Warning: this is a wordy, comprehensive article readers who dread long articles can refer to the

flowchart or conclusion instead!

Should you wait for an IT fair?

That's a question that Singaporean buyers are likely to ask. A few years back, the IT fairs are the
best times to get oneself a shiny new toy, with fabulous discounts and great deals. As of late,
however, I have noticed that the deals at the IT fairs are getting less appealing as compared to
usual non-fair prices; with the popularisation of online shopping from Amazon, Lazada and the
like, the IT fairs are appearing to be even less relevant.
There are numerous articles out there that comment on the reliability and value of online shopping
and I will not go into great deal about it here. This article aims to provide readers with my opinion
and observations about Singapore's IT fairs, and to allow readers to make a slightly more
informed decision on whether to wait for the IT fairs and how they can get the most out of their
show-going experience.
Most of the articles I write can begin with a short summary despite its lengthy constitution. To
summarize this is a great challenge and the best I could come up with would still be a long one.
There are too many variables to look out for and it is almost impossible for me to generalize an
answer. Those who dread reading long, detailed discussions should look elsewhere (like my
flowchart!) but those planning to grab a deal at an IT fair should definitely follow me on this
journey.
IT fairs have been running in Singapore for a considerably long time, and at the point of writing
the article, we have just experienced the June PC show which has been running for a full 25 years.
Other than the PC show, 3 other popular shows dot the consumer's calendar in March (IT Show),
August/September (COMEX), and November/December (SITEX). The fairs, in my opinion, serve
2 main purposes for consumers. First is to grab aging stock for a great price, and next is to
experience new products or technology, and depending on what the consumer is looking for, these
shows can either satisfy his desires or leave him disappointed.
I will try to categorize some factors to help readers decide if the trip to the IT fairs would be a
worthwhile one, namely: (market) time, freebies, reliability, and experience. Let's begin the
adventure!
(Market) Time
In my opinion, this is one of the most important factors for potential buyers and it can be
interpreted in a number of different ways. Foremost would be the urgency of the device to the
user. If a user's only phone broke down and if he has an immediate need for a phone, grabbing the
best deal probably shouldn't be the first thing in his mind. Let us assume, then, that the potential
buyer wants a device and that he can wait the period of around 3 months, which is roughly the
time until the next show. Then let me assume, again, that there is a demand for a new gadget but
not one with a particular model in mind.
Should a buyer go for the latest deals just showcased in the show, or should he grab one of the
products labelled under clearance? While this does not apply strictly to all cases, a general guide
would be: if there are products in the same category having major updates and a new generation
comes out yearly, the buyer should consider getting the latest generation or one step down at most.
I would really emphasize that it is a generalization but I will try to explain my opinion.
The first part of the statement refers to major updates and these updates refer to firmware changes,
architecture improvements or hardware upgrades etc. Products that fall into these categories
include laptops and computers, and mobile phones and devices. Technology in this area progresses
so quickly that a flagship product might be overtaken by an average product in less than two years.

For example, the recently reviewed sub-$300 Zenfone ZE550ML bested the 2 year old Samsung
Note 3 in Antutu 5, indicative of superior user experience over the $1000 flagship. I would
recommend grabbing a newer product as compared to an aging flagship even if they are of the
same price.
Products that might not fall into this category can be mice and keyboards, speakers, HDDs (hard
disk drives), and arguably monitors. For example, a year back, G-sync was introduced for
monitors to peg refresh rates to that of the video card, and 144Hz gaming monitors are fresh out.
However, such major updates are rare, with the previous big upgrade in my opinion being the shift
from TN to IPS in most consumer-grade monitors a few years back. Similarly, keyboards have not
progressed far since the popularization of mechanical keyboards back from 2009 onwards. These
products can be used for a long time and products a few generations back can be used almost as
smoothly as the newest technologies. For this category of products, it might be worthwhile to
invest in something that is of a better build quality, as not only will it give the user a great
experience at the start, this experience does not diminish quickly. A great monitor could last
upwards of 5 years, and a 10 year old buckling spring keyboard can easily provide a more
satisfying experience than the latest 'average' keyboards.
