I just HATE "Itll be cheaper later"

[hineigger]

I hate how out of touch society has become with the price of enjoyment.

People say "Ill get that video card in a few months when the price goes down...."

So is money the ONLY thing that makes us happy??

For god's sake, we are THROWING AWAY enjoyment to save a few bucks. People are forgetting that enjoyment, to me, has a dollar value in a sense.

And the fact is, I am WILLING to buy a $400 video card now and HAVE FUN FOR SIX MONTHS which is when it will drop to $300.

People need to realize we dont live forever, if theres something you want then buy it and HAVE FUN and QUENCH your thirst for updated hardware, rather than waiting six months and feeling SO great you just saved $50.

You wasted months of enjoyment and fullfillment. As far as Im concerned, people who do this are LOSING more than they are saving.

Thank you.

 

[hodi]

Not a very fair statement for those of us who can´t afford new High-End Hardware everytime something new appears on the market.

Since I´m not one of those, or not yet, I agree with you

tired of your OS? <A HREF="http://tinyurl.com/1kal" target="_new">cLicK mE</A>

 

[TKH]

Rich and ignorant guy... (sigh). You have to admit not everyone in the world is as rich as you, we have life and cmputer is not the only thing in life, you don't need a computer to enjoy your life, if computer is the only entertainment you have in the world then you are a failure in social life. We save cash because this amount of money can be used in better way. It is not just a few bucks to wait until a product to come down in price. US$100 is equal to $400 in my country, and different in other country. You are fortunate to live in a rich family but there are many people out there have to work hard and earn their living. Now I can use $2000 to get a Radeon 9800 Pro (that's about my one month salary!) but that's insane. After some period of time the price will drop to $1200 and I've saved $800. You can't hate people for being poor, what so great of you when you just have more money than others? If you are so rich and want to burn cash, get yourself a chopper to fly over the sky, hanging a banner saying "I AM RICH AND I AM EVERYTHING, YOU POOR PEOPLE JUST GO TO HELL, HEAVEN IS ONLY FOR RICH PEOPLE LIKE ME" I'm pretty sure this will be more "enjoyable".

You never know how stupid you are until you have done something stupid enough for you to realize it.
<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=22996" target="_new">My System Rig</A><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by TKH on 04/26/03 09:20 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[hineigger]

No no no,

If you cant afford it thats one thing.

but if you CAN afford it but think that waiting is worth the $$$, YOURE WRONG. Youre losing more than you are gaining by money.

 

[FDTzeng]

Lol very interesting topic. I personally want that perfect balance in between. And that means NOT buying the $400 video card. Why? Well first of all it doesnt necessarily mean that youll enjoy your games more does it? If a lower priced card can do the same thing then why not just go for that? Also newest gfx cards usually have some crazy features that current games released at the time dont support - youd have to wait 6 months for game to utilize those features at which point the price will have dropped some. And Im also pretty thoughtful (cheap) about how I spend my money. That money might be better spent elsewhere. Since new stuff is always coming out i DO think its a bit foolish to run out and buy the top of the line - youd be doing that every few months and wasting a LOT of money. Especially considering that maybe the 2nd best option is MUCH cheaper. (for example my Barton 2500+ is just as good as a "3200+" and I didnt have to spend like $300). Also you talked about being able to afford it or not, thats pretty subjective isnt it? Im sure most ppl could buy that video card if they REALLY felt it was a priority. Maybe "priorities" are the real heart of this issue.

I personally like to stay a generation or 2 behind. Now dont get me wrong - I love to have an awesome machine (as you can tell by the specs), but I also like not being broke =) To illustrate this, I actually just got a 9700Pro last week for 210 on ebay =) So bascially I want the fastest computer possible (just like yourself) except within a reasonable price range.

Athlon XP 2500+ @ 2.2GHz, A7N8X, Kingston HyperX PC3000 512MB @177MHz, Radeon 9700Pro, SB Live 5.1<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by FDTzeng on 04/26/03 11:59 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[phsstpok]

I look at it a different way. I wait a year or more and pay less.

