to their colleagues and had umpteen customers waiting for their time.

Half an hour I was in that store looking at pretty much the same 3 laptops continuously. Did anyone approach me? Could I find anyone to talk to? Could I heck. I’m lucky that Mr P is an IT boffin so I spent my evening on the phone to him reading out specs and names and him googling the laptops to see if it met my needs (ram? Processor speeds? Core i5? I mean if they wrote it in English maybe I’d understand!!)

Anyhoo after getting irate for a while trying to find someone, I was waiting in line to attempt to spend £500 and googled on my iPhone (at least that works) the nearest Comet which was thankfully only yards away. 

So I hotfooted it out of PC World and literally skipped over to Comet. Now I didn’t have high hopes I have to say after the PC World experience but I could not have been more wrong.

Really nice selection of laptops, much better store design, some great (and clear) offers PLUS helpful staff! Needless to say I spent my money there....I even got an absolute bargain I bought a Sony Vaio laptop (which was the one I really wanted for no other reason that I think they look nice – shallow I know but as Mr P kept saying all the insides are pretty much the same for what I need it for why not be shallow considering how much I have to stare at it!!) Now the only thing that was putting me off the Vaio is the price as it does appear you pay more for the Sony name...

Unless you are a Comet shopper and don’t mind a pink laptop – yep I said pink....In Comet, on the night I went shopping, there was a Sony Viao on sale for just over £400 – still a lot for a piece of tech but a whopping £250+ off the price they were being sold for on the Sony website (see here if you want to know more) But to purchase the laptop in a more subtle blue was an additional £150.

Now I love pink, I have a pink purse, a pink iPhone case, even a couple of pink Filofax in my collection BUT I would usually draw the line at a Barbie pink laptop I mean I use this thing on trains (yep the suits are staring at it I think they’re just jealous) at work (I’m going to be mocked mercilessly I know this already as I work with nearly all men in a tech firm...Apple is the name of the game with their smooth effortless sleekness) And of course I use it for studying (well that’s ok as it’s only me) but I like to pretend I have an air of professionalism at times and surely a pink laptop flies in the face of all that is business like?

But then the Frugalista in me thinks getting a top spec laptop (Mr P’s verdict) at a bargain price is worth a little ribbing (and of course the money I save can be invested in bags so it's win win) which means, ta da, drum roll please......and here is Barbie in all her glory:

I do have to admit though in an attempt to tone down the pink-ness I did opt for a turquoise blue sleeve to protect Barbie when out and about...well the pink one clashed a bit!

So dear readers what are your thoughts? Would you ever be seen out and about with Loulou brandishing a Barbie pink laptop? Does it make me look like a tragic teenage wannabe? Or, as I work in media marketing, can I get away with it being just a bit of fun?

Lx