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When to Buy Technology Goods?

Posted by Cliff on from the finding-the-sweet-spot-in-the-product-cycle dept.

inblosam asks: "I am about to make 'the switch', but the thought came to me that there may be a strategic time of year to purchase technology goods. Of course once you buy something it is nearly outdated already, but there must be some marketing cycle for lowering prices and releasing new toys. Anyone seen any patterns that may help? I do have one hypothesis: Companies push their products that have been on the market for 10-11 months during the holiday season (December), then afterwards drop the prices some and bump up the product with a new feature or size, etc. I believe this was the case for the iPod ($500 down to $300 ?), and even the Handspring Visor Edge was $300 when I bought it (November?) and then $169 three months later."

6 of 276 comments (clear)

  1. my general rule is by sstory · · Score: 5, Interesting

    my general rule is to buy tech at least 1 or 2 yrs after it hits the market. Since I'm a student, I don't have money for cutting-edge, but I get last-year's cutting edge for half price, the initial bugs have been worked out (somewhat), and I can avoid what's been massively rejected. It depends on a) how fast the turnover is for the particular tech B) how much disposable income you have c) intangible factors like status and style, and how important that is to you.

  2. A contrary opinion by foobar104 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Several people have written and said that you should buy systems 1-2 years after they're first released to maximize reliability.

    I've bought lots of Macs over the past 20 years, and since '95 or so I've seen a pattern develop. Here's my theory: buy the most expensive brand-new system you can afford at the instant you're ready to buy.

    My first Mac laptop-- a PowerBook 160-- cost me $3,000, and I used it every day for five years. It was my primary-- only!-- machine until I bought my iMac. I regret that purchase, but only a little bit. Both of my iMacs were great, reliable little machines, and I never had a complaint about either of them, but I often wished I had bought machines with more oomph.

    When the "speed holes" machines came out last month, I bought again. I found a friend who was willing to give me a few bucks for my iMac, and I plopped down $3,500 on a dual processor 1 GHz with a 17" studio display. It's fast, really fast, and it's got room to grow. I'll keep it for at least three years, I imagine.

    But I know, and I accept, that Apple will release faster and better machines eight months or a year from now. It won't be too long before my top-o-the-line machine looks a little pale by comparison to the newest machines shipping. But that's not the point. The point is to get the very best system you can when you're ready to buy, and then be happy with it for as long as it takes to justify the purchase in your mind.

    1. Re:A contrary opinion by Megane · · Score: 3, Interesting
      I've got to agree with you. I got a "speed holes" Mac last month. My previous machines were a Pismo 500 laptop (bought at deep discount when they went EOL for the TiBook) and a six year old Power Tower Pro 225 which had received enough upgrades during its life that it now runs 10.2 and is about to replace one of my old Linux servers. The Pismo itself replaced a PB 145 that I had long ago stopped using because of the lack of built-in Ethernet.

      If you want a good deal at a low price, get an EOL machine just before a major (more than a speed bump) change. If you want a good deal at a high price, get a mid-range model a month or two after the same major upgrade.

      I was needing an upgrade really badly, and waited for the DDR because I wanted backside server bandwidth for leeching files around the house. Otherwise I would have waited another cycle to see if they would release G5 models. I'm suspecting that G5 would be a good reason why they wouldn't be able to boot MacOS 9.

      I wanted one in my hands right away, since I had just gotten the money. If I had waited another month, I'd be getting the free inDesign offer, but I don't really care about that.

      One thing to point out about Macs: unlike PCs, you can keep an old Mac running reasonably well for five or six years, if you choose the right model. My PowerTower Pro replaced a IIci, and they've both proven to be quite upgradeable. The only negative with my new speed holes Mac is that I'm stuck with the 166MHz FSB.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
  3. Re:MacWorld by guttentag · · Score: 5, Interesting
    When you're looking at Apple purchases, try and keep the MacWorld schedules in mind.
    This used to be the standard, but Apple seems to be getting away from the "wow them at MacWorld/Apple Expo" model. Hardly anything new is is introduced there by Apple these last few shows...
    1. The Apple Expo in Paris was held this week, but there was really nothing new there (in the past, Apple had used it as a supplemental stage to introduce new hardware in the fall between MacWorld NY and MacWorld SF -- and MacWorld Tokyo in the spring).
    2. This summer's MacWorld NY introduced... what? Jaguar? Nope, it wasn't even ready until a month later, we knew it was coming before MacWorld began.
    3. This last spring's MacWorld Tokyo gave us... (drumroll, please) a different size Apple LCD monitor? Woo-hoo...
    4. When did Apple intro the all-dual-processor tower lineup? In between New York and Paris.
    The updates come in between when Apple's ready to release them, which is really the way it should work.

    Maybe this is just the strategy for navigating the stormy economy and we'll see Apple re-adhere to the old schedule at some point. But for now, don't pin any bets on MacWorld... it's more for the third parties than Apple these days. The latest crop of TiBooks was also introduced between shows.

    I know a lot of people are talking about the mythical G5 ("It's going to be released at MacWorld SF in January"), but it's the same speculation before every show year after year. Don't believe any of it unless you happen to know that Motorola has finally gotten its rear in gear.

  4. After working in a computer store... by shepd · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I feel knowledgeable enough to say:

    Last month.

    No, I'm not being fecicious here, but I have seen, and experienced the best prices in July/August. Memory is cheap, and parts are cheap.

    My guess is because people and companies just aren't buying much during the summer.

    Whatever you do, avoid buying near Christmas. Even if you get a good deal, the extra strain on a dealer to work through Christmas will lower the quality of service, and possibly quality of parts you get.

    --
    If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
  5. My take on MBD/Processors by RallyNick · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I tend to buy the latest neatest motherboard available and the cheapest processor it supports. Then a year or two later I'll buy the fastest processor supported by the same MBD and maybe some more memory. This way I get a system that's reasonably fast all the time and upgrades are much more affordable (never get to buy $300 CPUs).