Poll CLOSE Post all TOUGHBOOK DEALS here (eBay etc...)

Close-it
Leaches do your own Research,
That’s why we can’t have nice things around here

Keep it Open-I’m Lazy Show me the Deals


Alex

 

Providing it stays on topic keep it going!

 

Alex,

I made it a little more graphic with the poll.. We have one week to vote... After that no more votes can be cast. Those who want to keep it open and post ebay deals still can.

We'll see what happens in the next week.

I hope you don't mind ....

 

Only the votes of people who post here on a regular basis will be counted! You know... the people who help and need help!

 

Due to leachers CLOSE IT

It was a great idea but now it is hurting more people than helping.

We all can find the good deals it just a bit more work

 

I've already thrown in my .02 cents, close it down

 

I also say close it!
I have my own way of finding good deals and hate it when they are advertised here.

 

I quite like it, I 've got a couple of really good deals that I'd have missed if not for someone having posted them on here.

Robert.

 

Craig, most times the posts are relevant and I'm one of those who will look at the provided links. Whether I can afford it is another story. However, I will appear selfish voting to close the thread.

It's hard enough looking for a good deal, made much harder when sellers won't ship to people like you and me, out of continental USA, but that's not my gripe. It's those who leech and suck you dry without contributing anything back, and that hurts everybody's interest.

I appreciated those who took the time to trawl through fleabay and highlighting them to us. It was 'fun' adding these to my gottahaveit list but there ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

Ron in SG

 

The last straw was when “stiffnecked” posted a link to a backlite keyboard that was a reasonable deal at $190
It’s suspicious that the seller shortly after closed the listing that had 5 units available without any sales taking place and then relisted at $249

Six months ago on another thread I posted a link for the same keyboard barely used for sale at less than $130, which I had passed on looking for an even better deal on one
One of our forum members bought it at a fair price at the time

I can see where this is going, we in the end seem to be setting the price higher than it need be by creating demand

I have personally benefited a couple of times on the deals listed here
Rob had a great idea when he started this but it is out of control

Something is wrong here in these tough economic times I am seeing less and less good deals

As I said on the other thread if we need something specific we can post a WTB and accept PM’s not links

Alex

 

Leave it open for links. no off-topic replies. And post alerts too, like sellers pulling auctions and relisting them for higher prices. We're just looking out for each other! Besides, karma is good.

 

My personal opinion is...

We've long had a tradition of posting randomly when a good deal comes up... and the truth is, it only seems to be where eBay is concerned that those deals cause any strife. I'd say keep it open but make eBay verboten, like talking about clearing passwords, etc. This however would no doubt create some ill will on the part of those who leech; probably enough to want to sabotage our quiet, friendly family.

So it is with some sadness I say... we need to excise the cancer, limb and all to prevent it from poisoning the rest of the group. Close it down; let the leeches use PriceWatch.

mnem
"When you're a kid and you wanna go whee, but you ain't got drugs yet... You hold on for your life. You hold on to your little gon@ds... and strife. Gon@ds and strife... gon@ds and strife... gon@ds and strife...

 

I say close it due to creating extra demand for the items we have been purchasing all along, just paying more now or passing it up.

Chuck

 

I voted to close it. Why give the trollers one stop shopping? Let them look it up same as everyone else, especially if it contributes to artificial inflation of prices. If it was possible to put it in a private 'members only' type area that was not publicly viewable it would be a different story.

 

Guys, I've been giving this some thought and since 'private members only' zone might not be possible on NBR, and reverting to mailing list is two steps backwards, why not consider a private forum for folks we already know?

I'm on two non-public plant forums and from what I know, it's free and by invitation only. Must admit I'm not IT proficient to create anything like that but if one of us wanna try going that route, then shoot some PM invites around.

It will still serve the purpose of highlighting deals while keeping the leeches out. Penny for your thoughts?

 

I can see where everyone is coming from when they say close the monster that I created ...

However I voted to keep it open and password protect it (is that possible?)... if not what I can do is open up my own forum and dedicate it to Toughbook deals and password protect it. (If you all all want).

