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Friday, October 13, 2006
Shopping on the cheap for a PC
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I spent a couple of days shopping for a new computer last week. That shouldn’t be a big deal — after all, I’ve been buying computers on a regular basis for decades.
In fact, I bought my first computer in kit form years before there was such a thing as a personal computer. I’ve purchased both PCs and Macs since they existed.
This shopping trip was a little different. Up to now I’ve purchased fairly powerful — and expensive — computers. This time I was shopping for a dirt cheap machine for my father-in-law. I did this away from my usual turf, shopping in the San Diego area instead of in Atlanta.
I learned a lot. Today I’ll do my best to offer some hints about computer shopping on a budget.
When I finally walked out of the store I had a computer that will serve my father-in-law well, along with a nice flat-panel monitor. Yet I only spent a few bucks over $500 for both. That was satisfying, but there were lessons to be learned along the way.
Rebate madness
The retail computer business relies heavily on rebates. That’s especially true on the low end of the market. These rebates were often already factored into the price tag shown on the shelf, but in some cases they were not. So you’ll want to read the fine print when comparing prices. With rebate offers like that you’ll pay much more than the advertised price and then be required to use the rebates to make up the difference.
Rebates are a hassle and sometimes involve a complicated process designed to trip you up. I did end up using rebates and was pleased at how they were handled at that particular store — Fry’s Electronics in San Marcos, Calif. All the paperwork and rebate information was handed to me separately at the checkout counter. That meant I didn’t have to dig through the packaging, or — even worse — end up throwing them away by mistake.
Bundled up
When comparing deals, even with computers sitting side-by-side at the same store, pay attention to whether the computer is bundled with a monitor. Some are, some aren’t.
To make things even more confusing, computers that did not include a monitor in the price were invariably displayed with a monitor attached. So take a notepad and a calculator along to factor the price of the monitor in or out for price comparisons.
I ran into another problem because of these bundled packages — I’d often see a computer that I liked that came with a monitor I didn’t like. So I ended up avoiding the bundled offers and buying the PC and the monitor separately.
Deceptive shelf displays
I have no idea whether this particular store was deceptive on purpose, or by mistake. This was at another well-known chain, not Fry’s.
Here’s how it worked: I found a terrific bargain — a very powerful PC with one gigabyte of RAM. The price was amazing. Even though the computer’s specifications were terrific, it was being sold at around the same price as the lesser machines I had seen at other stores.
Under the shelf where it was displayed there were 10 or so boxed-up computers ready to load into the cart. They were the same brand but not the same machine. It would have been easy to grab one of those boxes without realizing that it was not the same computer. When I took a closer look at the specs on the box, I noticed there was less memory and a slower processor than in the display model.
When I asked the clerk for help, he told me that the store was out of that specific machine. I offered to buy the display model but he said that wasn’t possible and tried to steer me to another computer. When I asked why the store was displaying a machine that was not available for sale, he said I could find it at other stores operated by the same chain.
The lesson here: Don’t assume the boxed version is the same as the display model. And don’t fall victim to bait-and-switch tactics.
Compromises
If you are shopping for a PC with bargain-basement prices, you are going to have to make some compromises. So go into the store knowing what is important to you. In this case, I decided that I didn’t care whether the computer would run Vista — the new version of Windows that should be available in January. In this case, I was replacing a computer that was running Windows 98. So Windows XP will do my father-in-law just fine.
In his case, I wanted a PC adequate for Web-surfing and e-mail. A good — and large — monitor was important since I wanted something that would be easy on his eyes.
Your own compromises may be different. The point is that you need to decide what you must have and what you can live without when shopping on a budget.
It was an educational shopping trip for me. I got a fine computer for a third of what I usually spend. I am hoping, however, that my wife didn’t learn anything from the experience. Otherwise, she may decide that I can get by with bargain basement PCs in the future.
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