Of course, there is more to that, and this article aims to be comprehensive on most fronts. Even if
the technology changes quickly, there are some time periods where there is a little change and
some other times where it is set to revolutionize the industry. Take the fast paced PCs industry for
example. Despite many releases of graphics cards over the years, some (not all) of the latest 3xx
AMD Radeon series is actually a rebranding of the aging 2xx series - which might be in turn a
rebranded HD8xxx card. Its arch-rival NVidia committed the same sin with its GeForce GT920M
- GTX950M mobile graphics cards, which are essentially higher clocked 8xxM cards. CPU
technology on the other hand, is primed to undergo a massive leap in the near future, with the
upcoming Intel Skylake architecture projected to achieve up to a tenfold increase in computing
ability by the end of the year, and AMD's Zen chips and a HBM graphics memory implementation
set to change the face of the game. Add compatibility for DX12 and Vulkan and Windows 10 and
you would have a whole host of reasons to hold of the computer purchase. Unfortunately, unless
the interested consumer has been following relevant news, following the trend can be a challenge I mean, a laptop with a NEW i7-5500U and GT940M sure sounds much better than the OLD i74510U and the OLD GT840M even though the performance difference frankly isn't that much. (If
this takes off, I might consider creating some buyers guides to help increase consumers'
awareness of the small things to look out for that manufactures do not always indicate.)
Going back to the topic of the IT show - a quick recap would be to grab the newer device if there
are frequent updates and a better device if it is meant to last. However, and this is important,
distributors have to keep refreshing their product lines if there are new products and consequently
this means that old products almost certainly have to go. If there is a new series about to be
revealed in a show, the old series will most likely be sold at a great discount before or during the
show. I would place my bets more on before, rather than during, and I will elaborate on my
conjecture as follows.
In preparation for the show, I believe (an assumption, not a fact) most consumer companies like
Dell, Asus or Logitech will come out with a list of goods that they intend to sell at a roughly fixed
price. The list will then be passed on to participating distributors, like Courts, Challenger or
Harvey Norman, which will then showcase the products during the fair. I came to this assumption
because I saw many distributors selling the same products at the same price having the same
brochures, with a reluctance to deviate from the recommend retail price as stated in the brochure.
There is also a marked lack of other products that would usually be in the distributor's outlets in
the show. This leads to 2 consequences. First, old products or products not listed tend not to be
featured in the show. It will be difficult to find them unless a distributor decides that bringing the
product all the way to the show is worthwhile. Next, because many competing distributors are
selling the same products, despite the reluctance to change the price from the listed price, with
enough haggling, it is possible for prices to fall more for one distributor compared to another.
More probable, however, would be the inclusion of the famous freebies for distributors to try to

distinguish themselves from the rest.

For example, there's the Acer Aspire Nitro VN7-571G with the GTX850M that was going for
$1598 in March. Sometime in May, it was spotted in Best Denki going for $1398 with a ton of
freebies (inclusive of a Razer mouse and many others), and by the June show it was off the
shelves, replaced by a newer variant with the 950M cards going for $1598 at the show. The Asus
Zenbook UX303LN with the i7-4510U/840M was going strong at $1698 in March until the
UX303LB took its place at the same price in June, sporting the i7-5500U/940M combo. While the
LN could not be found in the show in June, it could be had at $1450 at a Harvey Norman outlet in
May BEFORE the show (even though I witnessed a purchase of the LB at $1498 in the June
show). It is worth noticing that there was very little media coverage of the LB prior to the show
and its release was not anticipated, at least for me. Rumours of refreshes can be found on some
active review sites and for laptops and mobile devices, a good site would be notebookcheck.net.
This examples show that if there is a newer model directly replacing an older one, the older model
might go for really cheap about a month before the show and if the refreshed model is really
similar to the old one, interested buyers looking to save a few bucks should consider opting for the
older model and not wait till the next show.
During the PC show, I have frequented the Harvey Norman Asus booth and noted that their
K401LB (a new product) was going for $1198 on the first day, the same as stated in the brochure.
