DIGIT-ARC read-only archive · snapshot: July 23, 2026

ENOUGH OF: WHAT TO BUY?. POST WHAT NOT TO BUY HERE.....

66 posts · originally from https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/enough-of-what-to-buy-post-what-not-to-buy-here.24016/

T
the mihir Original post #1
Feb 18, 2006 at 12:02 PM
All the posts are about what to buy? how much to buy? where to buy?.....
i thought that a post on what not to buy will be useful....

1. refrain from buying chordless mice without an on-off switch

if the mouse remains on always...it will eat up a lot of battery

2. dont buy cheap hynix ram

the ram will run a lot slower than low latency one
it is not reliable....may let u down any time
no overclocking....

3.dont buy smps with outpul less than 400w

it will lead to frequent shut downs....unstablity
the components may be damaged due to deficient power supply

4. gamers must avoid the micro or mini atx form factor of mobos and cabinets

good ventilation is not possible in the cabinet.
add on cards will increae the clutter
micro atx boards have too few slots for add on cards

keep posting....
Kniwor
Kniwor #2
Feb 18, 2006 at 1:07 PM
Do not agree to the point 2.


For tight budgets Hynix ram is fine, it works well often, there can be problem at times, but then there is a 1 year warranty...


If u buy a 64bit processor, get an AMD, they came first in the market, most applications doveloped are keeping in mind the AMD64 artitechture .... so prefer not to get and INTEL, INTEL dual cores can be purchased because of their price, they are cheap and give reasonable performance for the cost..... but then motherboards are costly i heard....

Refrain from buying Samsung Harddisks... Maxtor is also not any great...

Do not get those cheap 100 Rs. headphones from frontech etc.... you will definitely not like them...

Purchasing a soundcard is not all that wise.... most motherboards have good integrated sound and u will hardly notice the difference...

SLI is a no-no, with hardly any performance boost, and high costs...... unless u are getting 2x7800GT 512MB

Do not assemble a ¨no floppy drive¨ system, spend 250 and get a FDD...

No Samsung Combo/DVD writer please.....

Fitting those speakers in cabinet is no good

DO NOT use those RS 5/- thermal pase UNDER ANY CONDITION WHATSOEVER, unless it´s a P3 processor where it is justified...
(u dont want to use a Rs. 100 thermal pad to save a Rs. 500 processor)

DO NOT use mobile processors in desktops without cutting off the plastic around the socket properly.....
H
h_kunte #3
Feb 18, 2006 at 2:31 PM
Do NOT go in for the cheap Chinese USB MP3 players...they might look attractive with lotsa features...But they conk off within 6 months & u r left high & dry....Refrain from buying those players...

HK
Ankur Gupta
Feb 18, 2006 at 2:48 PM
I wud say
Donot buy samsung optical drives or either HDD.they r really problematic and i have a personal experience wid them and cant stop cursing myself for buying it.
K
kill_deep_singh #5
Feb 18, 2006 at 4:40 PM
hi

1:)do not buy big or bfg graphic card.

2:)do not buy less than 1 gb of memory for gaming.

3:)always trust on amd they r better than intel especially the dual core.
Ethan_Hunt
Feb 18, 2006 at 5:13 PM
Re: hi

kill_deep_singh said:
1:)do not buy big or bfg graphic card.
In case you are confused,BFG happens to be one of the best overseas Graphic card distributors and no other people offer a Life time warranty on their card like BFG does.
G
Feb 18, 2006 at 7:53 PM
the biggest NO-NO......

Dont go for BRANDED PC ..... !!!


**nice to see ya allwyndima after a long time!!
KHUBBU
KHUBBU #8
Feb 19, 2006 at 12:13 AM
Nice to see both of u together.

