The Great "Staying Behind The Joneses" Hunt

MSE_Martin
MSE_Martin Posts: 8,272
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If you’re not competitive about having the latest, flashiest television or games console, it’s possible to pick up some amazing electrical bargains second-hand. Gadgets that were state-of-the-art a couple of years ago often sell for a fraction of the price.

Take old-style CRT televisions: Ebay is full of perfectly-decent widescreen tellys which cost over half-a-grand three years ago, now selling for under £50, as people upgrade to LCD and HD-TV. I want to tap MoneySavers expertise to find out which other out of fashion gizmos people flogging off for cheap; be it CRT TVs, Xboxes or film cameras, and where to get them. Plus, is there anything you should avoid buying second hand?


Please post below to add your ideas.


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Comments

  • Twon
    Twon Posts: 85 Forumite
    MSE_Martin wrote: »
    If you’re not competitive about having the latest, flashiest television or games console, it’s possible to pick up some amazing electrical bargains second-hand. Gadgets that were state-of-the-art a couple of years ago often sell for a fraction of the price.

    Take old-style CRT televisions: Ebay is full of perfectly-decent widescreen tellys which cost over half-a-grand three years ago, now selling for under £50, as people upgrade to LCD and HD-TV. I want to tap MoneySavers expertise to find out which other out of fashion gizmos people flogging off for cheap; be it CRT TVs, Xboxes or film cameras. Plus, is there anything you should avoid buying second hand?


    Please post below to add your ideas.

    I'd recommend brand names if you are going for 2nd hand Audio/Visual equipment.

    Sony
    Phillips
    Pioneer
    Panasonic

    If you have the space get a nice 32 crt widescreen Sony. The picture quality (on DVD's and SD broadcast TV) will be much better than on most 32 LCD's available.

    Check out the free ads in supermarkets for bargains but also get over onto the AVForums (https://www.avforums.co.uk) for their for sale boards.

    Audio stuff, Same rules apply.

    Gaming, get yourself an Xbox (£40) and soft mod it. You can then back-up your games ;) and if you are feeling a little rich you can get a hard modded Xbox with a larger hard drive.

    Don't fall for the HD tv myth that has appeared. Its not worth it. I do have a 32inch HD-Lcd TV that I got from sainsburys. It cost me £150 after I used my nectar points AND sold my old TV.

    :)

    Twon
  • I bought a £400 Sony widescreen tv 3 years ago. On a debt programme a similar tv was sold for £50 secondhand. I plan to keep my tv till it won't go (my last one (Sony) lasted 12 years) but I'm fed up with people telling me about all the "bargains" in the new screen types. I don't care about being fashionable, I just want to watch a clear picture screen. BTW I paid for my tv unlike several friends who admitted they paid by credit card because "they're so expensive".
  • deanos
    deanos Posts: 11,219
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    Alot of companys sell ex returns on Ebay, Pixmania have an outllet on Ebay, i picked up a Panasonic DVD recorder with freeview & HDMI upscaling for £65, they are selling for £150 elsewhere, i still got a 1year warranty and its like new :T

    http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/348807/art/panasonic/dmrez25-dvd-player-record.html

    http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZpixmania-uk
  • Patr100
    Patr100 Posts: 2,558
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    Having the very latest and fastest processor adds quite a price to a PC - eg quad core - but you pay a premium - you often get a better deal overall by choosing a processor speed or type that is say a few months old without much actual noticeable difference for most users.
  • mallymal
    mallymal Posts: 215
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    I just go for "last season's" models.

    Eg, at work we bought a DIGITAL SLR camera - a Nikon D50, which takes beautiful shots and is very user friendly.

    I was so taken with it that only a matter of months later, I decided to buy one for myself. Unforunately all the regular outlets (dixons, Jessops) etc said it was discontinued. But I did some digging on the web, knowing somebody somewhere would be clearing them out, and in the end I picked one up for £300.

    The replacement Nikon is a D40, and most reviews say you can barely perceive any difference - a new D40 would be aound £400.

    So sometimes "old stock" isn't old technology, it's simply not "this year's colour". ;)
  • gord115
    gord115 Posts: 1,063
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    I bought a Sony crt 32" (KD-32DC11U) tv a couple of years ago with built in freeview.
    Many of my friends are now buying 37" and 43" lcd tvs but I can honestly say not one of them has a good a picture as my Sony. I'll be keeping mine for a while yet. if you can get one of these you wont regret it.
  • BillScarab
    BillScarab Posts: 6,027 Forumite
    I bought a second hand 32" JVC TV off a colleague when he bought a Plasma, the picture is excellent, far better than cheap LCDs. It also meant I could give my old TV to my Mom as it was a bigger set than hers.

    If you're buying a new PC buy one with one of the cheaper models of core 2 duo processors and overclock it to get a free performance boost. It's very easy to do and doesn't cost a penny, if you spend £20 on a better fan you can get even more performance out of it.
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  • i always reckon previous generation consoles are a great bet. Nintendo Gamecube, is available for £25 from most places with some great games from around £5. Also the old XBOX can be used as a media centre for playing yer divx movies etc. Just google "xbox xmbc".

    plus old laptops? try running low overhead linux distributions on them, like puppy dog linux, damn small linux, or older versions of ubuntu. i got an old hp laptop which runs like a blinder with ubuntu, and totally usable, and un-knackerable for less tech support calls...
  • System
    System Posts: 178,076
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    gord115 wrote: »
    I bought a Sony crt 32" (KD-32DC11U) tv a couple of years ago with built in freeview.
    Many of my friends are now buying 37" and 43" lcd tvs but I can honestly say not one of them has a good a picture as my Sony. I'll be keeping mine for a while yet. if you can get one of these you wont regret it.
    What are Sony CRT TVs like for displaying 4:3 material in 4:3? I've heard this can be a real problem on widescreen TVs (still on an old 4:3 set myself!).
  • superscaper
    superscaper Posts: 13,369
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    bham-dave wrote: »
    What are Sony CRT TVs like for displaying 4:3 material in 4:3? I've heard this can be a real problem on widescreen TVs (still on an old 4:3 set myself!).

    Not sure why it's a problem? Surely if anything you're spoilt for choice in displaying 4:3. True 4:3, 14:9, Zoom 16:9, stretch to 16:9 etc etc.
    "She is quite the oddball. Did you notice how she didn't even get excited when she saw this original ZX-81?"
    Moss
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