But first some brief background so I’m not accused of being a spendthrift.
I’ve owned three computers in my life. I’ve never had the money to get what I really wanted and have had to settle for passing equipment; the kind of computer that is obsolete as soon as you uncrate it. At present my home computer is a 120mhz (non-Pentium) .5gig drive 16 meg of RAM 4xCD-ROM (ugh). The only thing it’s good for is e-mail and non-graphic heavy web surfing. Now my wife is shooting for her B.S. and needs a good computer. So we’ve socked away $1000 and plan to finance the rest.
Here is my question: We’ve selected a truly kick-ass machine at Comp-USA, and I’m wondering if we have any haggling power. The sticker for the rig in question is about $2100. Will coming in with $1000 cold hard cash give us any leverage?
Has anyone else ever bought a system from a big retail place like that? Was it a good experience? Were you able to finagle a better price for yourself? Hello? Is this thing on?
Personally, I would recomend mail order. Do it through the Gateway website, or through Dell. I purchased a Gateway Pc, was able to get a P3 500 mghz last October, and was very satisfied with the rates and financing I was able to get. Plus they have the Gateway upgrade program. Also, If you are computer savy, build it yourself. You can probably get a small loan and build a very decent machine with the $1000 bucks
I have some experience in this area as I own 4 high powered gaming systems. Including a server we use for LAN parties. (Ask me about that later). My best advice is to buy online. I’ve found much better prices from online manufacturers, and there’s a lot more customization that can take place. That way you don’t get a GeForce II for a word processor, or Microsuck Ultimate Office Package 2001.9 in your gaming system. Hehe…
If you know someone that can, or know yourself how to build a computer. It’s much much much cheaper to buy all the parts and just put it together yourself. Most of the time you can get free shipping from a lot of different sites.
Good prices, and very helpful staff. Based in Cali too if you’re out that way.
Please, don’t buy from Comp USA. I know a lot of people that have had bad experience with them. Nothing I can personally attest too, as I’d never go through a retail store for a computer, but still. I wouldn’t recommend it.
Anyway, that’s MHO. Thank you for your time and your water chestnuts.
I have some experience in this area as I own 4 high powered gaming systems. Including a server we use for LAN parties. (Ask me about that later). My best advice is to buy online. I’ve found much better prices from online manufacturers, and there’s a lot more customization that can take place. That way you don’t get a GeForce II for a word processor, or Microsuck Ultimate Office Package 2001.9 in your gaming system. Hehe…
If you know someone that can, or know yourself how to build a computer. It’s much much much cheaper to buy all the parts and just put it together yourself. Most of the time you can get free shipping from a lot of different sites.
Good prices, and very helpful staff. Based in Cali too if you’re out that way.
Please, don’t buy from Comp USA. I know a lot of people that have had bad experience with them. Nothing I can personally attest too, as I’d never go through a retail store for a computer, but still. I wouldn’t recommend it.
Anyway, that’s MHO. Thank you for your time and your water chestnuts.
I have some experience in this area as I own 4 high powered gaming systems. Including a server we use for LAN parties. (Ask me about that later). My best advice is to buy online. I’ve found much better prices from online manufacturers, and there’s a lot more customization that can take place. That way you don’t get a GeForce II for a word processor, or Microsuck Ultimate Office Package 2001.9 in your gaming system. Hehe…
If you know someone that can, or know yourself how to build a computer. It’s much much much cheaper to buy all the parts and just put it together yourself. Most of the time you can get free shipping from a lot of different sites.
Good prices, and very helpful staff. Based in Cali too if you’re out that way.
Please, don’t buy from Comp USA. I know a lot of people that have had bad experience with them. Nothing I can personally attest too, as I’d never go through a retail store for a computer, but still. I wouldn’t recommend it.
Anyway, that’s MHO. Thank you for your time and your water chestnuts.
