Shopping list for CA

I've been trying to find the best prices for parts for an Asus M6Ne. There are a lot of places with decent looking prices until you factor in shipping or the 8.25% CA sales tax.

So far for RAM I've found Kingmax PC2700 1GB SODIMMs for $247/each at NewEgg, and $248/each or $490 for a pair at UpgradeNation. Since I'm looking for 2GB and UpgradeNation is in IL and not CA, I'm probably going with UpgradeNation. (Shipping is only $5. NewEgg has free shipping, but with tax it would be $534.76, quite a difference!)

So how about it, what other deals can we dig up?

For the M6Ne itself I'm thinking of AlphaPCStore.com, their barebone price is $879.00 and shipping is free, and they're in PA, so no CA sales tax.

The full shopping list:
<pre>
Asus M6Ne $879.00 (Alpha PC)
2GHz Dothan $689.00 (NewEgg has it for $639, 691.72 with tax)
2GB DDR333 $490.00 (UpgradeNation, +$5.00 shipping)
60GB 7200RPM HD $204?
DVD/CDRW $ 79? (NewEgg, $85.52w/tax)
Intel 2200bg $ 49? (NewEgg, $45, $48.71w/tax)
Windows XP Pro $148.00 (AlphaPC)
2nd battery $ 89.00 (AlphaPC)
1yr parts wty free</pre>

It would be nice to be able to get everything at a decent price from just one place, but that doesn't seem possible.

 

Ok, found these two items at AxionTech.com:<pre>
Toshiba SD-R2512 DVD/CDRW $77.95
Intel 2200bg $36.95
</pre>

with shipping to CA, total is $124.62.

And thanks for the note about ZipZoomFly...<pre>
60GB 7200RPM HD $197 $213.25 w/tax</pre>

 

These guys unfortunately charge sales tax in CA and TX, but otherwise they've got some great prices. CompuAdds.com has the M6Ne for only $797.30. The secondary battery is $87.35 and the DVD/CDRW drive is $104.82.

They also have the Intel Pro2200BG wireless card for $30.43 and Windows XP Pro OEM is $145.79.
One of the downsides to this site is there are practically no product descriptions, so you have to be able to recognize everything based on the model numbers. I guess that spending the minimum possible time putting data on their web site helps keep their costs down. Dunno.

They also have a different model of the Intel wireless card, with a price about 20 cents different. I guess the "WB" on the end of the model number means "WhiteBox" but what is it without that designation?

If sales tax weren't part of the equation, you could put together a maxed out M6Ne for only $2496.69, getting the Asus parts here, the 2GHz CPU from NewEgg, the 2GB RAM from UpgradeNation, and the 7200rpm drive from ZipZoomFly. Feels like I need to take a week-long vacation to Arizona or something...

 

Highland
Hey you left out a few things like a link to resellerratings.com
You want to check out the resellers feedback there. Other very very important fact people need to know that the m6n series laptops DO NOT come with a combo drive cdrw/dvd if purchased as a whitebook. They do not come with the wifi card either. Other then that very informative info you got there. Anyone looking to save a buck should follow it. Also keep in mind that when you build your own you get what you pay for. You always run the chance of things not working when they get there. If that happens the restocking fee alone on all the items that need to go back will forever change your mind on building your own. The chance of that happening is relatively small but that is why full service oems make their money. By the way even though we dont offer a second battery as part of the options it doesnt mean its not available.

 

Thanks for the response, some good points there.

I've ordered hard drives from NewEgg in the past, and I'm happy with them. But now that you've piqued my curiosity...

Here are the resellerratings I can find, in alphabetical order:

CompuAdds
Geared2Play
NewEgg
UpgradeNation
ZipZoomFly

I'll note that CompuAdds has a particularly unhappy customer there. But their Terms page clearly states that large/bulky items may not qualify for free shipping. To say "buyer beware" may be a bit too harsh, but anybody who buys stuff over the web without fully reading the web site's Terms/Conditions/Policies is a fool.

 

Resellerratings is not a surefire way to judge the performance of a particular company. SOme large volume resellers may have very few feedbacks on there. Most people who are satisfied with their purchase never do leave feedback. The stores who do have extensive good feedback persue their customers to leave the feedback sometimes by offering free upgrades or just by providing good honest service. If you look up dells feedback it looks deplorable. That doesnt really mean that 80% of their customers are extremely unhappy all it means is that they do not care whether they get good or bad feedback on resellerratings. But it definetly is a great way to look up the reputation of your potential seller. By the way most of the comments you see there for geared2play came from customers who had to call in for some type of support. The people that dont need support never give it a second thought to post feedback for the seller unless they were unhappy with what they bought.

 

great thread. thanks for starting it.

first off, the asus m6ne i found at computerbrain.com for $874.99 and the slow shipping for that is $4. i'm looking for the m6bn though(which they also have).

that's a good deal you found on compuadds, but how did you figure out which part number applied to what model?

second, i thought the optical drives were special made for the asus m6n series. can you really get different drives to work in it?

last, do you know who might sell a slower p-m? new egg has 1.7 dothan as the slowest, but i might want a slightly slower dothan for money reasons.

thanks for sharing your hard work.

 

Ah cool, thanks for the confirmation. So is there anything special about the Asus drive? Different face plate maybe?

 

Yes the face plate matches the rest of the notebook, same color and it fits. I am not sure if toshiba sells them liek that but i would think that toshiba sells these with a different faceplate if any. This is not the only notebook to use this toshiba drive i am sure.