Going again on the second day, a little haggling got the price down to $1098, albeit with a little of
the freebies gone (e.g. Microsoft 365). Meeting another sales assistant on the third day, however,
resulted in netting a $998 deal - a whole $200 from the recommended retail price. On the fourth
day, the price rose again to $1098. Showing interest in the product but a little resistance in the
purchase might prompt the sales assistant to throw in more gifts like a free ram upgrade for them
to seal the deal. (Note: some of the sales assistants receive commission based on either the
products sold or as a percentage of the price of the good. The sales assistants have an incentive to
sell products and interested buyers should definitely leverage on this to get the best price or better
freebies.)
However, the companies might not only include the latest products in the list. New products can
either go for a usual price with free gifts, or at a special launch price, but products that are a year
old will start to see discounts upwards of 10%. And if a company wishes to clear the stock of a
particular model - and this is an important one too - they might offer a crazy discount lasting the
span of one show, then never to appear again. During the March IT show, I spotted a great deal for
the Microsoft Wedge Mobile keyboard, going at $49, a whole 50% off. At that time, it was out in
the market for around 2 years and was recently replaced by the Universal Mobile Keyboard Zenas
introduced. Come the PC Show, none of the distributors carried the Wedge keyboard, and many of
the sales assistants donning the Microsoft shirt have not even heard of the product. Products
usually last in the market for up to 2 years and it can be good to grab them when they are about to
be cleared as they might have a really good discount.
Last November's SITEX had a deal for the then-newly-announced Logitech G402 mouse, going
for $65 with a free G240 cloth mouse pad and a "gaming" bottle. The March IT show following it
had the G402 mouse going for the same $65 with the inclusion of only the free bottle, and the PC
Show had the same mouse retailing for $65 with no free gifts included at all. Many outlets at Sim
Lim are retailing it for $59 throughout the year. The G402 has a unique placement in the Logitech
product line and is not set to be replaced anytime soon, therefore the prices were not really good
with the exception of its first appearance in an IT fair. However, prices for the G300s have been
falling rapidly ever since the G302 took its place. It can be good to go for either the newest
products introductory promotion or a product that is set to be replaced for the potentially best
deals.
These may be very specific examples but from my experience, I have tracked price changes of
many products over the years and I think that these examples are a good illustration of the trend. A
few generalizations can be made. First, if there is a new model DIRECTLY replacing an existing
one, there is a fair chance that the existing one will receive a great price cut and will be phased out

quickly - and that might mean BEFORE an IT fair, as distributors might want to clear their
inventory in order to receive the newer products. Second, regardless of the product group, most
products tend to stay on the market for roughly 2 years, and then they might receive a short lived
price cut before vanishing from the market. Third, new products might be given a splendid
introductory price that usually lasts only the span of the show, and usually not more than that.
Now where does this leave us? First I recommended buyers to grab the newer cheaper version for
products that have frequent updates, and good quality products if they are not refreshed quickly.
The second thing is to determine if there might be a great price drop for any products in the
category in the near future and see if it will happen before or during the show, and make the
purchase accordingly. If the buyer can wait, 3 months should be an adequate time for prices of
some products in that category to drop. If there are no clues as to when there will be a price
reduction of that particular model, it can be good to wait until the next show as many vendors will
tag a product refresh or release with the shows, usually with very little prior media coverage.
However, if there is a dramatic price drop roughly a month before the show, chances are that it is
about to be replaced and would not appear at the show and it might be better to get it there and
then. With all other things constant, this is basically how reading the product's market time can
help the reader make a worthwhile purchase.
To wait: show product releases, products > a year old, display sets
Not to wait: recently/to-be replaced models
Freebies
The IT fairs are also famous for the generous amounts of freebies that come along with purchases.
Take a quick look at the GamePro store, gifting mice, hoodies, bags and even other laptops with a
purchase if a laptop; a previous example illustrated a $65 G402 mouse coming with a $20+ mouse
pad and a $10 bottle last November. One can hardly find another deal with all the freebies outside
of a show. It is then intuitive to see the numerical value of the freebies and compare that with the
cost price of the product - $345 worth of freebies for a $999 laptop? Surely that sounds amazing!
