Friday, November 13, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
How to buy a lap top the smart way?
The Bottom Line think twice and buy once , if you know what i mean.
Hi there, the first thing before I go on writing my opinion , I would like to thank you as a reader ,especially if you are one of those who keep track of what I am writing.
Another thing I would really appreciate when you rate my opinions , try to be honest in judging my opinion , it does not matter if you agree with me or not, as long you are honest , and I really respect your point of view , no matter what.
I would really appreciate a feedback so I can improve myself and improve my opinions to help you as a reader , who really wants an honest , good opinion.
Ok today I will be talking about buying a computer and to be precise, lap tops.
Before buying a computer you should not rush , you should do your homework , which will be a good research. The first question you have to ask your self is what do I need a computer for ? Is it for fun and entertainment?, studying and making projects ?, programming and web page designing? The more you are honest with yourself, the more you will buy the right thing that is suitable for you.
Another way to help you make a buying decision , is how much are you willing to pay? I would love to have a Jaguar ( fancy car) but because I know that my budget is limited , a Jaguar is out of the question. Yes, I feel sad about it but that's reality and you have to face it .
Even if I can afford a Jaguar , I still have to put in mind , that I will need to buy parts in the long run and pay labour and tax , so the question now is , can I afford looking after a Jaguar?
In my case , the answer is no, so, I will stick with a Toyota which on the long run , I will be able to afford parts , labour and tax.
Now you are wondering , what a Jaguar and a Toyota got to do with buying a computer? I think the answer is simple , computers are a commodity like cars , you as a buyer have to understand that buying a computer is not the end of the line , there are still hidden costs coming ahead and you have to put that in mind.
Another piece of advice , don't buy something which you will not use it in the long run. Ask yourself how many times you have bought things , then you played with it for a while , then it will end up on a shelf collecting dust....hehehe
Take me for example, I have bought a Zip drive , I hardly use it after I bought my cd burner (more convenient storage device) , now if I sell that Zip drive I will lose on it, simply because my Zip drive is 100MB and the new Zip drives are 250 MB and there is even now the new jazz drives that can handle up to couple Gigs.
Bottom line for that point is, you have to realize that computers and computers hardware utilities are developing very fast , prices of older stuff in the same field are going down and you as a consumer , lose big time , because you did not put that in consideration!
Depreciation( the lose in price value of an item due to usage) of value is a very strong point that many buyers don't put in to consideration.
So, like I said, do your homework good before buying the item or the computer.
To do research on computers , you can come over here at epinions , or try out that site www.zdtv.com , they have lots of tips on computers (desk top) and lap top.
Lap top computers have one advantage on desk top computers , mobility.
Mobility is very essential to businessmen and professionals ,but on the other hand buying a lap top, you lose on some speed and quality , considering you are paying the same amount of money.
Take me for example I bought a lap top (266Mhz pentium mmx , 4GB hard drive, 24x Cdrom) for 2700 Canadian dollars two years ago. My brother in law bought his PC desk top (850Mhz , 20GB hard drive, dvd cd rom , 8x4x4x cd burner ,17' super vga screen) for only 2300 Canadian dollars.
Well, as you see his superiority of money value and quality !
Another thing you have to put in mind if you live in the country side like me , the service for desk top computers is much easier and affordable comparing to the lap top computers that you have to send over and pay high price to parts and labour.
So, I had to travel 4 hours to the nearest big city to fix my PC or send it by courier, but my brother in law can easily fix his PC in town 45 minutes away!
I think you should also read my opinion about Toshiba lap tops , in case you want to share my experience with my lap top.
Another thing you should put in mind is , which way you gonna buy it , will you pay the whole amount for it or will you lease it?
What happened with me was a little bit painful because I made a wrong decision at the time I bought my lap top. One day I decided to buy a new lap top , I went to a nice store in town (Soundafex), the salesman was very friendly and we were exchanging ideas and opinions, I was so happy getting that PC, I leased my lap top ,I signed a void check for them so that they the financing company can withdraw from my bank account, of course because I live near a little town , they had to fax my void check to the main office (financing company) in Toronto. So, I was paying a big amount of money on interest. One day I decided to calculate how much I will be paying in total after I finish paying out my computer.
I was paying 109.96 Canadian dollars per month for 36 months.
So, after calculating, I found out I was paying almost 50% extra after I pay off my computer , which was not smart!
Another thing also happened to me is that when I called the financing company to find out how much exactly I was paying in interest and how did they calculate the amount I will be paying per month , I got the b.i.t.c.h.y attitude , as if it's not my business. Then her final answer was, I don't know and the accountants who look after that stuff are not available. I tried several times to call them and discuss the same thing but I got the same answer which really p.i.s.s.e.d me off.
I did not realize that I was paying a compound interest till it was too late to go back.
I thought that say the interest was 20% , I thought I will be paying 20% extra on the total amount of the PC , but I realized that I was paying way lot than that , they call it a compound interest and it adds up , leading up to, you are paying about 50 % extra on the total value of the PC.
I.e. If the total price of the PC is $1 you will be paying $1.5 after you pay out your PC. In little figures its not much but when we talk $2700 , its $1350 , another computer at that!
I even went to a bank to ask for an accountants opinion, as I did not understand, how they mention in the contract that the finance is say, 20% and I end up paying 50% extra , but the accountant , mentioned that every company have it's own formula for such calculations and he could not really help me!
The only guy who helped me figuring out that compound interest was a cool guy called Lloyd which was working in Soundafex at that time. My salesman went mean on me and said that he doesn't know about that issue! (which was not an expected attitude from a friendly salesman at the time I bought the computer), leaving me lost in the store without even caring. (they got their money and now you get the treatment).
Me trying to get back at that bad woman(I don't want to use bad words so I won't offend any respected reader like you), which was my customer service. I stopped paying for a while and to make sure that they will not be able to take their money. I withdrew all the money I got in the bank account leaving only couple dollars to keep my account open , just to get there attention I explained that to them on the phone later and I was willing to pay , all I asked for, was how did they calculated my interest but after we reached an agreement and I had to go to town to send a void check and pay the bank extra charge for (insufficient funds). As a result I had to pay extra for late fees , after that I went to another series of frustration , instead of them calling me and explaining things , they decided to repossess my PC, though I have paid them, through the bank and I had to go specially to town to send them a void check. I had to pay the repo man (who should repossess the computer ) instead of paying them directly through the bank. I had to send another void check to the repo man, I had to do couple trips to town , getting a void check and faxing it. The money I gave him which was $400 Canadian dollars (paying for 3 months) reached them as $200 , which really made me mad.
When I called them back to get an explanation they said the money you sent does not reach in the same value amount. I.e. if you send $50 through the bank it does not reach them as $50 but say $35 as the bank charge service!
It did not make any sense to me, I send $400 , how could it reach them $200?( I guess the repo man took a nice share).
In the end to save my head from headache with them I called the finance company and I made a deal with them so I can pay the whole amount , and pay it out with cash. I ended paying more than the computers worth , all because I wanted to understand how they calculated the interest but since I signed an agreement with them I had to pay, or else they will ruin my credit.
Bottom line, pay your due amount on time and don't try to get them back because you will end up paying more than it's worth.
Actually the best way is to buy stuff by cash , you will save on the long run and avoid lots of frustration.
Bottom line think twice before you decide on buying , collect all the information needed ,try to understand all the terms on any lease agreement before you sign. It's a contract and you have to for fill the agreement , even if you think that you are paying too much!
Thank you for reading.
source: http://www.epinions.com
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