What a crock!!!

Shade00 · Nov 28, 2002

So I'm up at 3 am watching TV for no apparent reason... and I find a TigerTV Systemax commercial.

Well.

The over-priced computer ($1500) they were pitching was a top-of-the-line 'next year' computer with a P4 2.4. The highlight for me was when the guy said that the 64mb Radeon 7000 was a gamer's dream.

He said that it was 'packed' with components that you won't see in competitor's computers until went into next year. Yeah... guess I won't be saying that Radeon or that P4 in a system for a while... since they're brand new.

He was also kind enough to inform me that DDR266 and DDR333 are completely different kinds of RAM

Then he went on to say that he wouldn't be surprised if you were still using the system 10 years from now.

But the crowning moment - a box popped up on the screen that said 'Pentium 4 2.4 ghz is actual CPU speed - compare to Athlon XP 2400+ at 2.0 ghz. I was astonished.

I was speechless.

madsam · Nov 28, 2002

well, that's because the AMD's are just plain slow. see my sig.. xp1600+ is how many mhz? either way , those ads are targetting the parents of kids without pc's and especially those with no prior pc experience. in my opinion, it's no different than gateway/e-machines/compaq/hp....etc. all junk to ok pc's at the price of your rig or mine. nothing we can do besides...keep building our own pc's and smoke those"futuristic" pc's...

flixotide · Nov 28, 2002

To any computer knowledgable person, such commercials are indeed a shock. But nonetheless they are all too common.

Okay... so not actually that bad... but close.

A different example runing at pcworld in Denmark, is an add saying that turning your old computer into a firewall is cheaper than buying all the new FW junk out there, because you get Linux for free.

I don't know how it is elsewhere, but doing a power consumption calculation and summing up the price for having such a computer running 24x7 365 days a year, would actually cost more in power consumption alone, than it would cost to buy a HW firewall, e.g. the zyxell zywall 1.

Consumer misguidance I say...:

Flixotide

HardwareJedi · Nov 28, 2002

and that Tiger system prob. includes such wonderful niceties as a Printer worth about $35, a Scanner you could buy on sale for $45, and $500 dollars worth of "Valuable" Software... (Read Coasterware). lol

Same with some of the ads you see in Comput** Sho**er. "Ultimate Gaming Rig" w/ XP1800+ and GF4 MX440 ... and SDRAM MB. At least the price is a little better... but Ultimate Gaming Rig... NOT!

Top Hat Theater · Nov 28, 2002

I've given up on the public and I no longer pay any attention to such ads because it just makes my blood pressure rise...and I'm only 20!

However, if someone asks me about computers, I'll preface whatever I say by explaining the MHz myth and why my system will probably outperform just about any OEM machine on campus (short of a 3.0GHz P4...the whole 150% clockspeed may get me

)

~THT

Tismedt · Nov 28, 2002

THT I hear you. Its soooo hard to talk to ppl about a pc built by someone other then the OEMs like gateway, HP, Dell etc. They just refuse to realize you can get a better rig for the same or less $. to most ppl parts is parts and there all the same

If they only knew.

Top Hat Theater · Nov 28, 2002

If they knew, we'd be normal b/c everyone would be building their own systems and saving $1,000

~THT

flixotide · Nov 28, 2002

Gather round folks.. gather round... and buy this fantastic 33 mhz system, guaranteed to last a lifetime by our scientists, using state of the art Windows for workgroups...

Yes sir, not before the next millenium do you need to change....

Boy... I'm sure that promotor must've gone "d'oh" once or twice since

nealric · Nov 28, 2002

how do those people selling those systems sleep at night?

Fever · Nov 28, 2002

The one I really hate is the buck a day commercial. The one with Kathy Philips or whatever her name is...

" I wish...I wish... I wish to buy an IBM for you..."

I wish you get hit by a ****ing truck! Those commercials **** me off to no end.

"State of the art 1.7 GHz [Celeron

] CPU with a whopping 128MB of blazing SD-RAM."

"$999"

"For only a buck a day you can.." kick yourself for the next 2.73 years.

ChillPhatCat · Nov 28, 2002

nealric said:
how do those people selling those systems sleep at night?

Very comfortably in a bed made of money

LOL but seriously I think I should start up a computer store and sell a computer with a nearly identical name to a major manufacturer... Dill computers or Gaitway or Conpaq or IBN or Hewlett Pickard...

I don't think the big names are as bad as Tiger and those infomercials... they are ridiculous... The ones that kill me are the P4's with the PC133 RAM (always 128 Mb too)

M H Z <=> M O N E Y

Top Hat Theater · Nov 28, 2002

There are good OEMs though like Falcon Northwest. They build good systems with quality parts.

~THT

Fever · Nov 28, 2002

Yeah, true. Alien is good too. BUUT.. I can build the same for less.

nealric · Nov 28, 2002

yes- and they dont advertize on infomercials

They also cost a shiny nickel.

IR1 · Nov 28, 2002

Ya but its is a good thing you gotta be up at 3 Am to see those. You usually dont see those unless your on the home shpping network or somthing where they sell the SUPER MULTIMEDIA DREAM MACHINE! Get it now only 3 minutes left and only 1 million units available! At $999!!!

Holy CRAP WHAT A DEAL!

Man those infomercials drive me nutz.

Hey have you guys seen the comercial for Xtreme3D SYSTEM. With the virtual reality Converter lol. You know the 3d glasses where you hook them up to your computer and it makes everything 3d... that has to get old within the 1st hour.

And this is serious only 10 payments of 9.99... wtf man anyone dumb enough to buy that deserves exactly what they get.

It comes with 10 games... all made by that company...says Xtreme3d on the game box probably all repackaged old games like pong, galaga, centipede, or donkey kong. if you see the comercial it is pretty sad.

Top Hat Theater · Nov 28, 2002

The commercials tell me when I need to go to bed because when they're on, I know it's late

~THT

[OC]Lucifer · Nov 28, 2002

Moral of the story..

Custom made PCs will always own OEMs and (worse yet) Tigerdirect machines. I remember when I bought my first machine, it was from them, a K6-300 (Standard K6, not a K6-2), with a S3d Virge 4MB, 4.3G Quantum Bigfoot 5.25", Vibra 16 sound, a 32x Cyberdrive CD-ROM that died in two weeks, and other sundry 1337 goodies, *LoL*

IR1 · Nov 28, 2002

HOw surprising....

Mr.DLucey · Nov 28, 2002

Theirs no way you could build a system better then a major manufacture. They buy in volume so they can sell for less and still make a profit. They have complete engineering staff working 24/7 to build the best possible PC ant the lowest price. Do you?

LOL. If they only knew, ignorance is bliss.

Shade00 · Nov 28, 2002

Haha, Mr.D, when I started reading your post I thought you were being serious.

What a crock!!!

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