I’m trying to buy a Lenovo Thinkpad Edge 11″ without an operating system in Malaysia. I’ve seen prices widely quoted at RM1,899. With Microsoft’s operating system, it costs RM2,099. <\/p>\n
Lenovo Malaysia does not have an online store like Dell or Apple. I’ve had no problems purchasing Dell and Apple based machines before. Even with a credit card, none of Apple’s or Dell’s resellers attempt to charge me 2% extra so that I bear the cost of credit card processing fees. <\/p>\n
Cue to Lenovo. I call up their help line today. They direct me to Ingram Micro who very helpfully tell me they do not deal with end users. <\/p>\n
So I visit Low Yat. They seem to have an authorised reseller there. Here’s where it gets interesting. If I buy the Windows version at RM200 more, I get free gifts (USB hub, thumbdrive, and some other random stuff) plus they’ll waive the 2% credit card fee (which they should not be charging to begin with). If I buy the OS-less version, they will not provide me with any gifts, and I would pay 2% on top of the cost of the laptop. <\/p>\n
All this seems ridiculous since if I wanted to deal with Dell or Apple I’d never have this problem. And they’ll never tell me to pony up an extra 2% so that I bear the processing costs. <\/p>\n
The problem lies in the fact that I like the Edge 11″. I think it will make a perfect portable Linux machine. It might only have an i3 processor, but its a portable 64-bit machine, quite unlike most netbooks one can buy today. <\/p>\n
My only problem? I can’t buy it online. And if I have to walk into a store, I’ve got to bring cash or pony up a 2% fee. <\/p>\n
I have not given up getting this laptop yet. If anyone has suggestions on how I can get this laptop from a retailer who knows that sending credit card processing fees to the consumer is not allowed, please leave a comment or shoot me an email. <\/p>\n
P\/S: Lenovo should train their support staff better. I called them with the intention to buy and they led me to a dead end that wouldn’t deal with end users.<\/p>\n