Pom_Jao_Choo Posted April 23, 2002 Report Share Posted April 23, 2002 Can you guestimate a bit how much more expensive ? Maybe %20-25 ? I should be able to build something with $1,000 US ? Anyone seen any sign of Dell Thailand ? It seems to have disapeared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gummigut Posted April 23, 2002 Report Share Posted April 23, 2002 You can build a box for a US$1,000. Last year, for just above that amount I built an Athlon Thunderbird 900, 256mb DDR, 40mb IBM gxp 7200, floppy, sony dvd, GeForce3, ACS45.1 speakers, soundblaster live, and Mag 19" monitor. Didn't get a burner as Pantip is so cheap. Prices were comparable to internet shop pricing except for a slight premium on my motherboard and GeForce3. Think the overall price was pretty close to comparable as drives and CPU was pretty cheap. <<burp>> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
think_too_mut Posted May 1, 2002 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2002 Hi, it's me, original poster. Thank you all for your advice, I dropped the idea of bringing a laptop from Farangland. 3 days ago I bought Compaq Presario 5400 - Celeron 1.3, 40GB HDD, 15" CRT, loudspeakers, modem, CD. Epson C20 printer for free. 32000Bht. At IT City, Penthip Plaza top (fifth?) floor. Credit cards accepted, no surcharge. They are probably the biggest single shop there. Another thing they do is they stage your PC in front of you, make sure everything works. Very useful with Thai keyboard and scripts at least. No commission for me but I can highly recommend them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 4, 2002 Report Share Posted May 4, 2002 I noted prices of components at Pantip to compare with online ordering based on pricewatch.com. The below is sorted on the best deal to the worst deal at Pantip. Item_____________________Internet_Pantip_Increase Hard Drive (120GB 7200RPM)___$162___$194______20% Pentium IV 2GHz_(Sock 478)___$238___$296______24% Hard Drive (40GB 5400RPM)_____$52____$70______35% RAM (256MB RDRAM)_____________$61____$83______36% CD Recorder (20x10x40)________$57____$79______39% Video Card (GeForce4 MX 440)__$75___$111______48% 1394 cable_____________________$4_____$8_____100% 1394 PC Card__________________$27____$81_____200% If you are wondering about the last 2, as luck would have it, I was there to buy the those 2 things! My general sense is that at any cost, low volume stuff is where you really see some price hikes. Nothing on the list is state of the art as I am not sure Pantip has the very latest and greatest of anything. For instance, the only GeForce4 I saw is the bottom of the barrel one that is slower than some GeForce2 cards. Saw mostly low end GeForce2's and TNT2's for sale -- the latter being circa 1998 vintage. I'd feel sorry for anyone trying to run games within the last few years on that. My take on Pantip hardware is while it may cost more, it is very convenient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaronTT Posted May 4, 2002 Report Share Posted May 4, 2002 This is consistent with what I have seen. Especially agree with your comment about items that aren't very popular. Thanks for going throught the trouble of dooing the research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 4, 2002 Report Share Posted May 4, 2002 {3 days ago I bought Compaq Presario 5400 - Celeron 1.3, 40GB HDD, 15" CRT, loudspeakers, modem, CD. Epson C20 printer for free. } Just bought three pc's of the same model.. 32,400 each ( 104,000 with VAT )at the Fortune IT MALL Third Floor Their special was a little better Three year care package and 100 hours free Internet for each set along with the free printer. They delivered and set the computers up also. Thailand is the best for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
think_too_mut Posted May 4, 2002 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2002 There was 100 hours Internet package with my PC as well (with anet). No 3 yrs free care or I did not understand it. Delivery was in but for 500Bht, next business day. I wanted it "now" and took it home by taxi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gummigut Posted May 6, 2002 Report Share Posted May 6, 2002 Escape Rabbit: While your comparison is noteworthy, I don't think it is fair. I just took a look at price watch and if you factor in the shipping costs you have very comparable pricing on the common items in your list. The 120gb hard drive goes to 180-185 dollars. Pantip is still a bit more expensive at 194 and about 7% more expensive. Pentium IV 2 Ghz: Pretty sure this would be