Dont go for ASrock Mobos. They r cheap & they s$$k !
As far as BIG cards are concerned, they r value 4 money.
512 MB is ok for gaming, NFS MW loads in seconds, plays smooth.
Dont go for Frontech gamepads.
Never believe ur local dealer. Demand what u want.
Tushar.bar
Feb 19, 2006 at 12:19 AM
do not buy any BENQ product they would damaged within 1 year
Kniwor
Kniwor #10
Feb 19, 2006 at 6:19 AM
Tushar.bar said:
do not buy any BENQ product they would damaged within 1 year
COMPLETE DISAGREEMENT
Ethan_Hunt
Feb 19, 2006 at 12:57 PM
grinning_devil said:
**nice to see ya allwyndima after a long time!!
LOL Thanks man.Seems like you didn't scope out the Gamerz Section.I was quite a regular in that section that any other section.I became a lurking agent for a while and then decided to pop back in.Since a lot a spamheads have sprung up out here it hardly makes sense to post like we did before.:(
S
saiaspire #12
Feb 19, 2006 at 6:42 PM
I use BIG 6600 gfx card, had no problems. Able to play all the latest games without any problems. I get above 45fps in all latest games at 1024x768 with 4x AA and AF
phatratt
phatratt #13
Feb 19, 2006 at 9:36 PM
don't buy P4 3.2 or an AMD 3500+ with 512MB ram to run win98. :D :D jus kiddin
Kniwor
Kniwor #14
Feb 19, 2006 at 9:50 PM
phatratt said:
don't buy P4 3.2 or an AMD 3500+ with 512MB ram to run win98. :D :D jus kiddin

DO NOT spam around...



@the mihir

are u going to edit ur post to reflect all the NOT's or is this thread going to be like this....
sms_solver
Feb 20, 2006 at 1:49 AM
This is my list
-> Don't buy cheap keyboard and mouse. Optical mouse is must.
-> Don't buy 14" or 15" monitor, modern application takes up lot of space (toolbars, task panes etc)
-> Don't buy CD-ROM, this is time of DVD-ROM or DVD-Writers
-> Don't buy floppy drive, I have not used it for 1 year or so
-> Don't buy cheap SMPS
-> Don't buy cheap china made (USB Flash drive)
H
Feb 20, 2006 at 9:11 AM
:roll: do not buy Samsung Optical drives ( CDrom,r/w,combo,DVD) all of those have tray in-out problem . Sony and LiteOn r the best options . :idea:
G
Feb 20, 2006 at 9:20 AM
DO NOT buy pixelview playTV Pro 2 TV/Fm with winXP SP2....will NEVER work ... !!
H
Feb 20, 2006 at 10:09 AM
hey which Graphics card NOT to buy ?.............
R
Feb 20, 2006 at 10:40 AM
hellomotto said:
hey which Graphics card NOT to buy ?.............
i wud say :
i) Never buy cards with 64-BIT memory interface
ii) Do Not buy nvidia cards with "TurboCache" and ATI cards with "HyperMemory"
A
Feb 20, 2006 at 11:55 AM
grinning_devil said:
DO NOT buy pixelview playTV Pro 2 TV/Fm with winXP SP2....will NEVER work ... !!

He is right never buy any pixelview tv tuners
their drivers for XP s**k :x

never buy any original products from microsoft :D :lol:
phatratt
phatratt #21
Feb 20, 2006 at 1:14 PM
hey hellomotto u stole my avatar!!!!
R
reddragon #22
Feb 20, 2006 at 2:15 PM
We should not buy iBall laptop . my friend have it
Kniwor
Kniwor #23
Feb 20, 2006 at 3:10 PM
sms_solver said:
-> Don't buy floppy drive, I have not used it for 1 year or so

JUST OPPOSITE OF WHAT I SAID....


Kniwor said:
Do not assemble a ¨no floppy drive¨ system, spend 250 and get a FDD...
G
Feb 20, 2006 at 3:19 PM
never buy an i-Ball Cabinet...
their build quality s***!!!
wizrulz
wizrulz #25
Feb 21, 2006 at 1:15 PM
parthbarot said:
tell me abt good mobile around 12 to 13 K and a good digicam/camcorder around 15 to 20 k

hey ur not a newbee that u posted this by mistake.... :twisted: So if u want to start new thread abt mobile go in proper section.... PLEASE DO NOT ASK A NEW QUESTION IN ANOTHER THREAD...(which is not related in any sense)...


ABOUT what not to buy
=> FDD- absolutely no use if u have pen drive
=> Samsung roms and HDD
=> Motherboards with AGP slot (will be outdated soon)
=> Cheap headphone
=> 256 ram, 128 ram chips (min is 512)
Kniwor
Kniwor #26
Feb 21, 2006 at 1:37 PM
wizrulz said:
=> FDD- absolutely no use if u have pen drive

let me try and settle this, there are motherboard in market (like ASUS K8S-MX )
for which integrating the SATA drivers for windows does not work somehow, so u need a fdd to install winXP everytime u reinstall....
hardly anyone used FDisk for data transfer so that is not a point, but there are times when u need one, u might just loose ur CD in which u integrated ur drivers... what of an emergency hadd wipe, an emergency boot, emergency admin pass recovery...
and when u are buying a comp of 35000 there is no point in saving Rs. 250 by not getting an fdd,
U can obviously do everything without an FDD, but all the pain is not worth 250/-


either u guys never reinstall, or do anything with ur comp that u dont need an FDD, or u guys are extra-smart to avoid FDD at every single point u need it...
G
Feb 21, 2006 at 4:48 PM
Kniwor said:
wizrulz said:
=> FDD- absolutely no use if u have pen drive

either u guys never reinstall, or do anything with ur comp that u dont need an FDD, or u guys are extra-smart to avoid FDD at every single point u need it...

