I made a deal with someone that said he will gimme the Pioneer A03 for 275. Is this a good deal?

275 what?? Bottlecaps??

Not eveyone can check your IP to see where you are.. Anyway, I just had a look on pricewatch and the cheapest price for the A03 was $260 USD.

Anyway, I'm moving this to consumer's opinion.

i dont understand. Its not a good deal? Bottlecaps? LOL

Ive seen brand new burners on the web for £250, so no thats not a good deal.

Dal

I'm not saying it is a good or bad deal. I am just telling you that the cheapest price on pricewatch was $260 US.

I don't know if you were talking about a secondhand drive or a new one. Also sometimes it is better to pay a bit more and buy off of someone you know. For instance I paid $5 AUD more for my lite-on burner from the bloke round the corner, than I would have elsewhere, because I know him and I know if it screws up I can easily take it back.

From my perspective $5 is only 2 pots of beer, so it was worth paying.

This is a BRAND NEW drive. Ive never seen it for 250 or 260. I just looked at pricewatch. Didnt find that. Can you gimme the link for it?

That was £250 not $250.

Here's the link: http://www.buymstar.com/detailsCDDVD.asp?pid=776

Are you sure you looked on pricewatch, because I just typed in A03 and it came up.

Once again, I have no idea about this place, I just gave you the price to put your quote in perspective.

http://www.caldrives.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=Caldrives&Product_Code=V5E0202PN-PW3

$254 USD

Sorry, didn't see you guys were looking at A03, but the 104 is only $254.

What's the difference anyhow? Anyone know? I bought the 104

Jaymus

The 104 is the OEM version of the A04.

Have a look at cdrinfo, they have a review of the A03 and 104 that should highlight the differences.

The 250 A03 is out of stock. These are great sites, any one got more?

That doesn't suprise me... They don't make the A03 anymore.. You may have trouble finding it.

As already said you can get the 104 for basically the same price though, if getting the OEM version doesn't bother you.

Could you please clear up what the OEM version means. THANKS.

OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer). Price will often be lower than comparable "Retail" version, making it an attractive to the price concious shopper. Always remember, these items are just what they represent, an item sold to many resellers for integration into a clone system, or simply bought in bulk. The practice of reselling a OEM product is common in the industry, but buyers must be aware of the pitfalls of purchasing a "white box" item.

Often times, these items do not carry the same warranty or support as does the retail versions by the manufacturer. It is believed by the manufacturer that these items are destined inside of a computer built by the OEM, and therefore, they technically would only have to support one customer, where the differences in the cost of support is calculated and applied to the cost. It is up to the OEM to fully support their end-user customer. For this reason, if an OEM "white box" item is defective or technical support is required, it is the manufacturer's policy to refer the customer back to the OEM. Make sure that the OEM in question has a technical support department able to help with installation questions. If in doubt, purchase an retail version to receive full support directly from the manufactuer for best after purchase service.

It is also true that many manufacturers provide not only the support but also a full warranty only on their retail products. Many OEM items carry 1 year warranty. In the PC component market where new products are introduced daily causing price reductions on existing items, the often lower commodity pricing structure on these items will be enough to spur the purchase. Keep your receipts since the 1 year starts from the day of purchase. Expect to send the product back for repair in the event that this becomes necessary.
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