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General discussion

Should I wait until Xmas/Jan for the best deals/coupons?

Nov 6, 2004 8:32AM PST

Hey im pretty new here- but its plain and simple- I need a new desktop or notebook that beats this POS. Theres a few deals and a few nice coupons out there at the moment... right now heres what im looking at as of now:
Dell 8400
256 GTO gfx
p4 3.4 w/ ht
1 gb ddr ram
17 lcd monitor /w attached speakers

all this for 2k after rebates

Right its the best deal I can find that offers a monthly finance plan. I had originally planned on buying a gaming notebook, but they all dont feature interchangeable gfx cards yet, or only have 128s in the. The question right now for me is... should i wait until December-January for new products/deals/coupons to come out? Im not even sure if they will ..?

Discussion is locked

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Re: Should I wait until Xmas/Jan for the best deals/coupons?
Nov 6, 2004 9:26AM PST

I see special deals and coupons all the time. You cannot comparison shop much as models and configurations always change. The best time to buy is when you can afford it. You mentioned financing. How long a term would you be looking for? One problem with doing such with computers is that, by the time it's paid for, its value can be almost nil...and your cost have increased by the amount of interest you have paid. If you can hold off until you have cash, that's the time to buy. My two cents.

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Re: Should I wait until Xmas/Jan for the best deals/coupons?
Nov 6, 2004 10:53AM PST

Ill have paid for it in under 6 months no interest, so thats not an issue. I know what you mean by it losing value when I pay it off though.. Ive been calling around and so far theres not really any evidence that there will be some huge discount coupons or good deals around late nov. early dec for xmas... Not sure yet

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I think you are right
Nov 6, 2004 11:08AM PST

It's very much a crapshoot. Even a "no interest until..." deal often has the interest built into the price. What you cannot do once you have made your purchase is look back the next month to see if the prices are down. Sometimes it's possible to catch certain components such as processors at the right cycle when new models are introduced as older models tend to drop in price. I never buy the high end processor. You need to find the "sweet spot" in the pricing structure as it follows a logrithmic and not a linear curve. But since MBs and RAM fluctuate as well, it's not an easy game to win. Good luck.