Xmas coming - buying tips

[esdaniel]

Thought I'd share this rather than bother you all in teamspeak, hope you find it useful:

• #1 Unless you absolutely have to spoil yourself then don't buy anything until February 2009 - that's when the pain will be so bad for retailers that they try their best to offload as much stock as possible before annual reporting gets underway.  The advantage we have is that retailers have been witnessing their stock piles rise since Summer as demand has dissipated and it's highly likely that no matter what they offer over Xmas that they'll still have excess stock of significant levels that won't be cleared in the sales alone without powerful incentives following their best efforts in January.  Decisions will be made in February regarding final discounting ahead of new budgets in the following financial year which will also be significantly constrained thus reducing demand even further and causing further stock piling to take place - most retailers will have been unable to get this right / perfect regardless of how smart their systems are because the whole world is hurting and most systems, unlike financials, are not as tightly coupled thus a deal to ship 1m TVs to the UK was done well ahead of the current turmoil and at remarkably different pricing - all this adds to further downward price pressure for suppliers as they compete with each other for fewer customers.  Looking to September '09 I guess pricing will have found a level in time for Xmas '09 and everyone will be a lot wiser by then.
• #2 Before you buy new it would be wise to see what's available 2nd hand - usual place to start is here in the clan and afterward on eBay etc., noting point #1 the 2nd hand market will continue to flourish though with new product price pressure on a downward trend the 2nd hand market will suffer from this as well i.e. pricing using the 50% of RRP rule for 2nd hand goods.
• #3 Keep a close eye on sites like this: http://hotukdeals.com, they use RSS so why not get a custom alert set up and on that note do use the Google Alert service in a similar vain.
• #4 For new purchases most credit deals such as buy now pay later will be poor and getting worse i.e. more expensive, where possible the best deals are those for cash as that's what everyone needs ;-)

[=ASY=gav]

Sound advice Ed and thanks for the link - that will go in my google reader.
Spoke to you about this in TS the other day. My problem is I'm after a new winter coat (fricken freezing at present), and I'm hunting for a good deal on a Berghaus so I'll have to try and find a good deal well before December or I'll be a snowman in no time

[Frates]

Berghaus Mera Peak FTW (except not in Charva colours)

[esdaniel]

I'm after a new winter coat

You might want to check out this place for trendy stuff:
http://haburi.com/tmpl/en/detail.tmpl?count_art_sel=1;art_id=33994;count_cat_sel=1;open=product;pg=1682;main_cat=2;cat=2;id=jnyu0g2OQwv5KDV0MLXy8o
http://haburi.com/tmpl/en/detail.tmpl?count_art_sel=55;art_id=35979;count_cat_sel=7;layer_submit.x=41;flag=1;id=jnyu0g2OQwv5KDV0MLXy8o;layer_submit.y=10;st=
Or have you thought of this:
http://www.marksandspencer.com/gp/product/B001IDVS0Y/280-5754605-8327652?ie=UTF8&mnSBrand=core&extid=a_msf
Or this:
http://www.millets.co.uk/Mens-Clothing/Jackets/Warmwear-and-Padded/Mens-Nuptse-Jacket/product/040831.aspx
Although this one brings back memories:
http://www.twenga.co.uk/offer/5803/6442395474445181940.html

HTH.

[The Ridg]

Berghaus Mera Peak FTW (except not in Charva colours)

+1

Berghaus 4TW

http://www.berghaus.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=1314&Gear=2 

[Frates]

I like that temperance - might keep an eye out for that.

I've currently got one of the original Berghaus Mera Peaks in a two tone grey colour and its absolutely class - it's lightweight 3/4 length 3 layer Gortex and totally wind and waterproof - you could go to the arctic with this thing!

[The Ridg]

i've got a berghaus windstopper^® and an ignition jacket for cycling

if you want to stay warm and dry gore-tex^® is the way forward, i bought a pair of gore-tex^® gloves for cycling and used them sunday (when it was snowing) needless to say i didn't feel the cold.

in terms of a winter coat, if you want to stay warm forget the fashion stuff, and get a technical jacket. function > form = TW

[sir_loin]

howies clothes FTW. but howies price 4TL.

[Ctjackal]

i've got a berghaus windstopper^® and an ignition jacket for cycling

if you want to stay warm and dry gore-tex^® is the way forward, i bought a pair of gore-tex^® gloves for cycling and used them sunday (when it was snowing) needless to say i didn't feel the cold.

in terms of a winter coat, if you want to stay warm forget the fashion stuff, and get a technical jacket. function > form = TW

What's with all the ^® stuff?

[Ctjackal]

Seriously tho Ed, good tips and a good link that.

Anyone looking for a budget laptop should also consider Morgan Computers. I just bought three of these - http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/shop/detail.asp?ProductID=4785&CategoryID=11&SubCategoryID=345

A grade factory refurb stock with a years manufacturers' warranty and the screen is gorgeous, glossy and vibrant.
Ideal for the kids' XMas presents, full size notebook for netbook money

[lozzyho]

Yeah, but some tosser put in this review:

Great value, 27 November 2008
A Notebook for Netbook money!
Bought 3 of these and have to say they are simply brilliant value for money. Screen is glossy and vibrant and it feels perfectly snappy in use. Cases also are pretty much spotless. Ideal for a kids 1st laptop or a spare PC for travelling.
Sean MacIntyre | Devon

[craiden]

Yeah, but some tosser put in this review:

Great value, 27 November 2008
A Notebook for Netbook money!
Bought 3 of these and have to say they are simply brilliant value for money. Screen is glossy and vibrant and it feels perfectly snappy in use. Cases also are pretty much spotless. Ideal for a kids 1st laptop or a spare PC for travelling.
Sean MacIntyre | Devon

lmao, busted

[Ctjackal]

CTRL-C - CTRL-D
Don't reinvent the wheel.
I posted the review straight after I posted the reply

[The Ridg]

CTRL-C - CTRL-D
Don't reinvent the wheel.
I posted the review straight after I posted the reply

only keyboard shortcuts 

[esdaniel]

A couple of headlines:

EA braced for drop in profits as sales slump
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8081789c-c64d-11dd-a741-000077b07658.html

For the more well off in the clan it is worth considering that the games houses probably make more on console than they do on PC, the console gamer is by far the poorer cousin of the PC enthusiast gamer and it is likely to greatly affect the bottom line for them as this market is already saturated with consoles.  Keep an eye on console prices dropping further as a loss-leader for the games ;-)

Sales of flat-screen PC monitors set to shrink
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/08a4f6ac-c614-11dd-a741-000077b07658.html

Customers are disappearing fast, thus the downwards price pressure will most definitely kick in during February but for the real deal wait till after annual tax returns are paid and see what you can grab between June & September.

Meanwhile some other news to share:

Intel Corp. says it has completed development of its next production process, continuing a pattern that has steadily improved the performance of its chips and put pressure on competitors.

The company does not expect to begin selling chips based on the new process -- which creates circuitry with dimensions measured at 32 nanometers, or billionths of a meter -- until the fourth quarter of 2009. But Intel on Wednesday is expected to share new details about the technology's benefits, which include transistors that switch 22% faster and are about half the size of those on its current 45-nanometer process.

Thus what is top end today is going to be mid-range in Q4 2009 :-)  More downward price pressure so whatever is top spec today should be very affordable late next year as vendors try to shift old stock for the new stuff coming ;-)

On another tangent I've been looking around for something, anything, to share with you all about what got this (the financial markets bubble) started - I found this article that does the trick:
http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/11/11/The-End-of-Wall-Streets-Boom?page=0