There are 2 things that I want to share regarding my view on such freebies. First, it is to
understand that the numerical value is something manufacturers state, and may not necessarily
indicates the actual worth of the gift. For example, a 'gaming' mouse that might come free with the
purchase of a gaming desktop can be stated to be worth $99, but in actual fact it might be more
comparable in design and performance with other $49 mice. If a mouse pad is given free, it is
worth $34, but if it is bought separately from the same store at the same time period, it can be had
at $9. My view is to take the manufacturer-given values with a pinch of salt as in actual fact they
may not be worth nearly as much.
Second, it is up to the user to decide what the value of the freebies to him is. How much benefit
with the buyer actually get if he receives those freebies? For example, if the user just bought a
mouse, a mouse pad that comes along with it will be great, but a free bottle? Probably not. I've
faced this issue myself at the show; should I get a laptop costing $100 more, that comes with a
free mouse and headset (worth $200), despite me not needing the headset at all? Other than trying
to put them up on resale, I see no benefit in getting them when I didn't need them, and I ended up
using the $100 saved to get myself a much better mouse. The ZenBook UX303LB came along
with, amongst others, a free screen protector. The thing is, the UX303LB came with a gorgeous
FHD IPS MATTE screen, but the screen protector was a GLOSSY one - the matte option needed a
top up. In my personal opinion, it was pointless as it would only do more harm than good, and the
FHD panel was not even a touchscreen. There is a multitude of products, each slightly different
from each other, and there is almost definitely one that will cater to even the most demanding
consumer. Freebies, on the other hand, are not usually available for choosing and come along as a
bundle. Potential buyers all have different needs and wants and they should ultimately decide for
themselves if the freebies make the difference in the purchase.
To sum up this short chapter, buyers looking at freebies should understand that their listed

numerical value may not be indicative of their true value, and they should judge the value of the
freebies in terms of the utility they are to them.
Reliability
Back when I was younger, I had heard that many of the products there at the IT fairs are actually
refurbished products, and that's the reason why manufacturers/distributors might be willing to let
them go at such a low price. I did not necessarily believe those claims until I had a few bad
experiences. Back in 2011, I got a Toshiba laptop at a supposed $200 off. At first, it was well
behaved as if it were any other laptop. As I started running more demanding applications, I
realized that the battery would drain faster than it would charge. The power jack was faulty as
well. Running the laptop solely on AC power felt like riding a unicycle on a tightrope, a single
touch of the power cable, or typing too furiously will cause the power to jump - resulting in a loss
of data.
I was sorely disappointed, but due to a few bad brushes with warranty claims (over some China
TV box - also bought during a show and replaced twice to no avail), I decided to hold it off.
And then it gets worse. Watching videos (no contact with the laptop) will trip the power.
Documents might not be saved in time; online banking cannot be carried out. It was the last straw
and I decided to invoke the warranty claim, only to realize that my one year coverage was over.
I had dismissed that (and the TV box) as one-off incidents. After all, not all products are created
equal. At the 2014 COMEX, I bought myself a WD 1TB external HDD. Over the span of 3
months, I have noticed a considerable slowdown as compared to another identical drive.
Technically, it was not broken so there wasn't enough motivation to get a replacement.
Maybe these are isolated examples. Maybe I was just unlucky. Soon enough, however, I realized I
was not the only one. Just this June, a friend bought the Asus K401LB I was talking about - the
one with the $998 price tag. Perhaps it was too good to be true, and the device froze just a week
later when it was merely used to play videos. Many forum users report receiving refurbished
goods, with scratch marks and the like, and many come with very short warranties, or worse,
none, in exchange for a cheaper price.
Suddenly, the show deals do not sound as appealing, but the thing is while the shows might be
host to some distributors selling defective products, they are not likely to be aware of it. If the
product remains in a sealed box, there is no telling if it is really a refurbished product, or one fresh
off the production line. Products outside of fairs also share the same fate, who knows if the
product sitting on the shelves was once owned by someone else, and sent for repairs? During the
June show, which was held at the expo, the price for the Logitech G602 mouse was going for
$109, but the nearby Challenger at Changi city point was selling it for a mere $63 - almost half its
price. A few hours of usage saw peeling of the mouse foot, hardly to be expected of a premium
Logitech mouse.
