Lessons in Buying a Computer
As the school year rapidly approaches again, I look forward to going back to Windsor with great anticipation. I am really hoping that this will be my last year, although an extra semester is probably more than likely. One cool thing this year is that my brother, is going to get to experience the joy of not living with parents for the first time in his life, as he heads off in the opposite direction to the University of Ottawa. While getting to experience all kinds of new things for the first time is fun, college is definately a costly experience at the same time!
With that said, I've busily been helping him find a new computer in the last day or so, and I have forgotten how much work it is to look through every stores flyers in search of the best deal. There was no way that I would let him end up getting a system from somewhere like Future Shop, or some other ripoff artist, even though going that route definately makes things easier if you're only looking for convenience. I'm all about optimizing performance and price though, so I started hunting around Mississauga a little more. It's kind of fun getting to do this for me since it'll probably be a while until I get my next system.
The only real place that Brad checked out was MDG, who are quickly becoming a powerful player in Ontario. Four years ago when I left for school, that's where I got mine from, back when they were about 15 stores smaller and not even close to being able to afford a full page ad in The Star. While I have to applaud them on their success and tremendous growth, they certainly aren't the company I remember them to be.
For starters, everyone in there appears to speak in a heavy, Eastern-European set accent, which can get on your nerves when you're constantly talking about computers parts. Most parts' names involve various short combinations of letters and numbers, and someone who doesn't have a complete control of the English language can easily jumble products that all sound similar. This can often lead to you unexpectedly paying for something more expensive or result in you getting an inferior product at a previously agreed upon set price.
Another thing that bothered me know is that there's no flexibility at all in negotiating price with these guys. When you're making a $1500 purchase involving a highly specialized and customizable product, the sales people should have some leeway in being able to determine a fair deal for both sides. I won't say that I know much about computers (maybe a bit more than the average guy), but there is no way a basic user should be charged an extra $50 for a network card, when tons of places often sell them for less than $10. I wouldn't say the sales guy was totally innocent, but you could tell that they computer system he was working through had about the same price controls as their website, even though I found a NIC card on their site for $21, which is far better than any deal they offered me.
The last thing I'll mention is that I'm not sure how it's possible that with the growth of their company somehow terms of warranties on new computers has decreased. Whereas, I got 1 year parts/3 years labor, they now only give you 1/1 which is very disappointing to me. How is it that smaller computer stores are able to offer longer and more comprehensive warranties than say Dell, HP, IBM, or even MDG? You would think those with a more extensive reputation and company history would be able to out-do small market local companies that often times have trouble even staying in business.
Hopefully Brad and I will get this sorted out tomorrow, cause I have a million other things to prepare before I leave on Friday.
With that said, I've busily been helping him find a new computer in the last day or so, and I have forgotten how much work it is to look through every stores flyers in search of the best deal. There was no way that I would let him end up getting a system from somewhere like Future Shop, or some other ripoff artist, even though going that route definately makes things easier if you're only looking for convenience. I'm all about optimizing performance and price though, so I started hunting around Mississauga a little more. It's kind of fun getting to do this for me since it'll probably be a while until I get my next system.
The only real place that Brad checked out was MDG, who are quickly becoming a powerful player in Ontario. Four years ago when I left for school, that's where I got mine from, back when they were about 15 stores smaller and not even close to being able to afford a full page ad in The Star. While I have to applaud them on their success and tremendous growth, they certainly aren't the company I remember them to be.
For starters, everyone in there appears to speak in a heavy, Eastern-European set accent, which can get on your nerves when you're constantly talking about computers parts. Most parts' names involve various short combinations of letters and numbers, and someone who doesn't have a complete control of the English language can easily jumble products that all sound similar. This can often lead to you unexpectedly paying for something more expensive or result in you getting an inferior product at a previously agreed upon set price.
Another thing that bothered me know is that there's no flexibility at all in negotiating price with these guys. When you're making a $1500 purchase involving a highly specialized and customizable product, the sales people should have some leeway in being able to determine a fair deal for both sides. I won't say that I know much about computers (maybe a bit more than the average guy), but there is no way a basic user should be charged an extra $50 for a network card, when tons of places often sell them for less than $10. I wouldn't say the sales guy was totally innocent, but you could tell that they computer system he was working through had about the same price controls as their website, even though I found a NIC card on their site for $21, which is far better than any deal they offered me.
The last thing I'll mention is that I'm not sure how it's possible that with the growth of their company somehow terms of warranties on new computers has decreased. Whereas, I got 1 year parts/3 years labor, they now only give you 1/1 which is very disappointing to me. How is it that smaller computer stores are able to offer longer and more comprehensive warranties than say Dell, HP, IBM, or even MDG? You would think those with a more extensive reputation and company history would be able to out-do small market local companies that often times have trouble even staying in business.
Hopefully Brad and I will get this sorted out tomorrow, cause I have a million other things to prepare before I leave on Friday.
posted by David at 1:09 a.m.
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