There are some deals that I would have missed if not for this thread...

Thanks

 

Yes Rob I agree as I said I have benefited from your thread as well
But we have to try to keep the efforts of the regulars here to benefit the core group here
Not eBay sellers and non-contributors

Alex

 

Agreed. Alex, I'm working with Rick on some things, so we'll see what pans out. I'm here and I want this thread to exist but not to the open eyes at all!!

 

I've got mixed feelings about it. Closing that is
I have acquired some really good deals I may have otherwise missed
if it wasnt for our friends here posting.
But on the other-hand some stuff just went thru the roof, price-wise.

The problem with ebay is, You dont know if your bidding against a friend or foe. or just some powerseller looking to scoop 'em all up to sell them to us at a much higher price later on.
While there are some that need to get the good deals to build 'monster machines' so they can make money to pay the bills, too.

I've got pretty-much all I need. But I do have too many machines now
Thanks to all of you here. I'm happy.

 

Well... I always need more!

I've snagged a few deals but I am usually too late but that's fine as most of the stuff I've been late for has gone to someone here. The keyboard thing just hit me the wrong way the other day... And it still does.

It's funny... Since we have started talking about closing it... The views have backed off.

 

Rob, only an admin can specify the level of access or permissions to a sub-forum and unless Rick can negotiate something with the NBR staff, it'd be more straight forward to create a separate dedicated forum instead. I could have remembered that wrong though.

 

Since Ebay made all bidders identities secret and changed the feedback system it really is starting to suck. I quit selling on there, period. I figure it's my stuff and if I didn't/don't want to take Paypal that should have been my choice.

As for the keyboard, that torqued me. I have a backlit rubber keyboard on my CF-29. It's harder to type on and I have decided to just go ahead and master the thing. I'll save that $190 and apply it to my next purchase. A nice Ruger 22/45 plinker.

Went and fondled it today and will pay for it tomorrow. At least I can still afford .22 caliber ammo. Ain't she sweet?

http://www.ruger.com/Firearms/FAProdView?model=10121&return=Y

 

Plinker, to me is CO² powered until I saw the bolt-carrier group in the exploded view. Man... you guys have all the fun... but betcha' that this baby won't fit in the media bay!

 

The suppressed Ruger .22 is even sweeter, and everyone knows that having a suppressed .22 around the house is always an asset...you just never know....

 

I wish I had that supressed .22.. I would have to trap the squirrels and then release them elsewhere... I'd just "plink" them. They have eaten my birdhouses, hot tub, deck, grill cover, etc... I thought about building The SquirellPult but decided they weren't worth the trouble... Hmmm... Supressed you say....

<Starts toward the shop and the supression materials>

 

Hey, they are legal in about 43 states and it could be the best $200 you will ever spend. Plus, once you spend it, it is good for generations. You can pass it along to your child and so on...The price on the .22 versions has come down and you only have to pay once. Just make sure you get a name brand and it can be disassembled for cleaning. Thup! Thup!

 

Call me ignorant... but I don't really understand what benefit comes about through closing the thread. I really like the thread as a second opinion on the value of TB parts.

You're saying that the availability of this information is driving the prices up? If so, how?

 

I think you should re-read the entire thread and you'll understand why . Not trying to be mean I'm just saying.

 

I understand why you'd say that... But, the thing is, I've read this whole thread, and all of the relevant "deals thread" since about page 28.

I don't see how this is hurting anyone - the way I see it, if something really valuable is priced unfairly, it will be criticized here, thus discouraging its purchase.

In the interests of full disclosure, I should state explicitly that I've not yet bought any of the items mentioned in the thread, much less bought-and-resold as many seem to do. I guess I look at that business as too risky for my taste.

Those of you who feel you're most affected by this - can you help me understand? I must be a little thick in the skull.

 

I have posted a few issues already but here is one more

The amount of people Viewing the Toughbook forum has increased in the last month or so, and the eBay deals thread is really popular

Now you might say that’s a good thing right?

