From: John Tserkezis 
Reply-To: Fidonet AVtech Echo 

Bob Lawrence wrote:

>  I'm amazed at the prices!

  Ho hum, I'm still waiting for the prices to bottom out.  Not holding my 
breath though, I've only ever seen it go down.  Except for the RAM scare a 
while back, just held back six months and prices were back down again...

> 1.  Is there anything wrong with the ASrock all-in-one motherboard?

  A quick google search reveals it's an el-cheapo re-branded ASUS.  Trying to 
break into the cheaper market apparently.

>  It makes sense to me... cheaper, more reliable. What the hell do we
> need with plug-ins?

  Better quality componentry.  Or, if you're a cynic like me about all the 
chinese hardware being the same, better bundled software.

  Another reason is if it doesn't come with the bits you need, you haven't 
already spent money on built-in components that you are just disabling.

  Yet another reason is splitting-hair performance.  If you're a overclocking 
freak, you may have more options with a better (more expensive) motherboard.

> 2.  Does anyone have an opinion on 15" LCD pricing? At present,
> they're about $450. Are they likely to fall? I'm amazed thatr they're
> selling 17" CRT monitors for $170! That's cheaper than a 14" TV! I'd
> like a flat screen... I suppose that's why a 17" CRT is $170.



>  It seems that what I was predicting 3 years ago has come true. The
> reality is that PCs are already good enough. In the last 3 years, they
> have doubled clock, doubled RAM, doubled hard drive, but nobody really
> gives a shit. The only reason for prices to crash so comprehensively
> (and don't tell me Oz-dollar, our parity with the yen is unchanged) is
> that no one is upgrading. 

  That's certainly been the case for a while now.

>  Laptops are still $2,000+ so I guess that's where the demand is, but
> the PC has reached the end of the line. The market is saturated. The
> demand that was been driven by increased speed, capacity, whatever...
> has died. And good riddance.

  Laptops are the flavour of the month.  And have been for several years now. 
Many are buying laptops to use as desktops, "just in case" they
ever want to go 
out on the road.  (and they never do).

>  The same is going to happen to Microsoft, and Windows. Sell your M$
> shares, quick.

  Naw.  They haven't been upgrading their OS as often as in the past, so the MS 
upgrade merry-go-round has slowed somewhat.

  Besides, there's been no revolutionary leap in wintel flavour processors 
since the x386.

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