Dual is one of those Wal-Mart brands thats claims high retail prices just so they are always on "sale" - this won't go for more than $99.

And people with infants/toddlers. I don't want to be shelling out for a new Harmony every time my daughter destroys it. This isn't as fancy, but it is a lot more kid-proof.

seamonkey, you're not the only one! I like it because I can use the surround receiver when I game, but the wife doesn't have to mess with it when she just wants to watch a movie with the TV speakers, and I an also just use the TV speakers when the baby is sleeping without having to go through a menu to do it.

About a year and a half ago we had this same problem with the wife's 2002 Rav4. The transmission shop ended up putting in a rebuilt tranny and about a month later it started acting up again. That made me suspect something electronic, but I figured a car that year and price would have a fully hydraulic tranny. We kept bringing it back to the shop every week or so and they would adjust things only to have it act up again a week later. $3500 of repairs, $500 of rental cars, and 24 hours of missed work later we got them to fix it up just good enough one last time for a dealer to look at and traded it in for a brand new Fit. Dealer actually gave us $9000 for it. Wonder how the next owner of it fared. The Fit is the perfect car for her, and we got it when gas was $4/gal, so in the end it worked out for the best.

If this is an issue, Toyota really needs to admit it. The whole experience of having a car die so completely at 70,000 miles was such a turn off to Toyota products that not only did we sell the Rav, but I sold my Lexus too just to rid the family of Toyota vehicles. I just think of them as unreliable now, whether that is the case or not. In other news the only thing the Fit has needed in the first 25,000 miles is 3 oil changes, and the used '02 Chevy pickup that replaced the Lexus has been just as reliable though everything in the interior has started to squeak and rattle.

The sad thing is that no matter which one of you is right about how much they SHOULD get for it, they will most likely either get nothing
at all or take years to get it. With the economy the way it is, the legal process and any amount awarded will most likely bankrupt the company. Their debts will be cancelled and they will never pay the owners of the demolished house. The only recourse would be to try to prove responsibility of an individual at the company and sue him directly. This would be difficult to prove, take forever, and even then the best they could do would be to get a few hundred dollars a month by garnishing his wages if he is even still employable.

The sad thing is that no matter which one of you is right about how much they SHOULD get for it, they will most likely either get nothing at all or take years to get it. With the economy the way it is, the legal process and any amount awarded will most likely bankrupt the company. Their debts will be cancelled and they will never pay the owners of the demolished house. The only recourse would be to try to prove responsibility of an individual at the company and sue him directly. This would be difficult to prove, take forever, and even then the best they could do would be to get a few hundred dollars a month by garnishing his wages if he is even still employable.

The acer is somewhat thicker and heavier. Also need to compare to those prices minus 20% for the VAT. But still it does seem like quite a premium for what it is.

I agree. I don't get what the big deal is about having swappable batteries - you can buy an external one that plugs into the MagSafe port, get over it!

Did you not read the article? The there is an e-ink display under the keyboard, you press a button to switch between numbers and qwerty and the screen below the keys changes so the same keys become qwerty.

I always thought Grandma was costing them more - even though she isn't downloading anything she is constantly on the phone with tech support and having people called out to the house because she has no idea how to work her router. Wouldn't the cost of paying people to take care of that cost more than my downloading 500 GB a month and never interacting with the company besides to pay my bill?!