Well the amount of active members here is about the same and I believe that we are wandering off the main goal of the forum to help people with hardware and software issues

This is NotebookReview.com
We have our own ToughBook Buy Sell and Trade Forum
Its not our goal here to promote eBay sellers
The forum moderator here has never ever posted or promoted his listings


Now if a forum member wants me to share my knowledge and PM me with a question on a eBay deal I don’t mind responding to the request , but there is a lot of non-contributors getting a free lunch as it stands today

Alex

 

This is a good point. Hadn't thought about that.

Now I begin to understand. It's definitely serving as free publicity. Although, I would like to reiterate and clarify my earlier point - there's always some opinionated discussion to go with any controversial posting. Even if it's as simple as Rick saying, "Um, [insert details here], that's not much of a bargain!"

Through my own eBay research, I've gotten fairly well-acquainted with the going value of complete units and parts for CF-28/72/73/74s, but I've always liked to draw on other people's opinions, *especially* for the models I'm not as familiar with, like the 18/19/29/30.

Regardless, I'd give less importance to my simple curiosity than to the business success of a major individual Toughbook seller, like a number of our NBR/Panasonic veterans. You folks need to do what you need to do.

 

Dewed, here's the short version:

By creating a single thread where we, the allegedly knowledgeable Toughbook crowd, place our comments in one single place, we create a single place for OTHER people who don't know, and don't WANT to be bothered to do the usual, prerequisite investigation of what a product is worth on eBay to come, peruse at their leisure and say "Look here, this guy says that this thing I HAVE FOR SALE is a bargain, I'd better close my auction and raise the minimum bid." thereby using our own knowledge to our detriment.

As well, we have some vendors now are LINKING to this forum in their auctions as a means of backing their valuations of items so now we have BUYERS who don't have to be bothered to do their own research; we say it's a bargain, so they bid against us even when it's no longer a bargain, thinning out the deals to be had, or worse, buying our "bargains" so they can resell them at a higher price to... us.

Sharing deals with your friends - good idea.
Shring deals with EVERYBODY - bad idea - the deals stop being DEALS.

As soon as you share that "special" knowledge in a public forum, it ceases being "special" and becomes "ammunition" for the competition.

mnem
Playing "Fetch the stick" with your dog - good idea.
Playing "Fetch the broadsword" with your dog - bad idea.

 

I say close it, just for the case of not letting the sellers being able to dictate to us the sales price. However, you guys will need to email, or PM every good deal!

I have no idea yet what is a good deal or not. I was just in the middle of my semester on Toughbook pricing and all the teachers quit..............

 

I personally have greatly enjoyed watching the going prices and seeing what others on here think of deals. Also I sort of think sellers should get good payment on what they're selling... might encourage more people to sell things rather than tossing them. Nothing hurts me more than thinking of good stuff just being thrown out.

I'm not currently in the market for anything... but I personally think its a shame to lose this resource. That’s just me though.. Then again I don't know if I count as a 'regular' around these parts or if I'm included in the 'share with your friends' group.

 

Keep it open anything else amounts to censorship which no one should tolerate. Also anything that promotes commerce in this bad economy is okay with me.

 

I voted to keep it open.

Price transparency is a vital component in any market. Prices get averaged which benefits buyers and sellers.

 

I think I have a work around for everyone... If we reword the thread and start a new one... How about that? What really got us in trouble here, I feel, is when we show up in the top 3 hits on Google. You KNOW you are doing something then!

How about we start a new thread with Toughbook Pricing Trends or something like that. Something the average person would not use in a search term on Google.

Whatcha think?

I read this....

Playing "Fetch the stick" with your dog - good idea.
Playing "Fetch the broadsword" with your dog - bad idea.

And I burst out laughing... My wife thinks I'm crazy....

 

That'sa really good idea...

 

Or just post them all somewhere else *wink*

 

I still like the "Muddy Boots" thread... LOL

mnem
*Scrubs muddy claws on the doormat*