hi, I heard of two computer fairs? or something similar... will take place in malborough this weekend and another one in worcester, again, will take place this weekend. does anybody know anything about them? do such fairs worth seeing? where are they held? a web page if possible? thanks, baris
On Fri, 11 Apr 2003, Baris Hasdemir wrote: BH> I heard of two computer fairs? or something similar... will take place in BH> malborough this weekend and another one in worcester, again, will take BH> place this weekend. does anybody know anything about them? BH> BH> do such fairs worth seeing? where are they held? a web page if possible? http://www.pcshow.com/ (Marlborough computer fair by KGP) don't know about the Worcester one... when I went to one of these a few years ago, only if you were doing an order could you purchase with a credit card. (the vendors did not have telephone access so couldn't scan in the cards.) usually there would be a 3% fee added for credit purchases. There wasn't an ATM there, so either show up with cash if you plan on purchasing things, or an in-state checkbook. and since there are several vendors about, check prices between several places before buying something, and haggle down if you can.
I have never had a problem using a credit card at these shows... They do add a 3-6% fee, depending on the card you want to use, so it is better to have cash... Yes, the deals are not what they used to be on current systems, but I have gotten some very good deals on components. Last show I went to, my father-in-law picked up a perfectly good motherboard for $20 and the show before that, I picked up three 8-port switches for a total of $40. Not too shabby! Here is what my shortcuts have for the shows: KGP is the outfit who runs the Marlborough show on Rt 20. Their URL is http://www.pcshow.com The last show I went to at the Centrum was run by NCS (I think) http://www.ncshows.com Basically, they are the same... About a dozen vendors selling "custom systems", as many again selling components, then a whole bunch selling shrink-wrapped stuff you can see in any independent computer shop (video, speakers, cables, etc.). The final category is software (educational or games) and books - but don't pass these over... I have seen some very good prices on the odd piece of hardware at these otherwise skippable tables... Steve
Those computer shows are nothing like they used to be, and that is not because the shows have changed but more because the PC market has. Back when the PC market was exploding with high demand and expensive performance parts these shows were a great way for vendors to unload excess and refurbished inventory...and most times you could get very good deals without looking too hard. Now that the market is in a slump and the shelf life for the latest and greatest hardware is probably 6 months, you can't get the deals at these shows that you once could. And also because there is so much competition at the hardware manufacturing level (motherboards, graphics cards, memory and now even CPUs) the margins are fraction of what they once were. But not to say you can't still buy at them. They are a great place to find replacement hardware or slightly outdated hardware as needed, but for me if I'm going to build something new I usually buy all the hardware from an on-line vendor like newegg.com. The savings, if any, from a computer show is not enough to warrant the risk of flaky or failed hardware. YMMV, of course. -- Gary On Fri, 11 Apr 2003, Baris Hasdemir wrote:
hi, I heard of two computer fairs? or something similar... will take place in malborough this weekend and another one in worcester, again, will take place this weekend. does anybody know anything about them? do such fairs worth seeing? where are they held? a web page if possible? thanks, baris
I agree things have changed alot. I went to the fair at the Boston Expo Center last month and came home with a desktop machine and a laptop. The deal I got on the desktop was ok. It was basically street price...or should I say cyber price:) ...for a machine purchased online. However I was amazed at the selection of refurbished laptops. I got an IBM Thinkpad T22 for $750 and it is still under warrenty!! Happy shopping, Mike On Fri, 2003-04-11 at 15:12, Gary Hanley wrote:
Those computer shows are nothing like they used to be, and that is not because the shows have changed but more because the PC market has.
Back when the PC market was exploding with high demand and expensive performance parts these shows were a great way for vendors to unload excess and refurbished inventory...and most times you could get very good deals without looking too hard.
Now that the market is in a slump and the shelf life for the latest and greatest hardware is probably 6 months, you can't get the deals at these shows that you once could. And also because there is so much competition at the hardware manufacturing level (motherboards, graphics cards, memory and now even CPUs) the margins are fraction of what they once were.
But not to say you can't still buy at them. They are a great place to find replacement hardware or slightly outdated hardware as needed, but for me if I'm going to build something new I usually buy all the hardware from an on-line vendor like newegg.com. The savings, if any, from a computer show is not enough to warrant the risk of flaky or failed hardware.
YMMV, of course.
-- Gary
On Fri, 11 Apr 2003, Baris Hasdemir wrote:
hi, I heard of two computer fairs? or something similar... will take place in malborough this weekend and another one in worcester, again, will take place this weekend. does anybody know anything about them? do such fairs worth seeing? where are they held? a web page if possible? thanks, baris
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-- Michael Long <mlong@datalong.com>
-----Original Message----- From: wlug-admin@mail.wlug.org [mailto:wlug-admin@mail.wlug.org]On Behalf Of Gary Hanley Sent: Friday, April 11, 2003 3:13 PM To: wlug Subject: Re: [Wlug] computer fair
Those computer shows are nothing like they used to be, and that is not because the shows have changed but more because the PC market has.
(Snip)
Now that the market is in a slump and the shelf life for the latest and greatest hardware is probably 6 months, you can't get the deals at these shows that you once could. And also because there is so much competition at the hardware manufacturing level (motherboards, graphics cards, memory and now even CPUs) the margins are fraction of what they once were.
Specifically about the Worcester show, which I went to not long ago, I picked up a Duron 1.3GHz to upgrade my system. Stupid me, the board didn't like it, and I THINK reinstalling the old one killed it (the old CPU, not the board, but I can't be sure.) I thought it was the board at the time, so I took the Duron back for a refund the next weekend in Nashua, and started poking around for a board that took SDRAM. I only found two, one had two SDRAM and two DDR slots - which would've forced me to lose a healthy chunk of mem - and an MSI board. That I ended up having to go to Manchester the next day to get a replacement on. Be leery of buying extensive hardware at shows, make very sure you get a receipt. Asking to see if the static bag is sealed beforehand isn't a bad idea either. You'll either find new stuff, or very old stuff; the in-between isn't very common at all. Personally, I'd rather just run down to Connecticut and hit one of the Cogan shows, as they've got far more vendors than I've seen at any of the Northern shows (don't know about KGP) and that means a far better selection.
The computer show in Marlboro is run by a company called KGP productions, whose website is: http://www.pcshow.com The show in Worcester is run by a company called Northern Computer Shows, and their website is: http://www.ncshows.com If you look hard enough, you can occasionally find a good deal if you know what you're doing. Beware the vendor who will accept your check but wants to take your credit card number "as insurance" in case the check bounces (that practice is expressly forbidden by MA consumer protection law, but most out of state vendors don't know or care). As has been mentioned, cash is the way to go since credit cards will be taken, but with some percentage added (generally 3-5%). Only once did I ever have to take something back, so get a receipt. Be sure to say "hi" to the occasional vendor selling Linux! Later, Andy
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-- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group Worcester, MA USA http://www.wlug.org
participants (7)
-
Andy Stewart -
Baris Hasdemir -
Gary Hanley -
George Metz -
Michael Long -
Michelle Vadeboncoeur -
Stephen C. Daukas