 

for all you guys that are interested the m6n combodrive is infact a toshiba drive manufactured by toshiba.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by donnadie
great thread. thanks for starting it.

first off, the asus m6ne i found at computerbrain.com for $874.99 and the slow shipping for that is $4. i'm looking for the m6bn though(which they also have).
<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>
Yeah, I looked at them. Their price for the base machine is OK but all of their options are overpriced...
<blockquote id='quote'>quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>
that's a good deal you found on compuadds, but how did you figure out which part number applied to what model?
<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>
Heavy use of google to find other sites that list both the model name and the part number. Try it, you'll see.
<blockquote id='quote'>quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>
second, i thought the optical drives were special made for the asus m6n series. can you really get different drives to work in it?
<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>
I don't know. I wound up looking for the actual Asus optical drive instead of the bare Toshiba drive, although I've read in other posts that the bare Toshiba works. The Asus drive is part # 90-N951G1000. AxionTech and CompuAdds have good prices on it.
<blockquote id='quote'>quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>
last, do you know who might sell a slower p-m? new egg has 1.7 dothan as the slowest, but i might want a slightly slower dothan for money reasons.
<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>
Let's see, NewEgg has the 1.7 for $299. CompuAdds has the 725 (1.6) for $253, the Banias 1.6 for $250, the 715 (1.5) for $211, and the Banias 1.5 for $211. It doesn't get any cheaper than that, the Banias 1.4 is also $211.
<blockquote id='quote'>quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>
thanks for sharing your hard work.
<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>
You're welcome, I hope this helps more people make an informed decision...

 

Yes those are the right part number in the right order. m6bne and m6bn.

 

ok, thanks again. your observations on computerbrain are right i'd say.

after all my searching i still can't find a site the definatively matches the part number with the model number though. is there one (or more) site/s you found that seems to have both numbers listed?

 

from compuadds.com the systems with the part numbers i might suspect are the m6bn are 90N96G141010000L10 $825.34 and 90N95G141010000L10 $773.74 since they both are listed as having a 15.4 inch screen. maybe these are the m6bne m6bn? wish i knew for sure.

 

Donnadie
Why dont you save your self the hassle and just buy the whole thing from a dealer. Build it your self and you will save 50$... if even that much but always run the risk of the thing not working and then send it back for restocking fee. If you ask me building your self only makes sence when you save real money. the chump change you would save is not worth the headache. thats just my oppinion and highland seems to agree with me since he bought his complete setup from geared2play.com after his numerous posts and missions to find parts cheap. Here is another thing you should keep in mind. the dealer that sell the whitebooks without components are just copying the description from their distributor and drop shipping the item. I dont know about others but i do know that my distributor got everything backwards and so does asus. The whitebooks do not come with the combodrives and they do not include the wifi card despite what some vendors are advertising. If you buy this stuff in parts....be ready to get what you paid for or not what you paid for.

 

OOh ye also forgot to mention that some of the notebooks have a shelf life. That means they were manufactured before the bios update which support dothan. Keep that in mind. If the notebook was not flashed with the new bios there is a chance it may not post with a dothan cpu. I am not sure how it works. It may post but may not give you the correct cpu stats or it may not post at all. Just like the L5 series does not support the prescott architecture. if you try the prescott cpu without a bios flash it simply will not post. Thast what i mean by headaches. When you buy from a reputable dealer you should get exactly what is advertised otherwise you will find them to have a less then perfect feedback

 

yeah i never really eliminated the possibility of buying from a reseller (e.g. geared2play), i just wanted to make sure i get the best value i can. i also concidered having a local computer store put together the pieces i get, but in the end i probably wouldn't save anything.

 

Not trying to pitch you just pointing out the obvious. SOmetimes when there is nothing to do i ll visit random forums and post replies. You can find my posts on alot of different forums just replying to peoples problems with their pc or this forum. It turns out helping people is good advertising!! what a surprise.

 

Yes, after all that I decided to order from Geared2Play. My reasons:
1) Geared2Play has been very helpful with information
2) He offered to match prices on some of the components
3) His point about saving money vs saving headaches - saving headaches is definitely worthwhile.

I looked at the Upgrade manual that's posted in the Asus forum here - most of the stuff is pretty straightforward, but after reading that I really didn't feel like installing the CPU myself.

I guess if you're really really tight on cash you can go this route. But make sure you've got a good static grounding strap for your wrist and your work table. You don't want a random swipe to zap everything into worthless plastic.

My main point when I started looking was that some places have good prices and free/cheap shipping, but I'd have to pay sales tax. Geared2Play charges for shipping, but no sales tax for me. Philosophically, I see my taxes going into bureaucrats' pockets and giving me absolutely no benefit, so I'm happier to pay shipping costs than sales tax. At least when you pay for shipping, you're actually getting a real service for your money....

 

btw, thanks geared2play for confirming those part numbers. i still need to see the m6bn in person to know if i'll really like it or not, but when i do, i may come to you to buy it.
for those thinking of building their own, i think you can do it and save on what the resellers offer, but as these two pointed out, the hassle free experience may well be worth that saved money.

 

Welp, the memory I ordered from UpgradeNation arrived today. Two days ahead of their scheduled delivery date. Nothing to install it in, yet...

 

highlandsun,
how is everything coming along? do you have all your stuff together and assembled?
i was able to look at the m6bn last friday, and it looks nice. better than in the pictures.

keep us updated.