My point is this: defective goods can be anywhere. Statistically for my purchases, and in no way
representative of all products in the market, I have had more bad experiences per product bought
during shows than out of shows. But that does not mean that all goods from the shows are bad. For
example, the Logitech G402 that I bought last SITEX has given me nothing but pleasure.
Given the prevalence of such potentially defective products, I hope that readers will be more
aware of what they get. I will list some things to look out for at the end of this chapter, but right
now I feel that it is time to cover the reliability of a special type of product: display sets.
Display sets can go for dirt cheap, especially laptop display sets. I have seen a Dell Inspiron 147447 go for $12xx, down from $1699, during Megatex. Side-track - while there are 4 officially
recognized big fairs in Singapore, there are many other smaller shows, including Megatex,
Challenger ECC, Gain City shows. Those are of a considerably smaller size.

There are many things to take note of when buying a display set. First, at least for some products,
display set goods are preloaded with certain capabilities and have different properties from the
consumer grade counterparts. Some phones will automatically switch to playing a video when the
screen lock is activated, and unlocking will bring it to a special try me now" page. Those can
display significant amounts of lag and can be less pleasant to use. Most laptops are safer but can
also be set to play a video when left idling for a set amount of time. Buyers should ensure that the
display product that they are getting is the right one. At the very least, for laptop buyers, they
should open up device manager to see if the specs match what they are paying for.
Secondly, there are instances where passers-by and shop assistants handle display devices with
little love for them. Knocking roughly on the chassis, dropping them, and abusing the hinges are
among common offenses I have witnessed committed by them. There are also the little kids
unwilling parents drag along with them. Banging keyboards, dripping expulsions from their nose
and mouth, pulling cables and prodding screens - they made me resolute in my decision not to
purchase a display set despite how tempting the prices are.
That is until I realized that there are some display sets that are relatively more immune to abuse
than others. Laptops are out of the question. Screens, on the other hand, might be worth
considering. Throughout the 4 days of the show, the only reason to touch a screen is to turn it on
or off, or to adjust the angle etc. The way to experience the screen is simply to look at it and
compare it to monitors flanking it. Laptops, mice and keyboards on the other hand will require the
potential buyer to interact with it, touch it, and with touching comes the chance of abuse.
There is a whole lot going against getting display sets. There is also a chance of getting defective
items during shows. Despite great prices and freebies, there is the issue of reliability. If reliability
is the only remaining concern that is stopping you from getting the dream machine at a great deal,
you might want to take the following into consideration.
Before the purchase, try to read some reviews concerning the quality of the product in general, and
take note of the potential flaws of the product. In my case for example, the Logitech G502 mouse
was widely reported to have feet peeling issues, but there were no such incidents on the G602.
When my product had it, I knew for sure that it was defective and it was not part of the intended
design. When a buyer is intending to get the G502 however, he should definitely try out the mouse
to see it is one of the affected products exhibiting feet peeling issues. Always try the product out is
it if notorious for a certain issue. Some features, while inconvenient, might be part of the intended
design and all products of the model number will inherit this feature. The presence of a small gap
between the front of some phones and its sides, while leading to dust collection, might be a design
issue and is probably not a problem with that particular product. All products of this model will
have the gap and an exchange would not help. It might be better to get a different model. Reading
reviews is therefore important to pick out common issues with products and avoid them.
You should definitely try out the display set of the product you wish to buy on the spot to ensure
that you like it. Some of the vendors there allow you to make purchases and try out the product on
the spot. Aftershock is an example of a company that allows that. They will show you that you
have gotten exactly what you paid for and the customer can rest assured that the laptop they are
getting is working. If the product performs under expectations upon trying it at the booth (e.g. a
phone cover that does not attach well), request immediately for an exchange and get the new one
tested as well. Do note that trying out the display set does not necessarily indicate if the set you
are purchasing will be working or defective so do remember to try both.
