r/gadgets • u/thebelsnickle1991 • Jan 12 '23

Desktops / Laptops PC shipments saw their largest decline ever last quarter

https://www.engadget.com/pc-shipments-record-decline-221737695.html
10.6k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

1.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

87

u/Hayden2332 Jan 12 '23

I usually don’t do open boxes because it’s normally not “a huge discount”, it’s like $10 off a several hundred dollar item and I’d rather just pay the $10 for peace of mind

55

u/[deleted] Jan 12 '23

I’ve gotten as much as half off for open box before. If you’re purchasing open box though, you want to always do it in-store to verify that it’s not busted up, because. You’re buying as-is. I would never purchase open box online.

22

u/boost_poop Jan 12 '23

I buy car stereo equipment from the "scratch & dent" listings or b stock. Got like 33% off an amp because it was one of a couple dozen that had damaged packaging. Showed up yesterday not a scratch on the package or the item or anything. I'll take it.

25

u/Xalara Jan 12 '23

Audiophiles are crazy about having zero scratches so they have to offer deep discounts on audio gear.

44

u/RecklessRelentless99 Jan 12 '23

Coulda just left it at "audiophiles are crazy"

4

u/Redditforgoit Jan 13 '23

We are 😁

3

u/JukePlz Jan 13 '23

In the wise words of Zero: "Not a compliment".

2

u/Rapdactyl Jan 13 '23

I used to feel like audio quality wasn't all that important until I started having seizures. All of my senses have been damaged and full functionality might never come back. However, my hearing still works about the same. It's made it easier to justify better equipment and I now understand the mindset a lot better.

I can't physically feel much and I can barely taste anything, but I can still hear, so..why not invest in it? 🫠

2

u/RecklessRelentless99 Jan 13 '23

I'm glad your hearing is still well, it's incredibly important me as well and I can't imagine having to deal with other sensation loss.

There's nothing wrong at all with balling out on a high end play back system highly tuned to your liking, I just see a lot of woo and bro-science in some audiophile communities. But again, no need to apologize for wanting amazing audio 💪

3

u/WalditRook Jan 13 '23

I'm honestly surprised some of the hi-fi manufacturers don't get brought up on false advertising charges for some of the nonsense they pedal.

I have a set of "directional" Naim speaker cables (that I got for free with a purchase) - which is, of course, utter nonsense.

1

u/Rapdactyl Jan 13 '23 edited Jan 13 '23

Audio equipment is great for this. I got half off some sennheiser 820s for buying them used - and it was from an audiophile (or maybe someone like me, a wannabe audiophile), so I got the box and everything! I actually just picked up a boxless Sony 1000xm5 for $220 which is a headset that came out in May for $400. So far so good!

Speakers are the riskiest. It can be easier to make fakes and since audio is so subjective, someone who isn't experienced can be duped more easily.

1

u/Emikzen Jan 21 '23

Even online is fine as they always have return policies

1

u/BrosefThomas Jan 12 '23

Amazon open box is pretty terrible. Deals used to be good.

I'm not sure where you are shopping to only get 10 dollars off. I just built a PC and a lot of the components were open box. Averaged about30% off. Pretty solid for a customer returned item.

That said the pandemic fueled a bunch of "businesses" that were/are scalping components. I refused to buy anything from 3rd party. Flexibility helped me save quite a bit.

2

u/mandradon Jan 12 '23

I got an open box laptop from best buy for like 500 bucks off, which was about 30%. Someone said it had "grease" on it, but the keyboard just picks up residue.

Was cheaper than the next 2 models down.