Sunday, August 13, 2006

Another Round Of PIKOM PC Fair

The second round of this year's PIKOM PC Fair is underway at the moment with convention centres being packed with people searching for bargain buys, people visiting just to update themselves with the latest gadgets or people there just to feel the touch of human skin rubbing against theirs, exchanging sweat, germs, dirt and all. There are some who just take advantage of the crowded situation and let their hands stray. The last class of people is exactly the reason why I'm not exactly fond of attending PC Fairs nowadays.

Anyways, like always I would just like to highlight just some notable bargains for future reference (kinda like some price tracking mechanism for me).

1GB Secure Digital Card --- RM75
1GB USB Drive --- RM70
40GB - 60GB Mobile HDD + Case --- RM230-300
DELL 15" LCD Monitor --- RM489
DELL 17" LCD Monitor --- RM519
Imation DVD Writer --- RM139
Canon LBP 2900 --- RM 415
Canon Toner EP303 --- RM 190
DELL Inspiron 6400 --- RM2899

The price of the 1GB SD card now is really mind-boggling. Just two years back, I had to haggle for the price of one to be reduced to RM350 but now I'll probably be able to get FIVE pieces of that without much haggling!!! I guess it's OK since I really did need one at the time and have been using it ever since but damn it would have been sweet if the price was what it is now!

Prices are dropping across the board basically. I still do not have a USB drive and probably will never have one. I still fancy the mobile HDD instead and the price has dropped considerably from the >RM500 days. LCD displays will become mainstream very soon if prices keep on dropping the way it has. I've predicted that by the end of the year, we would be able to purchase an LCD display for under RM500. Guess what? You can do so now! Bulky CRT monitors will truly be a thing of the past VERY SOON.

I also still do not own a DVD writer but how many people really needs one anyway? It is definitely very affordable to own one now but even if my aging CD writer kicks the bucket one day, I still find it hard to justify opting for a DVD writer instead of just a Combo drive.

What really interests me this time around was the price of notebooks. Can you believe that with RM3000 you would be able to own a Dell notebook fitted with a Intel Centrino Duo Mobile processor, 1GB DDR2 SDRAM, DVD writer, 80GB HDD, free delivery and still get back a considerable sum of change?!? Truly unbelievable. I'll probably be able to afford purchasing a considerably loaded system next year if prices keep on dropping the way it is happening now. I've already planned to ditch the desktop system if ever my current PC would to require some major overhauling. In fact, I advised my cousin to purchase a notebook capable of doing all of what he needs to do and more for just below RM2000. It may be just a Celeron system but hey, how many actually needs a power-packed system anyway? I can be considered quite a heavy user and I still can't justify splurging out on a really powerful system.

Owning my own laptop doesn't seem such a herculean effort anymore since saving up RM2000 is very much achievable. I'm ditching my dreams of owning an Apple MacBook for now. :P

Oh and just so you know, I didn't go to PC Fair at all and still I'm able to get the information of these bargains. When you have PC Depot, Dell and several other shops providing their price lists online, it's not that hard at all to gauge the range of pricing for certain products but really, even without the haggling these prices are really unbelievable! Is it any wonder why I'm not exactly inspired to go to any PC Fairs nowadays? Well, even if I was inspired to go to the one at PISA last week, I was too busy to go anyway. :(

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