more expensive in Pantip as this is not a "commonly" bought high volume item yet. 40GB hard drive is right in line with Pantip at 67-72. The RAM is close to Pantip from 71-80. I bet though that the lower prices don't have stock (which always happened to me when I bought ram through price watch / price scan recommendations. Additionally, you really need a manufacturer to manuf. comparison on ram as generic versus name brand really makes a difference. CD Recorder. Prices are comparable, but I don't like this comparison as there are big differences depending on manufacturer. Need a manuf. to manuf. comparison. GeForce4: Not yet a high volume item. Have you bought things via the internet using the recommendations of pricewatch and price scan? I've don't 12 machines over the years over the internet. In my past experience when you try to buy from the lowest provider on Pricescan, it's out of stock or takes a few weeks delivery. If you take into account delivery, you see that the prices are very comparable, and you can bargain down prices at Pantip (though on individual items, it can be pretty hard). The high volume items on your list where you site 20% to 39% increase is misleading. It's at 7% at best (on the 120 gb hard drive) and that's not haggling on the Pantip side. <<burp>> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 6, 2002 Report Share Posted May 6, 2002 Yes, shipping (and warranty for that matter) does change the picture. Buying multiple things from one place versus just one will vary it as well. Throw in a few bucks to get to/from Pantip for most too. My experience is Internet places have a restocking fee on returns, regardless of reason. Not sure what would happen if you brought something back to Pantip. I've built machines and bought components based on pricewatch; everything arrived well within 2 weeks and in a few instances, within 24 hours. My only availability issue at Pantip was some months ago everyone advertising 100GB and 120GB hard drives, but no one had them so I had to settle for 80GB. Now, these comparisons are mainstream type stuff and that's where Pantip does well; you can find it and the price is closer to the internet. If I'm buying a component, I don't want yesterdays technology. Going top of the line is where you'll run into not finding stuff at all or paying double or triple an already premium priced item. So when you have to shell out $600-$1000 for the latest nvidia board, Pantip suddenly doesn't seem like such a good deal. This seems to be a Thai mindset thing. Buy a BMW and the 3 series can go over $100K -- triple US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gummigut Posted May 6, 2002 Report Share Posted May 6, 2002 Unlike you, I don't buy the latest top of the line Don't have that luxery I'm afraid And until the next Mechwarrior gives me unsatisfactory performance I'm sticking with my current PC, hehe. I did pay about $35 more than the recommended retail sales price on a Canon S600 printer. Pissed me off about that, but I wanted the printer (and it really is a nice little printer!!!). As for returning things to Pantip... I have had a few experiences. At NO POINT SHOULD ANYONE EVER USE newcastle computers. This company is right at the top of one of the up-escalators. They lie, are incompetent, and totally clueless. I've detailed my experiences with this company before. They put my machine together when I told them not too. The owner said his employees thought I meant don't put the software on the machine. Blatent lie as I told them in English and had my friend tell them in Thai to not put the machine together. Told me they gave me a SONY OEM drive. Another lie, and I made them give me my money back. Took over 1/2 hour of arguing about the drive. They sold me a machine that plugs into Thailand, speakers with a UK Plug, and a modem for the US. All at the same time of purchase. Who looks at the power plugs at the store? They knew I lived in Thailand. Oh, so they give me the machine with no software and NO DRIVERS. They put the machine together but gave me none of the white box papers or drivers. Okay. Newcastle Computer. AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE Totally opposite experience at IRR. On the same floor of Newcastle Computer. It's at one of the corners of Pantip. The shop right across from IRR is fine too. I had to get an item swapped and it was no problem. Albeit the staff's english ain't the best. So I guess returning stuff at Pantip is like on the Internet. Some are fine and others are a huge pain <<burp>> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.