Computer fairs

[DerbyJon]

Haven't used these for a decade. Worth bothering these days? Pros? Cons?

[Choo Choo]

I haven't been to a computer fair in ages too. Personally I wouldn't buy any expensive electronic item from a fair, like CPU's, or GPU's, purely because there would be problems getting after sales support if anything went wrong.

Things like computer cases or small items like CD-R's, case fans I would buy if they were really cheap or rare.

The convenience of online shopping for computer parts has kinda made them obsolete I think.

[leeglf]

to be honest the last few times i have been to them i have been dissapointed if they are free to get in its worth a look but otherwise i would not bother, you can find the things just as cheap if not cheaper off the internet and in most cases you can return them if they are faulty you might have a trouble returning faulty things to a computer fair!

[DerbyJon]

Cheers guys. Much as I would have guessed from the sounds of it. I know in the old days, VAT used to be forgotten somewhere along the line which made the stuff much cheaper. The discount online stores have probably put paid to this as a normal price minus VAT is probably no cheaper than a discounted price with VAT. Bit like airport duty free shops that charge RRP less duty, where you can probably buy it cheaper on the high street (except ciggies maybe).

[dancingmatt]

The weekly ones near the top of Tottenham Court Road have gone way downhill - lots of "who?" brand gear, loads of mobile phone tat, lots of thumbdrives... yeah there are CPUs and motherboards and RAM too, but not as much good 'real' stuff as there used to be.

And I've often thought prices aren't as good as online, if you search around.

DM

[amjedm]

I used to go regularly to the fair at the National Motorcycle Museum (Birmingham) but last time I went 1/3 of the traders weren't there. Prices aren't as good as they used to be.

Only good reason to go is to see the item in person and then order online.

[piranha]

I used to go to plenty whenver I stayed with my brother in Lancashire - seem to be more there than down South but like others are saying, the deals are'nt amazing and the risk of buying an item without getting support in future puts me off buying anything expensive.

[xolotl]

Not worth it, especially when you have to pay to get in.

Most of the stalls are people selling bootleg software (even though NCM say its not allowed) all the hardware there is low end at best and the prices arnt a patch on internet retailers. No warranties either.

[listy]

i used to go all the time and did get some deals on cpus in the old days of socket7

but the local one here has stopped so not been to one for long time

[-ChEM-]

i go to tottenham court road for hard drives, optical drives and cables... cpu prices are ok too but not the lowest

the same people go there every week so theres no problem taking stuff back

they are held back by the nubbies to some extent, so some stalls will only have gigabyte, foxconn, ecs motherboards, generic ram and no hdds except maxtor... but as long as you know what you want beforehand you can usually find it there

btw there are now 3 fairs there, the original two are at UCL med student bars and theres another one further down by new oxford street in a hotel which is pretty similar to the others

[chrestomanci]

I have been to a few, and seen some good deals on second hand or discontinued stuff. For example I was able to buy a 22" Dell CRT for about £70 a couple of years ago, when a new one would have been more like £500.

[uk_sam]

I haven't been to one for a while. Used to go to the one at Mountford Hall in Liverpool but the £4 entry fee for adults is pretty unattractive especially if you only buy low cost items. Probably good for cables and second hand equipement but otherwise the prices aren't that competitive and there is mostly low-end stuff. With free delivery from online retailers such as Scan, I can't really see a reason to go to the fairs.

[johnny02004976]

i only ever go to get cables and DVD's/CD's or any other low cost items which are expensive to have shipped online - as mentioned above the increasing cost to get in has totally put me off, as well as no sort of after sales support if it goes tits up

[autopilot]

Every one i have been too have been rubish, even the quite big ones.

Only thing decent i got was a custom made card that plugs into you sky box and the into a laptop to program it for free Sky. Worked ok for about a year. Naughty, yes i know.

Anyway, yeah, computer fairs are usually just crammed with a few creepy old guys selling crap overpriced (sold as new, but clearly used often) trash.

[AtomicFuse]

I went once, and was surrounded by unsightly beige dekstops at ludicrous prices. I remember touching the mousepd on a laptop and the seller shouted at me "oy you gonna buy it or just wreck it?" Never again

[chuckskull]

The internet killed computer fairs. I remember when it used to be the only place to buy 'enthusiast' stuff, for your PC, but now I have scan; I can browse, get free delivery, good prices and google any questions I have.

most importantly I dont have to go near any unwashed, slightly over obsessed geeks