A year from now I might buy a 9800 Pro (for half price if I'm lucky). I'll upgrade my system to what you might have today. I'll play games that you are playing today.

I'll be getting the same "enjoyment" but I'll just be doing it a year later than you and for a lot less money.

I don't have to be first to be happy.

<b>99% is great, unless you are talking about system stability</b>

 

[FO_SHO]

So is money the ONLY thing that makes us happy??

According to you, yes this statement is true to some extent. A video card costs a lot of money. You need money to buy a video card. See my point? So by having money, you can buy the latest and greatest hardware, giving YOU enjoyment, therefore making money the only thing that makes you happy, so you can buy your greatest and latest hardware.

 

[Teq]

Y'know it's a funny thing about that "Grab the new stuff right now" business...
I once saw an article in which it was estimated that over the 2 year life of a product 50% of the returns are in the first month of production.

First production runs are usually smaller, hense the higher prices. The goal is to get the things out there and find out what's wrong with them. After a couple of months they will have some assessment of the problems and can put fixes into place to produce a more stable product in the second production run. This second run is usually a lot larger, hense the price drop.

So... if you wanna end up being a tester for new hardware, spend the money. Me, I'll wait till that second run to buy my stuff with some confidence they've got the bugs worked out.




--->It ain't better if it don't work<---

 

[phsstpok]

So... if you wanna end up being a tester for new hardware, spend the money.

Doubly so for the latest software, games in this case.

I'd rather wait for all the bugs to be cleaned up before I buy.

<b>99% is great, unless you are talking about system stability</b>

 

[rook]

I don't think thats what anyone said, just that the computer ISN'T the only thing that makes them happy. If I save $100 dollars on a video card, then me and the woman can go out 2-3 times that month. It is just what do you have more fun doing? IF the funnest thing for you to do is play PC games (nothing wrong with that IMO), then by all means get the best computer you can. But if you have multiple intrests, you have to devide your budget between them.

I usually keep my PC tell it barley plays the new games then upgrade to something farely high end that will last for a few years.

And as far as what makes ppl happy, most of the things will cost money. One of my favorite hobbies is golf. Now golf costs $30-50+ per round. The money itself doesn't make me happy but the playing golf does.
But is buying a new $400 driver going to make golf more fun? Nope. So unless mine breaks, I won't buy a new driver. It's the same with computer systems, as long as what you have gets the job done then whats the difference.

There is the whole "money can't buy happieness" thing, but I think it's rich poeple that say that. (or broke people like me to feel better about being broke)

"Quotes are for people that can't think for themselves"

 

[Rubberbband]

Usually when someone asks for recommendations on building a new system I tell them to get the "second best" everything. I'm a firm believer that the latest and greatest hardware is a waste of money for most users. Why buy a 3Ghz Cpu if the 2.4 will do the job and more. Same goes for video cards, right now I'd buy the 9500 Pro if I needed one. That's the whole "wait for a while" mentality in a nutshell.
If you have lots of cash by all means get the latest but it won't make any "real world" difference to the casual user. That's probably why you see so many of those (wait for it) replies.

The aim of military training is not just to prepare men for battle, but to make them long for it. <A HREF="http://forums.btvillarin.com/index.php?act=ST&f=41&t=327&s" target="_new"><b>MY SYSTEM</b></A>

 

[JimStapleton]

I personally don't find an extra $200 worth the slight improvement in graphics it'll get me... I'd rather buy a good few DVDs or games for the pric.