:wink: :wink: thanx for the compliment!!!
b ut i'll go with wizrulz,i havnt used a floppy disc in the last 2 years or so...though i have a drive( diont even remember where i placed it..have to search for it!!)not even once there was a need to get something installed frm a floppy drive.... !!
moreover i think the cabinet looks shabby with floppy drive out there... :cry:
Kniwor
Kniwor #28
Feb 21, 2006 at 4:49 PM
anyhow so let's leave it to personal choice....
T
the mihir #29
Feb 21, 2006 at 4:56 PM
do not buy a keyboard without palmrest if u type a lot

and i agree with AGENT_SMITH- do not buy pixelview tv tuners

do not buy i ball cabinets

do not buy smps from frontech or i ball even if it says 400w....the psus are as light as a feather...this indicates cheap heat sinks.

do not buy a graphics card that shares the main system memory

do not buy age of empires 3....the graphics s***

do not buy a PATA hdd
R
reddragon #31
Feb 22, 2006 at 9:50 AM
1st time I heard that AOE3 sucks !! may be because of ur system config the game is #### for u .

then whats ur fav game dude ?
N
Nemesis #32
Feb 22, 2006 at 9:56 AM
Posts by parthbarot and reddragon deleted.

@parthbarot: Please use the Mobile Monsters section to post cellphone queries.

Guys, let's keep this a hardware-only discussion :)
M
Feb 22, 2006 at 10:45 AM
I will not agree with wizrulz about the AGP Graphics card as the NVidia just launched the 7800GS for the AGP8X
more info at *www.tomshardware.com/2006/02/13/nvidias_geforce_7800gs_becomes_a_better_buy/
W
Feb 22, 2006 at 11:12 AM
Do not buy a Samsung CD-ROM Drive (52X)...I bought one years ago and it went bust after two years only.

By contrast the HP-CD Writer that I bought has been working like a champ for the last four years.

Plenty of Things
Creme de Femme
Kniwor
Kniwor #35
Feb 22, 2006 at 1:19 PM
the mihir said:
do not buy age of empires 3....the graphics s***

do not buy a PATA hdd

Age of Empires 3 is a really nice game with wonderful graphics..... i think ur config cannot play it properly... get a good graphics card to play it...

PATA and SATA right now are almost equally fast... so if ur dealer quotes a big difference u can get it
T
the mihir #36
Feb 22, 2006 at 4:30 PM
i have a plain 6600

i did not like some the aoe3 graphics like the horse models...the proportion of the size of unitd\s to buldings is wrong....all the units are too big...anyways there is always a difference of opinion

my favourite game is swkotor

-do not buy hp rewritable cds...they are just relabled moserbaer..and the cost is higher than moserbaer

-do not buy lg 17" monitors...they are very bulky..go for samsung

-do not buy mechanical mice

-do not buy plain cdrom drives...they are a thing of the past

-do not refill cartriges more than twice...they may leak into the printer
sagar_coolx
Feb 22, 2006 at 5:26 PM
do not buy samsung input devices....
K
Feb 22, 2006 at 9:24 PM
Do not buy an Apple iPod video BEFORE you buy InvisibleShield iPod protector. :lol:

- Keith
teknoPhobia
Feb 22, 2006 at 9:39 PM
Do not buy intel processors
Do not buy extra cooling solutions for AMD proccys unless u want to overclock insanely
Do not buy Benq products...shoddy build..despite whatever they might say about the performance
Do not buy low end altec lansing spkrs
Do not buy AGP mobos
Do not buy Combo drives...waste of good money
Do not buy branded clothing...as above
Do not buy Asrock products...take it from an occassional assembler....cheap and shoddy
Do not buy pirated software...copy from friends :D
K
Feb 22, 2006 at 9:40 PM
Do not buy an Apple iPod video BEFORE you buy InvisibleShield iPod protector. :lol:

- Keith
ECE0105
ECE0105 #41
Feb 26, 2006 at 7:44 AM
Wow, that's quite a list of not to buys........


