Since I turned entrepreneur I have become a strong believer in the idea of 'value for money'. I bargain every purchase. I do this mostly for two major reasons 1) Its cool, makes me think of myself as a tough buyer (whatever that means) 2) I do not have much money left with me after I am done paying for my business & personal expenses. Saving money is on top of my list. I shop for my Levis & Benetton during discount sale. This is the time when prices appeal to my common sense. Also I don't mind shelling a bit extra for regular retail if the product is worth it. I go for it.
But there is one particular item that I will never pay to buy brand new no matter how lucrative the bargain : Laptops. I think buying a new laptop is waste of money, especially for budding entrepreneurs who need to bootstrap every expense. I cannot see myself paying Rs.35K - Rs.45K for a business laptop. No can do. I prefer to save my money and go for a used laptop. Usually I target 2-3 year old machines which are in great shape & offer reasonable computing power (Core2 Duo or greater).
So far I have purchased 2 used laptops, first was a Toshiba Portege M300 which I purchased for Rs.8.5K. It had a minor screen problem. It was my work horse & delivered awesome performance. It worked fine for 18 months & suddenly one evening it died. The screen went dark and never came back to life. My second purchase is a HP 2510p which I purchased in Dubai for Rs.10K recently. Btw I bargained for this one & secured a discount of Rs.0.5K :) It looks awesome and works fine. I am blogging using it.
I use my machines for browsing and checking my emails. I am not involved in high end computing stuff. So purchasing a second hand laptop makes sense for me. But you people out there please continue buying new, expensive & latest laptops and please sell them in 1-2 years. Thnx :)
But there is one particular item that I will never pay to buy brand new no matter how lucrative the bargain : Laptops. I think buying a new laptop is waste of money, especially for budding entrepreneurs who need to bootstrap every expense. I cannot see myself paying Rs.35K - Rs.45K for a business laptop. No can do. I prefer to save my money and go for a used laptop. Usually I target 2-3 year old machines which are in great shape & offer reasonable computing power (Core2 Duo or greater).
So far I have purchased 2 used laptops, first was a Toshiba Portege M300 which I purchased for Rs.8.5K. It had a minor screen problem. It was my work horse & delivered awesome performance. It worked fine for 18 months & suddenly one evening it died. The screen went dark and never came back to life. My second purchase is a HP 2510p which I purchased in Dubai for Rs.10K recently. Btw I bargained for this one & secured a discount of Rs.0.5K :) It looks awesome and works fine. I am blogging using it.
I use my machines for browsing and checking my emails. I am not involved in high end computing stuff. So purchasing a second hand laptop makes sense for me. But you people out there please continue buying new, expensive & latest laptops and please sell them in 1-2 years. Thnx :)
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