Athlon XP 1600+, MSI K7T PRO2 RU (POS), 2x256 MB CRUCIAL PC2100 CL2.5 memory, Asus V6800 DDR Delux (GF 256) video card, 6.4GB+27GB WD HD, 40GB IBM HD (all 7200RPM). My computer is an acronym

 

[JimStapleton]

if ignorance is bliss you must be quite blissful

I buy things when the price is clost to the best price/performance ratio. Why? because I don't need the biggest and the best, in fact, the most graphically intensive game I play aside from Diablo 2 is Black and White, and you know what? It really isn't worth it to me to get a 3Ghz P4 or a 3000+ athlon, or a $400 vid card. The only reason I'm upgrading to a 2500+ is because my girlfriend is getting my old CPU/Mobo cuz she is stuck with a P1 120, and I'm upgrading the mobo to something more reliable, I will need to get new processor and memory, and the barton 2500 seems to be the best buy for me. Since she is getting my vid card as well, I might as well grab a new one, and I am probably going to get an ASUS GF4 Ti4200 (not agp8x, not 128 MB ram, because it's not worth the extra 50% price jump to get those, and only get 1% performance increase.)

Athlon XP 1600+, MSI K7T PRO2 RU (POS), 2x256 MB CRUCIAL PC2100 CL2.5 memory, Asus V6800 DDR Delux (GF 256) video card, 6.4GB+27GB WD HD, 40GB IBM HD (all 7200RPM). My computer is an acronym

 

[4Ryan6]

You seem to rate enjoyment, with your computer being the top of the line, which is delusional ignorance, even if you go out today and order every top of the line computer product available, by the time you get it assembled and up and running, its not top of the line anymore, because newer and better components are coming on the market almost everyday now. Wisdom is understanding that, and wisely evaluating and researching products, before you spend your money on them. There are no perfect components, they all have bugs in them as previously posted by some, they may have the bugs cured for the hardware combinations they've tested the component on, but the world is the true testing ground. So have fun running a race you'll never win, and thats having the best and fastest computer available, it will be a very short lived thing to do, but as has been said. Ignorance is Bliss.

<b><font color=purple>Details, Details, Its all in the Details, If you need help, Don't leave out the Details.</font color=purple></b>

 

[TKH]

People don't wait for no reason. The reason why people waiting is because they can't afford the thing now. If you already have the cash ready to spend, you don't wait six months but rather one or two weeks to see what other manufacturers offer or any bugs identified. When people have to wait for six months mean that they can't afford or don't need the thing, at least for now. It's not a dead or alive situation and you have to think twice/trice before throwing out cash. If you really think getting a new product as soon as possible is crucial you are welcome to do so but not telling people that they are too cheap to get new stuff.

You never know how stupid you are until you have done something stupid enough for you to realize it.
<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=22996" target="_new">My System Rig</A>

 

[vk2amv]

Everyone has pretty much covered what can be said but I will add my piece all the same. You sir are Ingorant because you have too much money. It is just a waste of money to buy top of the line all the time. Within a few weeks to months it will already be outdated. I have never ever bought a top of the line product. And because of that it has meant I have had more and better balanced hardware in the long run. Example, A friend of mine had a choice a while ago on video cards. He could get the Radeon 9500Pro or a Radeon 9000. Now the 9500Pro would have been nice and had higher FPS in games but the 9000 still gets the job done. So he bought the 9000. Now a few weeks later he had a chance to upgrade his hard drive from 20gig to 80gig for a fairly cheap price. Now if he had gotten the 9500Pro he would still be on a 20gig hard drive. So which would prefer? A 20gig hard drive and always struggling for space with a 9500Pro or a 80Gig hard drive and a 9000 with only a few unnoticable FPS less in your games?
AREA_51

'It's only when you look at an ant through a magnifying glass on a sunny day that you realise how often they burst into flames'

 

[xxsk8er101xx]

that is an unfair statement. You forget that every one is different. Some people feel that their hardware is good enough for now and wants to wait for prices to go down.
Other people want to wait until they pay off their credit card. everyone has their different reasons why they do what they do.



Life is irrelivent and irrational.

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=9933" target="_new"> My Rig </A>

 

[jihiggs]

so, i got some pretty nice cash flow right now from uncle sam, and another retirement plan screw up, but thats a different story. the point is, i have a fair ammount of money, i could use that to buy the top of the line radeon all in wonder, and a new mobo, cpu and a gig of ram, yes that would make me happy. or i can pay off my credit card debt that i ran up being stupid and buying the latest and greatest. in the long run having my credit paid off will make me more happy, more happy than a card i will cast off as junk in 2 years. you are a fool.

my computer is so fast, it completes an endless loop in less than 4 seconds!

