Three years ago when I purchased a IBM R50e Thinkpad, at Php41,000+ it was one of the cheaper options in the market. A year later when I got my HP Compaq NX6120, the situation was pretty much the same, though laptops in the Php30,000-Php40,000 range were pretty common and zero interest options on selected models was available. A year ago when I purchased my Acer TravelMate 6291, I had plenty of options available even as low as Php29,900 for new models and even lower for models being phased out. In addition pretty much all the units in the market were available at 12 months zero interest. I got my Acer TravelMate 6291 on a deferred payment plan, three year warranty and the seller, TCA, even gave me a 2GB Flash Drive for free. 2007, was the year of the laptop.
And things seem to be getting better. Last weekend, my sister in law wanted to purchase a new 12" laptop and after looking at available models, she decided on getting an Acer 2920. In contrast to a year ago when my wife purchased a 12" MSI S260 R8, which was together with ECS and NEO the few low cost 12" options in the market. This year, the choices were better, with a 12" Acer and nice looking HP being added to the below the the 40K options.
The Acer 2920 was available at Php34,900. The older 2A versions were available, but she wanted the latest 3A. If the buyer is savy enough, the store will give you the newer stock version. If you don't know that it exists, I guess they will try to pass of the older 2A, at the same price.
A bit of canvassing a the Mall of Asia, and we found the Acer 2920-3A at Php1,000 less, of at Php33,900. Zero interest was available, and the unit came bundled with a Brother 3-in-1 printer. A bit of negotiation, and we got the RAM upgraded from 512Mb to 1.5GB and a Apacer 1GB Flash drive was thrown in with the deal.
That offer was better than the initial offer we got for that unit, which was Php34,900 with a RAM upgrade to 1.5GB. A free printer, Flash drive and Php1,000 of the sticker price was a good Php5,000 in additional value at least.
It is a buyers market out there in laptop sales. Canvass a bit before you get one and negotiate, negotiate and negotiate before forking over your cash.
And things seem to be getting better. Last weekend, my sister in law wanted to purchase a new 12" laptop and after looking at available models, she decided on getting an Acer 2920. In contrast to a year ago when my wife purchased a 12" MSI S260 R8, which was together with ECS and NEO the few low cost 12" options in the market. This year, the choices were better, with a 12" Acer and nice looking HP being added to the below the the 40K options.
The Acer 2920 was available at Php34,900. The older 2A versions were available, but she wanted the latest 3A. If the buyer is savy enough, the store will give you the newer stock version. If you don't know that it exists, I guess they will try to pass of the older 2A, at the same price.
A bit of canvassing a the Mall of Asia, and we found the Acer 2920-3A at Php1,000 less, of at Php33,900. Zero interest was available, and the unit came bundled with a Brother 3-in-1 printer. A bit of negotiation, and we got the RAM upgraded from 512Mb to 1.5GB and a Apacer 1GB Flash drive was thrown in with the deal.
That offer was better than the initial offer we got for that unit, which was Php34,900 with a RAM upgrade to 1.5GB. A free printer, Flash drive and Php1,000 of the sticker price was a good Php5,000 in additional value at least.
It is a buyers market out there in laptop sales. Canvass a bit before you get one and negotiate, negotiate and negotiate before forking over your cash.