Personally, I would recomend mail order. Do it through the Gateway website, or through Dell. I purchased a Gateway Pc, was able to get a P3 500 mghz last October, and was very satisfied with the rates and financing I was able to get. Plus they have the Gateway upgrade program. Also, If you are computer savy, build it yourself. You can probably get a small loan and build a very decent machine with the $1000 bucks. Work. Work. Damn you. Please, for the love of god, submit this reply. Arrrgh.
And yes Mr. Batty, it is “on”.
I have some experience in this area as I own 4 high powered gaming systems. Including a server we use for LAN parties. (Ask me about that later). My best advice is to buy online. I’ve found much better prices from online manufacturers, and there’s a lot more customization that can take place. That way you don’t get a GeForce II for a word processor, or Microsuck Ultimate Office Package 2001.9 in your gaming system. Hehe…
If you know someone that can, or know yourself how to build a computer. It’s much much much cheaper to buy all the parts and just put it together yourself. Most of the time you can get free shipping from a lot of different sites.
Good prices, and very helpful staff. Based in Cali too if you’re out that way.
Please, don’t buy from Comp USA. I know a lot of people that have had bad experience with them. Nothing I can personally attest too, as I’d never go through a retail store for a computer, but still. I wouldn’t recommend it.
Anyway, that’s MHO. Thank you for your time and your water chestnuts.
I have some experience in this area as I own 4 high powered gaming systems. Including a server we use for LAN parties. (Ask me about that later). My best advice is to buy online. I’ve found much better prices from online manufacturers, and there’s a lot more customization that can take place. That way you don’t get a GeForce II for a word processor, or Microsuck Ultimate Office Package 2001.9 in your gaming system. Hehe…
If you know someone that can, or know yourself how to build a computer. It’s much much much cheaper to buy all the parts and just put it together yourself. Most of the time you can get free shipping from a lot of different sites.
Good prices, and very helpful staff. Based in Cali too if you’re out that way.
Please, don’t buy from Comp USA. I know a lot of people that have had bad experience with them. Nothing I can personally attest too, as I’d never go through a retail store for a computer, but still. I wouldn’t recommend it.
Anyway, that’s MHO. Thank you for your time and your water chestnuts.
Any time you work with a retail chain that sells pre-made systems like Compoosah or other large chains that are just an outlet for the manufacturer there is no haggling… just like trying to hbargain for the price of a can or corn at a grocery store.
Now, if you went to a system builder (a small shop that buildes and sells it’s own systems) you may be able to haggle a bit with them.
First of all, I would never ever buy a computer from a retail electronics store (Circuit City, Best Buy, etc.), and if I did, the very last place I would go is CompUSA. The times I’ve dealt with them, they’ve consistently displayed impressively horrible knowledge and customer service. If anything goes wrong, forget about support. They are useless.
I’ve also never heard of anyone bargaining over the price of a computer, but YMMV.
I usually just assemble my systems myself. However, last week I helped a computer-shy friend in another state choose a good system. We went with Dell (they’re as good as any of the big resellers, to my limited experience), and found a good system for around $1500. Pentium III 800, 128 megs PC133 ram, 30 gig hard drive, TNT2 video card w. 32 megs ram, CD burner, modem, sound card, speakers, color printer and a 17" monitor. Anything faster than that, and you’re paying too much for very little performance increase.
I’d be interested to know the specs of the system at CompUSA, if you have them.
I have some experience in this area as I own 4 high powered gaming systems. Including a server we use for LAN parties. (Ask me about that later). My best advice is to buy online. I’ve found much better prices from online manufacturers, and there’s a lot more customization that can take place. That way you don’t get a GeForce II for a word processor, or Microsuck Ultimate Office Package 2001.9 in your gaming system. Hehe…
If you know someone that can, or know yourself how to build a computer. It’s much much much cheaper to buy all the parts and just put it together yourself. Most of the time you can get free shipping from a lot of different sites.
Good prices, and very helpful staff. Based in Cali too if you’re out that way.
Please, don’t buy from Comp USA. I know a lot of people that have had bad experience with them. Nothing I can personally attest too, as I’d never go through a retail store for a computer, but still. I wouldn’t recommend it.
