Beware the PC World "deal"

imokyrok

Some of you racing around doing your xmas shopping and pricing laptops may have been madly impressed with the PC World laptop trade in deal. That six foot high sign in the window shouting €110 OFF when you bring in your old laptop certainly caught my attention. You get a wee bit closer and you'll see the words "up to" but still every little helps - right? Wrong. You see you need to get up with your nose touching the sign to see the 1 cm high "terms and condition apply". By the time you figure out that your old laptop must be in perfect working order or you get zilch, nada, not a red cent, you'll be standing excitedly at the check out with your new laptop in your hand.

Be warned - As I discovered PC World thinks we all want to fork out half a grand plus while still having a perfectly good laptop sitting at home.

JDxtra

I am not a PC World fan, but this seems like a fair condition. Why on earth would they want a broken laptop?? Its to encourage people to upgrade.

imokyrok

JDxtra wrote: »

I am not a PC World fan, but this seems like a fair condition. Why on earth would they want a broken laptop?? Its to encourage people to upgrade.

You never heard of spare parts? Reconditioned laptops?

hobochris

PC world is just a computer shop for people that have little knowledge of computers, hence the commonly accepted financial rape for outdated spec.

Zapho

Indeed. I only ever pop into places like PC World to buy little peripherials that cost less than €30. If you buy them online you typically have to pay €10 for delivery so its easier to go to the local PC world. Apart from that, I wouldn't touch anything in there with a barge pole for fear that they're charge me for the privalidge......

hobochris

Zapho wrote: »

Indeed. I only ever pop into places like PC World to buy little peripherials that cost less than €30. If you buy them online you typically have to pay €10 for delivery so its easier to go to the local PC world. Apart from that, I wouldn't touch anything in there with a barge pole for fear that they're charge me for the privalidge......

They also make for good entertainment when your bored when out shopping;

go in and hover around the pc section, wait for the clueless sales person to come over, ask a novice computer question,then let the sales guy/girl try feed you some bull***t and sell you some piece of outdated crap(for example last time I did this the guy insisted that the 1gb dual core system would out perform the similar priced 3gb i7 machine). Then proceed to drop a knowledge bomb on him/her and wait for the oh ****(this guy knows what he's talking about) face and leave.

imokyrok

Actually although I'm mad at them 'cos I'd thought those kind of teeny weeny "terms and conditions" were illegal at this stage I've had some very positive experiences with staff in Swords PC World recently and wish I'd gone to that branch for the laptop. I was visiting relatives in Dundalk and thought I kill two birds with one stone since the tech guy in Swords told me they'd take any laptop. Dundalk! :mad::mad::mad: I ended up spending €720 there without them being prepared to discount a penny for the old laptop.

Hellm0

hobochris wrote: »

They also make for good entertainment when your bored when out shopping;

go in and hover around the pc section, wait for the clueless sales person to come over, ask a novice computer question,then let the sales guy/girl try feed you some bull***t and sell you some piece of outdated crap(for example last time I did this the guy insisted that the 1gb dual core system would out perform the similar priced 3gb i7 machine). Then proceed to drop a knowledge bomb on him/her and wait for the oh ****(this guy knows what he's talking about) face and leave.

I enjoy doing this myself these days BUT...

I used to work in PC world and let me tell you, some of those salesmen have masters degrees in CS. I moved onto a career in software, sometimes the "oh ****" moment was on the customers side:P

hobochris

hobochris wrote: »

PC world is just a computer shop for people that have little knowledge of computers, hence the commonly accepted financial rape for outdated spec.

+1 should have named it Rip off world.:D I don't give any of my business to PC world anymore, not that I ever was a big customer.
Far cheaper to buy online form dabs.ie or Komplett.ie.;) Thank god I didn't get a job there. I would be ashamed to work for them. lol

leninbenjamin

imokyrok wrote: »

I ended up spending €720 there without them being prepared to discount a penny for the old laptop.

did they hold you at gun point or something?

RoyalMarine

imokyrok wrote: »

Actually although I'm mad at them 'cos I'd thought those kind of teeny weeny "terms and conditions" were illegal at this stage I've had some very positive experiences with staff in Swords PC World recently and wish I'd gone to that branch for the laptop. I was visiting relatives in Dundalk and thought I kill two birds with one stone since the tech guy in Swords told me they'd take any laptop. Dundalk! :mad::mad::mad: I ended up spending €720 there without them being prepared to discount a penny for the old laptop.

komplett.ie have a collection point in dublin.
720 euro would have gotten a nicer laptop with better specs than something off a shelf in pc world.

kippy

Hellm0 wrote: »

I enjoy doing this myself these days BUT...