Some distributors offer a 7 day return scheme if the product that was bought failed to perform in
this period. This provides some form of assurance to the consumer that he did not actually get
himself a defective product at the start. I would recommend potential buyers to ask the distributor
if they have such a scheme, and opt for those who do. Most major distributors like Challenger
actually do, so finding them should not be too difficult. During this week, try the product
comprehensively to pick out any signs where it may be defective. Challenger actually allows the

buyer to switch to another product within the 7 days if the buyer is genuinely displeased and it is
not convenient this way. Always keep the receipts and boxes of products bought as you never
know when you might be sending them back to the manufacturer - at least till the warranty is over.
Look out for companies which offer good warranty solutions. Some offer extended warranty for
cheap, but might not cover certain hardware failure or accidental breakage. Others might be more
comprehensive but significantly more expensive. Getting an insurance plan that suits you can be
tricky, but usually getting a plan that lasts for a year should be sufficient if you take good care of
your products. Many high end products carry longer warranty and this might be easily overlooked.
A similarly spec-ed comparison between an Asus X550JK and the Aftershock M15 might leave
users undecided at the close pricing and some might even go in favour of the $50 cheaper Asus but
comparing the warranty, if the buyer were to extend the warranty of the Asus by a year to match
that of the M15, he would incur significantly higher costs instead. Aftershock is also well known
to provide good service even on the software side as well as cleaning services for no additional
costs.
It might be wise to read up on reputable brands. Acer was known to offer lousy post sales service,
and Asus has recently fallen by quite a margin as well. If there is good news, it would be the local
brand Aftershock which was reported to have stellar service. Readers might think that I might be
biased, but for all of my reading of the forums and personal experience with them, I have yet to
find a serious complaint about them, other than a few misunderstandings and their small tendency
to be late on deliveries. But that will just be nit-picking, and from my observation of forum posts
and personal experience, I could conclude that it is the most reliable laptop brand in Singapore.
However, despite some brands having worse reputation than others, each product is unique.
Japanese brands usually carry great products but my Toshiba laptop died quickly, and the
notorious Acer produces some laptops that are still going strong after 6 years.
Defective goods are everywhere but I have personally experienced a greater proportion of them at
the it shows. However, there are a few things you can do to reduce the dissatisfaction should you
ever get one. Keep a lookout for good warranty solutions and factor them into the price of the
purchase. Be aware of known product flaws and test the product rigorously to ensure its integrity,
or avoid notorious products. Opt for distributors with an easy exchange scheme to ensure that,
even in the unlucky event where the buyer got himself a bad product, he can easily get it swapped
out for a working one. Try to avoid getting display sets which get a great deal of physical
interaction, like laptops. If the buyer insists on getting a cheap display set, go for speakers or
screens instead. Products sold in shows may not be completely reliable, but neither is any product
sold anywhere. I hope that this chapter has provided you with some knowledge on how to protect
yourself from having a nasty experience with defective products, so that you can enjoy the
sweetness of an IT fair deal without the trauma of a warranty disaster.
Experience
Of course, there can be other reasons to go to IT fairs other than to look to purchase a good. The
IT fairs serve as a good platform for the introduction to many new devices that might not be out in
the market. The March show gave a little teaser of the Asus UX501 way ahead of its launch, while
the June show introduced to the public the Intel RealSense camera and its applications.
Samsung even hosted a virtual reality gaming competition, raising awareness of its involvement in
the VR field.
Others prefer to go to the shows to check out the booth babes. The IT fairs are the perfect event
amalgamating a man's 2 big loves: women and technology. Some booths allow show-goers to take
photos and win prizes, but I personally prefer the curves of a well-designed XPS 13 or UX501.
There are also great 'lobangs' (deals) that might occur hourly or so, and hosts will introduce the
products with much fanfare, blasting their speakers to try to outdo other hosts just like how the
bidders try to outbid others. They can easily be identified from a great distance away with the
cacophony of whistles and incessant shouting of the prices not unlike seventh month auctions.

Here, you can expect massive discounts but the products that are on sale are usually got clearance.
As the hosts, you can be sure that they will sell the good points of the product and distract you
from its flaws, so potential buyers must first understand the product before jumping at its low
price.