Anyway, that’s MHO. Thank you for your time and your water chestnuts.
I have some experience in this area as I own 4 high powered gaming systems. Including a server we use for LAN parties. (Ask me about that later). My best advice is to buy online. I’ve found much better prices from online manufacturers, and there’s a lot more customization that can take place. That way you don’t get a GeForce II for a word processor, or Microsuck Ultimate Office Package 2001.9 in your gaming system. Hehe…
If you know someone that can, or know yourself how to build a computer. It’s much much much cheaper to buy all the parts and just put it together yourself. Most of the time you can get free shipping from a lot of different sites.
Good prices, and very helpful staff. Based in Cali too if you’re out that way.
Please, don’t buy from Comp USA. I know a lot of people that have had bad experience with them. Nothing I can personally attest too, as I’d never go through a retail store for a computer, but still. I wouldn’t recommend it.
Anyway, that’s MHO. Thank you for your time and your water chestnuts.
Personally, I would recomend mail order. Do it through the Gateway website, or through Dell. I purchased a Gateway Pc, was able to get a P3 500 mghz last October, and was very satisfied with the rates and financing I was able to get. Plus they have the Gateway upgrade program. Also, If you are computer savy, build it yourself. You can probably get a small loan and build a very decent machine with the $1000 bucks. Work. Work. Damn you. Please, for the love of god, submit this reply. Arrrgh.
And yes Mr. Batty, it is “on”.
I have some experience in this area as I own 4 high powered gaming systems. Including a server we use for LAN parties. (Ask me about that later). My best advice is to buy online. I’ve found much better prices from online manufacturers, and there’s a lot more customization that can take place. That way you don’t get a GeForce II for a word processor, or Microsuck Ultimate Office Package 2001.9 in your gaming system. Hehe…
If you know someone that can, or know yourself how to build a computer. It’s much much much cheaper to buy all the parts and just put it together yourself. Most of the time you can get free shipping from a lot of different sites.
Good prices, and very helpful staff. Based in Cali too if you’re out that way.
Please, don’t buy from Comp USA. I know a lot of people that have had bad experience with them. Nothing I can personally attest too, as I’d never go through a retail store for a computer, but still. I wouldn’t recommend it.
Anyway, that’s MHO. Thank you for your time and your water chestnuts.
Funny you should mention CompUSA. I just bought a laptop. It’s a brand name. Compaq. I was literaly in the cash register line at CompUSA with my machine of choice when I noticed that there was a desktop nearby connected to the web. I decided to log onto the Compaq web site to compare prices (I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before because I looked up Dell and HP online when comparisson shopping). To make a long story short, I was able to get a better machine from Compaq direct for $400 less plus a colour printer on promo for $1. Sweet.
I spoke to the compUSA store manager then and there and showed him the deal I was getting from Compaq for the identical machine. He said that he could do nothing for me. I gave him back the computer I was holding and walked out. Ordered direct from Compaq and never looked back.
Wow, what funky multi-posting going on at the ol’ board today.
Very interesting, and in a way disheartening advice.
The system we are looking at is much the same as Giraffe layed out - PIII 800mhz 128RAM 16megvideoRAM 56k CD-Burner 3D-Accelerator Speakers 17"-Monitor etc.
What makes it disheartening is that we are prepared to trudge on down there tomorrow and bring it home. The one thing that is encouraging about CompUSA is that they have this program where if you pay off your financing in 6 months, you pay no interest.
I may be able to hold out a little longer, and I’ll definitely check out the web.
Wow, what funky multi-posting going on at the ol’ board today.
Very interesting, and in a way disheartening advice.
The system we are looking at is much the same as Giraffe layed out - PIII 800mhz 128RAM 16megvideoRAM 56k CD-Burner 3D-Accelerator Speakers 17"-Monitor etc.
What makes it disheartening is that we are prepared to trudge on down there tomorrow and bring it home. The one thing that is encouraging about CompUSA is that they have this program where if you pay off your financing in 6 months, you pay no interest.
I may be able to hold out a little longer, and I’ll definitely check out the web.