I used to work in PC world and let me tell you, some of those salesmen have masters degrees in CS. I moved onto a career in software, sometimes the "oh ****" moment was on the customers side:P

To be fair, having a masters degree in Computer Science sadly doesnt make you an expert in advising someone on what type of computer hardware to buy.

projectmayhem

hobochris wrote: »

They also make for good entertainment when your bored when out shopping;

go in and hover around the pc section, wait for the clueless sales person to come over, ask a novice computer question,then let the sales guy/girl try feed you some bull***t and sell you some piece of outdated crap(for example last time I did this the guy insisted that the 1gb dual core system would out perform the similar priced 3gb i7 machine). Then proceed to drop a knowledge bomb on him/her and wait for the oh ****(this guy knows what he's talking about) face and leave.

You should consider taking up a hobby

rohatch

hobochris wrote: »

They also make for good entertainment when your bored when out shopping;

go in and hover around the pc section, wait for the clueless sales person to come over, ask a novice computer question,then let the sales guy/girl try feed you some bull***t and sell you some piece of outdated crap(for example last time I did this the guy insisted that the 1gb dual core system would out perform the similar priced 3gb i7 machine). Then proceed to drop a knowledge bomb on him/her and wait for the oh ****(this guy knows what he's talking about) face and leave.

Classy.

But I agree the salespeople in there are clueless. I used to work in PC world in city of London Ec2, always ask for no 1 saleperson, they have an agreed % discount to give. Insist on it, they will try and lie to you and say there is no no. 1.

Hellm0 wrote: »

I enjoy doing this myself these days BUT...

I used to work in PC world and let me tell you, some of those salesmen have masters degrees in CS. I moved onto a career in software, sometimes the "oh ****" moment was on the customers side:P

Not in the Dublin stores.

IrishTonyO

Have always found the staff in PC World in Dublin very bad for knowledge, they are polite etc. but just a bit clueless on the technicalities.

e11e

I'm one of those clueless people who fell victim to those PC world goons. I got the insurance package which costed a few hundred and was promised loads of tech support and all the rest. When i went back in for one of my annual computer check ups, i was told that all they could/would do was wipe everything. That seems to be the only thing that are able to do any time anything went wrong.:mad: Another time the internet stopped working, when i brought it in they were just as clueless again. They didn't even have an internet connection in the shop to check out what was wrong. WTF!... Steer clear of the place...

imokyrok

RoyalMarineComm wrote: »

komplett.ie have a collection point in dublin.
720 euro would have gotten a nicer laptop with better specs than something off a shelf in pc world.

Got a Toshiba with 4GB ram and 500 Gb hardrive , windows seven for €530 and an Ipod Touch for the rest. Thought the laptop was not a bad spec for the money. In any case I've no more time to go shopping before xmas and I can't survive a day without net access. Cold turkey is not pretty and I'm not talking about St. Stephens Day dinner.

imokyrok

Sorry to drift OT but with this many computer nerds in one place could anyone tell me if it's possible to record a programme from RTE player on a laptop? The daughter's on RTE on Thursday and I'd like to record it for posterity.

brian ireland

imokyrok wrote: »

Sorry to drift OT but with this many computer nerds in one place could anyone tell me if it's possible to record a programme from RTE player on a laptop? The daughter's on RTE on Thursday and I'd like to record it for posterity.

Fup you I am not a geek:eek::eek::eek:
Download Realplayer, you will see an option while you are installing it to setup downloading from the internet. When you install it you can then record Rte player. When you are watching the video on RTE player right click and choose Download to realplayer

imokyrok

brian ireland wrote: »

Fup you I am not a geek:eek::eek::eek:
Download Realplayer, you will see an option while you are installing it to setup downloading from the internet. When you install it you can then record Rte player. When you are watching the video on RTE player right click and choose Download to realplayer

You're a pal. Thanks (geek )

AlmightyCushion

brian ireland wrote: »

Fup you I am not a geek:eek::eek::eek:
Download Realplayer, you will see an option while you are installing it to setup downloading from the internet. When you install it you can then record Rte player. When you are watching the video on RTE player right click and choose Download to realplayer

I remember reading about the rte player before and this won't work apparently. RTE use some pretty advanced encryption that hasn't been cracked or something like that.

@imokyrok - The reason it has to be working is because they are going to an outside company who is going to be shipping them out to places like africa. A broken laptop is useless to them in this case.

brian ireland

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

I remember reading about the rte player before and this won't work apparently. RTE use some pretty advanced encryption that hasn't been cracked or something like that.[/QUOTE


Sorry imokyrok I gave you a bum steer. On Mozilla you have the option to right click and download, but when you get to the next screen it says it can't be downloaded. Sorry for giving you wrong information ...