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RE: [TCLUG:1585] STATE FAIR SUPER COMPUTER SALE



On Mon, 5 Oct 1998, Jon Kotek wrote:

>   The whole fair thing is a rip-off, unless your going for something very
> unique and or old you will find very few deals.  I prefer going to a couple
> small computer shops around the area, if you work with them enough they
> will reward you by giving you deals. (And I am not talking about Computer
> Rennisance, sheesh don't get me started).  Anyways the last thing I bought
> at the fair was a video card that sometimes doesn't want to work and even
> Win95 had problems with it.

Absolutely!  Research, research, research!  I went with a friend of
mine this summer to help him build a cheap computer.  We actually
managed to keep the cost of the computer below $500 (minus the board,
the processor and monitor, which I already had).  Of course, we were
suckered into buying a "multimedia kit" that contained a 24X CDROM, a
sound card, and speakers.  The CDROM wasn't so bad, but considering
that for another $20, we could have purchased a quality sound card and
similar speakers (if not a bit better), it was not the bargain we
thought it'd be.  Everyone's allowed to get burned once, but hopefully
it'll teach 'em not to be burned again.

The nice thing about the show is that if you have your want list
researched and identified, you've got quite a bit of an advantage when
buying at the show.  People there are willing to wheel-and-deal with
you.  Bartering isn't a dead sport if you've got the head for it.
Some dealers won't play the game, but if you pit them in a competitive
price war, you'll likely walk out with what you want for a decent
price.  (Ultimately saving yourself the cost of shipping from discount
warehouses through the internet.)

Frankly, I have fun walking around and "window shopping."

Chewie / Gunnarr
+====================================+
| Chad Walstrom <gunnarr@itasca.net> |
| http://www.itasca.net/~gunnarr     |
+====================================+