 

[hineigger]

JuJu Fruits ARE NOT based on the religon.

And no, I will never eat something named MormonMormon Fruits

 

[eden]

I will concede partly to your opinion and partly agree.

Mainly because so many think the current video cards will drop in price when it has been said so many times, they WILL BE PHASED OUT!
So many keep saying they'll wait for the 9700PRO to drop, but christ, the 9800PRO is taking its place. The chances for a price drop are slim to none!

If, however, the company states a price drop, and when that is stated, a company stated price drop means a major one, and not a slight 5% drop like a normal retailer does almost monthly. When companies state price drops, then I think you can wait, unless it's 3 months away then you're being an a-hole. AMD slashed the 3000+ by 44.7%, which is a major cut, almost 50%. Now anyone can buy it, if they knew of the cut. But if they said to themselves "I'll wait till its price comes down when it settles down" and there was no expected drop by AMD, then that guy needs help because this is no longer the NORM!

Stick to company-announced price drops people, stop thinking about your damn retailer, because that means you'll wait months indeed.

--
This post is brought to you by Eden, on a Via Eden, in the garden of Eden.

 

[NeoBlademun]

Then there are us who consider 500$ to be alot of money. I'd be very happy to scrape together a few hundred dollars so I can upgrade to something that will run games. For me every dollar more I choose to spend on my next system will equal more weeks waiting in order to make the amount.

Now, I'm a gamer. All I care about are FPS. A Ti4200 will do most games at about 100FPS. Perfect. Why? because you don't NEED 200 FPS graphic cards..it visually makes no differance. at 50FPS the human eye can't see any jerkiness at all..unless you have a overclocked brain you don't really need a ultra high-end graphic card. Same for Processor and other components.

Game designers take into account in makeing their games where the AVERAGE user is at. Thats pretty low. We all know what the average user is running. Somewhere between a P2 and a AMD 2100 system. Only real gamers have good hardware, but hardcore computer gamers only makeup like 25% of the market. The industry caters to the mainstream. That means the tech curve will always be out ahead of the gameing tech curve. Its better to just stay in that sweetspot of price/performance ratio.

Of course..thats from a gamers POV. Dunno bout you IT and workstation people.

 

[CyberData4]

Well, since I'm getting a Radeon 9800 pro on wednesday...reading this made me feel a little guilty. LOL. I'm gonna spend $380 for a video card. But I only felt bad for 1 minute until I remebered how long I've waited and saved for my new computer. I bought a P1 166mhz, 3gb, 80mb ram machine in March of 1997, I just put together my new machine in March of 2003. So I dont feel so bad spending mone that I've been saving (literally) for six years. So I guess it's all relative. After I get this cpu set up it's gonna be another 8 years before I bother to upgrade.

And spending 400$ on a video card doesn't make someone rich. Trust me on this. Some people spend the same money on other indulgences. Now I definitley don't agree with the topic makers philosophy.if that were the case then would be buying a new PC every 60 days, lmao. A balance must be found. And everyone's balance is different.

 

[CaptainNemo]

It is about value-for-money rather than absolute cost.

I recently put together a system for my brother in the UK. A P4 2.66B costs £175 whereas a P4 3.06HT costs £282 (it was almost £400 at the time of purchase).

A R9800 Pro costs £305 whereas a R9700 costs £200.

Does the R9800Pro outperform the R9700 Pro by 50%? I doubt it.

Does the P4 3.06HT outperform the P4 2.66B by 60%? I doubt it.

When you buy top-of-the-range components, the marginal cost of the extra performance is EXTREMELY high. For most people, it just isn't worth it.

I can understand this mentality when buying clothes; it is quite possible for a £300 suit to be infinitely better than a £175 suit, but you are dealing with subjective intangibles there; component performance is 100% quantifiable.