🚀 go-pugleaf

Marco <mfare@g26.ethz.ch> writes:

>On 18 Feb 1997, Bruno Habegger wrote:
>> Hat jemand gute Tips, wie man beim PC-Kauf Geld spart?

Depends on what what you define by "save". In general, you get what you pay
for.

PC-Hai is pretty cheap, but they have been said to use (i.e. resell) parts
that have been returned to them. They are also famous for using OEM parts, as
opposed to Retail parts (i.e. parts that vendors sell to OEMs, rather than what
you can buy off-the-shelf at the store). These are not necessarily the same in
many cases! For example, the Retail Matrox Millenium Graphics card has a 
different RAMDAC than the OEM one, and can therefore run at higher refresh rates
(OEM max is 1600x1200@72Hz@256, Retail max is 1600x1200@85Hz@256). Caveat Emptor! 

>Wenn du kannst, du kauft jede Stuck (Processor, Motherboard, Hard 
>Disk,...) und dann du assembliert alles.

Of course, you can do this, but if you decide to go this route, be sure that
whomever you purchased it from will give you "support". I know that PC-Hai,
for example, doesn't do support if you purchase parts, and has only marginal
support if you purchase an entire system. In general, you'll find that for
the store to put everything together and test it is generally about 250 ChF
more than just purchasing the parts. Thats pretty cheap for peace of mind,
IMNSHO.


>> Lohnt es sich, in den Staaten einzukaufen (Direkt oder via Internet)?
>Das weiss ich nicht.

This is the route I recommend to my customers. I have a couple of places in the
US that I purchase from, and have been pleased with their prices and their
equipment. Generally speaking, the price ends up being the same (especially 
since the dollar is very expensive at the moment), or perhaps slightly
higher, once you factor in the shipping and import duties (you can easily
get the import duty lowered, but thats another story). But you get 1st
quality parts, often on the leading edge (i.e. 7200rpm disks vs 5400rpm ones),
and reasonable technical support. In addition, RAM and CPU prices (the most
volatile cost of any system) change *DAILY*, and at least one of my suppliers
also changes their prices to reflect the daily price. Here, prices usually
change weekly, so the supplier pockets any difference (z.b. yesterdays price
for 32MB EDO 60ns DRAM was 151 USD, price on 15.2.97 here was 245 ChF).

The down side is that payment can sometimes be hassle. Many companies dont
accept wire transfers, which means you have to get an international money order
and send it registered mail or FedEx, which adds to the cost. You'll also have
to wait about one month between the time you place your order and the time the
box shows up at your front door.

Hope this helps.

								/AWF
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