There are many who go to the shows just to grab a good deal, but while you are at it, take a
moment to appreciate the experience that defines Singaporean life. The crowd, the noise and the
overly-enthusiastic salesperson these shows make us who we are. With people loitering outside
an hour before the show, ready to jostle inside, our near-unbeatable kiasu-ness is part of our
unique identity. I feel like these shows are like durians. Some people love it, some people hate it,
but all Singaporeans should try them out at least once.
Conclusion/Summary
Are IT fairs still relevant? Should you actually wait for an IT fair? It really depends on what you,
as the reader, are looking out for. Are you looking for great deals? Are you looking for new
products, or a great way to spend time? The IT fairs are able to cater to all these desires but in
reality, it is impossible to please everyone. There will definitely be discounts, but some products
will have better deals than others. There may be new products showcased, but not every model can
make it to the show. There will be tons of freebies, but do you actually need them? You might
even snag a defective product if your luck just isn't that great.
I believe that the fairs are a part of our identity and it is mostly worth going to. Sure, there may be
unpleasant experiences, and the prices may not be that great in the end, but there is still plenty
going for the shows and I will summarize how to maximise your utility. Do note that they are my
opinions and suggestions and are definitely not strict rules, as the market always changes.
If you are making a purchase
Generally, if there is a newer model directly replacing an older one and is primed to appear in a
show, the older model can be going for dirt cheap (e.g. from $1598 to $1398) right before the
show and will most likely not make an appearance during the show. Interested buyers set on that
model should get it then. However, if the price drop is not extremely significant (e.g. from $1598
to $1550), the newer device may come with special freebies or a great introductory price that may
be a compelling deal. In this case, it might be better to wait till the actual pc show to make a
comprehensive comparison.
Most probably, if the newer product is not merely a product refresh, there can still be significant
differences in price. The newer model may be more comparable in price with an older, but higherend model. My advice is to grab the newer device if the type of product gets updated significantly
every year, like phones, or the higher end, older device for products like keyboards which do not
improve much over the years, if they are going for the same price. If the device is about 2 years
old and has a great price during a show, it might be good to grab it before it disappears for good,
and not wait for the next show.
Buyers should look out for freebies that are actually of use to them, and not base them on what
they are worth on paper.
Always check all products bought to see if they are faulty and opt for distributors offering return
policies. Factor in warranty into the cost of the good and read up on the reliability of the product.
Get display sets only if there is little reason for other people to have handled them, like screens
instead of laptops, as this reduces the chance of the device being mishandled.
IT fairs are a good place to get good deals and to immerse oneself in a tech-loving environment. If
the main aim is to get a particular product, readers that have followed me through this arduous but
enriching journey would be better able to predict if there will be price cuts and get the product at
the right time. However, I personally think that the fairs serve more than just a platform to get

goods. I believe that they have their own inherent entertainment and social value, and come the
next show, try taking a few friends along to tour the bustling aisles and who knows, you might get
more than just a few good deals.
Notes:
1) The shows usually last 4 days, from Thursdays to Sundays. A week before the shows,
potential buyers should have some models in mind and should scout out some of the
prices in all major distributors. By Wednesday, many of the available prices for the IT
fairs can be found on this website: itfairsg.com. During this time, buyers can choose to
go to either the exhibition venue to buy it at fair prices, or directly at a distributor for the
usual prices, depending on which is better/actually available.
2) If the show is held at EXPO, it might be quite interesting to compare prices at the nearby
Challenger at Changi City Point. It might hold items at even cheaper prices.
3) Some distributors have unique deals that are not published at any brochures. The Harvey
Norman booth was selling all Logitech peripherals at 15% off but it was not publicized at
all. If you have a particular product in mind, take a look amongst all major distributors:
Gain City, Challenger, Newstead, Courts, and Harvey Norman. Other big distributors for
gaming products include Convergent, Ban Leong, Cybermind and GamePro.
4) This article is written solely expressing the authors opinion and observations and while
the author believes it is mostly accurate, he is also aware that the market always changes
and hopes that readers use this as a guidebook and not as a rulebook.