Time for a new gadget? Advice for smart buyers

When you buy a car, the advice you generally receive is to buy used. Why? The depreciation on a new car is staggering. The value drops the moment you drive it off the lot. Buying technology isn't all that different. But with the next big thing always just around the corner, the question isn't whether or not to purchase...but when.

Back in 1980 or so, I spent around $2500 for a TRS-80 Model III with the dual floppy drives and 32K of RAM. You might want to re-read the specs I just listed...32K of RAM! This article is probably more than 32K...but I digress. The interesting part is every 5 years or so I upgrade my personal computer, and I end up spending roughly the same amount. Now, today's $2500 is different from 1980's $2500. But I always find it interesting the amount spent to technology received.

[ For more on what $2000 will buy, read Mac vs. Windows: $2000 Laptops Compared ]

The frustrating aspect of all of this is the moment you buy that computer, Intel will announce a new processor with double the processing power at one-third the price you just paid. This happens to me with unnerving regularity. But what are my options? At some point, you need to stop researching and just hand over your credit card.

I walked around my office and asked a few co-workers if they've ever experienced this phenomenon. While a few of them looked at me as if I had lobsters crawling out of my ears, most people expressed similar frustrations. One co-worker was telling me he so desperately wanted to buy an iPhone when it first arrived on the scene. Naturally, he couldn't find one. But while he waited for stock to be delivered, he began to read reports about how the iPhone could be better. This gave him pause and he decided to wait until iPhone v2. Maybe v5. Heck, his current phone isn't so bad.

Another co-worker bought a workhorse laptop, with significant RAM upgrades and a dynamite AMD processor. Happy, happy. But then he read in the paper that a rival manufacturer was coming out with a new type of laptop: a tablet. One where you could write on the screen which handily flips around, as if you were carrying a 5lb notepad rather than a 14lb workhorse. He told me he kicked himself for not reading that article sooner, as the tablet pc was exactly what he wanted.

So what is one to do? I have found that the best approach is to research your little heart out. Once the purchase is made, however: STOP the reading. I didn't pick up a circular for my local electronics chain for months after purchasing my laptop. I just couldn't bring myself to look...and ultimately I was happier that way.

Until, naturally, I just heard the rumors about the Blackberry Storm 2. Sigh.

Do you Tweet? Follow Joe on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mulderjoe

» posted by mulderjoe

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