Monday, April 24, 2006

PC Fair - Still Worth Going?

With the recent round of PIKOM PC Fair out of the way, it's time for me to make a comment or two. Is PC Fair worth going anymore? The parking problems you face, being sandwiched by sweaty human bodies, having to squeeze through jam-packed exhibition halls, the not so cheap products compared to non-PC Fair periods...the list goes on and on. This year's first installment of PIKOM's PC Fair was just like the rest. I just couldn't find anything interesting about it, although my friend did find the Samsung promoters very attractive. :P

Although I walk the whole exhibition area, I usually target only a few booths which I'm comfortable with. Comfortable meaning they are friendly, prices are relatively cheaper than the rest, products are reliable and good after-sales support. I reject all other fliers except from these select few. Also, I look out for the Apple booth to feast my eyes on the really eye-candy machines. Just can't wait to get my hands on one of those babies especially the upcoming MacBook that will be replacing the iBook line of notebooks. It will probably cost an arm and a leg, probably even two and with holes in my pocket at the moment, it will remain a distant dream. :(

I was somewhat disappointed that my trusted booths failed to meet my expectations this time around. Prices weren't really cheap and Apple only had one small measly booth (that I could find)! They didn't even bring the new MacBook Pro!!! How can? I wanted to see how fast the Intel Core Duo processors were! Oh well.....


I also brought together with me two used toner cartridges from my lab to be recycled. Either my boss is thinking of refilling it or he's very environmentally friendly. I approached the Canon booth to enquire what I should do with these cartridges. I was immediately told off very rudely by one of their representatives that they do not recycle cartridges. I was bemused by his answer especially when he was wearing those silly looking glasses thinking he looks so cool in them. L-A-M-E!!! I told him of the directive in their toner cartridge boxes to send the cartridges back for recycling. He said the recycling was meant for the box not the cartridge. How dumb is this idiot? I questioned the use of his company inserting that directive in the box if they didn't provide such a service in the first place when he told me all they will do is accept the cartridge and discard of it! WTF?!? Of course I didn't expect Canon to refill the cartridge and give me a refund or something but for them to contradict what their company set up to do in the first place by discarding the cartridges instead of recycling them is totalling baffling. If they weren't going to recycle/reuse the cartridges but just to throw them away, I could have done that myself! I do not enjoy carrying two used toner cartridges walking around the whole PISA exhibition hall, you know.

Anyway, there's not much updating I can do nowadays from PC Fairs and the prices are not cheap either. I could get cheaper computer parts at PC Depot and they do not impose a surcharge on credit card purchases. Furthermore, I do not have to struggle for parking (be it finding a spot or paying for it), get sandwiched by sweaty bodies and getting touched all over by strangers. If only the legendary Microfair was still around and PIKOM didn't flood the calendar year with so many PC Fairs. Just a few products that I want to list here for future reference that I find reasonably priced:

DDR 400 RAM 512MB / 1GB = RM 155 / 315
SD Card 1GB = RM 128
Samsung Syncmaster 713N = RM 755
40GB Mobile HDD + Case = RM 260
DVD Writer = M 169
Canon LBP 2900 = RM4 59
Canon Toner = RM 175 / 190

Well, maybe I might still visit future PC Fairs but little by little, the need or urge to make a trip is diminishing. Do you still think PC Fairs are still worth going?

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5 comments:

  1. not worth for people of my stature...we'd get pushed and shoved and molested...and cannot get to the booths in one piece...
    feel like salmon going upstream... ;)

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  2. salmons die after that you know... :P

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  3. parking is not so much of a problem...my parking angel alwiz reserved a space for me.
    but...like miss delphynus said,being pushed and shoved is not fun.especially if u r a gal.ladies dun get respected there.i'm not computer illiterate for goodness sake but when i questioned any salesperson (esp.salesmen) aboout their products,they gave me the "does she know wat she's talking about?" look.duh...i won't ask about it if i dunno about it at the 1st place.
    so,no....pc fair has lost it's appeal to me.nowadays it's only fun to go to pisa for warehouse clearance stock only.new clothes..yeay!!!
    p/s:salmon?oooOOooh...u mean salmon can...hehe.

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  4. wait,let me rephrased....i might still ask them if i dunno about it at d 1st place,but that's wat they're hired for right?you can't sell it to me if u treat me like some dinosaur caveman..eh,gal.
    i juz had issues wif computer salesmen who thought dat they invented computers.... =P

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  5. wow....u have a parking angel! jeles betul! :P

    yea....hate their insinuations especially when i can be considered very well-versed in computers! that's why i only visit a few booths that already know i'm computer literate! ;)

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