BTW, I cannot agree with one point that everyone's making.

I have been using a Samsung 40Gb (5400rpm) HDD for the past 4 years, a Samsung DVD-ROM Drive since 5 1/2 years and a Samsung CD-RW since 3 years. I have had absolutely no problems with them and even a few benchmarks have held them high above the competition..

Sometimes, the performance benchmarks of the HDD has been above that of even 7200rpm drives.

(I used Sisoft Sandra for the Benchmark)

I have never had any trouble with the Optical drives except twice when each of the drives had their lenses cleaned, which I believe is normal.

If I had to quote somethings that I recommend others not to buy, it would be:

* Don't buy the costly Sony Optical Drives, you can get the same (if not better) quality with LiteOn drives.

* Don't buy CD-ROM, CD-RW or Combo Drives, DVD-+RWs have entered the scene in a big way and will stay for a few years atleast....
M
Feb 26, 2006 at 1:51 PM
hi

never buy made in china stuff :D .never buy local speakers.
abhishek_sharma
Feb 26, 2006 at 4:48 PM
dont buy seagate pata 80gb hdd...my hard disk developed bad sectors within a month of buying [in perfect usage conditions...no high voltage or anything], i sent it to the service center, took 20 days. i used the returned drive and again within 2 months starting giving problems.
again gave it, however this time its working ok [been 3-4 months now]
although it comes with a 7 yr warranty i dont think seagate gives a new drive if u send it to them with problems, they either repair n give u the same drive or some other old drive, it is bcoz of tht i think i got bad sectors easily twice on the drive
7 yrs warranty is useless, if the pdt quality isnt gud, its better to give just 3 yrs and make gr8 quality hdd, since data stored on it is very important, and every time a hdd crashes,it is the cause of a lot of pain for the user. also given the rate at which tech changes, one will surely go in for sata or a higher capacity in less than 3 yrs...right...so no use for 7 yrs warranty
i dunno how they call themselves market leaders....next time i buy, surely i'll go in for maxtor, western cavair digital or samsung[my 20gb hdd frm samsung lasted me 4 yrs w/o giving any problem ever]


also dont go for dvd rom drives, instead go in for a combo drive....if u cant afford a dvd writer i.e.
even dvd rom drive is ok to a gud extent if u dont wish to write any cds...but cd rom drive are a strict no-no...dvds have found major acceptance in the country and its better to have a comp tht can play dvds
M
Feb 26, 2006 at 5:22 PM
Hey Dude

Seagate SATA not PATA

pata means spreading gas from u know it when eating enormous food
abhishek_sharma
Feb 27, 2006 at 7:31 PM
hey dude....now i knw why u are banned...
btw pata[parallel ata] is the format used by older hdd for data transfer...the plain ide drives
my mobo and all other old mobos support only pata not sata...
sata[serial ata] is faster and of ocurse better but only new mobos support such drives.

ab tumhe pata chala pata kya hota hai!!!
T
the mihir #46
Mar 2, 2006 at 11:42 AM
dont buy lg 17" monitors...go for samsung instead
lg monitors have a relatively low refresh rate
S
shri007 #47
Mar 2, 2006 at 12:12 PM
Which graphics cards are more preferable for entry level?
S
Shock_the_Rock #48
Mar 2, 2006 at 6:15 PM
hm

u can go for gainward 6200
K
Mar 2, 2006 at 8:12 PM
the mihir said:
dont buy lg 17" monitors...go for samsung instead
lg monitors have a relatively low refresh rate

??? pls justify your comments.

Actual figures may help.
comrade
comrade #50
Mar 3, 2006 at 3:04 PM
dont buy cheap intex keyboards..they are as hard as bricks.
dont go for external tv tuner card...they r costly, wont accept 3 party softs, signal reception is not gr8, poor channel detection .
P
paul_007 #51
Mar 3, 2006 at 5:45 PM
NEVER BUY BRANDED PCs :D
chesss
chesss #52
Mar 16, 2006 at 3:50 AM
Don't ever buy anything with 'Quantum' in it, specially keyboards. Their keyboards are absolutely pathetic!

btw This is actually quite a useful thread :)
Vyasram
Vyasram #53
Mar 16, 2006 at 7:51 AM
Never buy

1)pview play tv pro 2 and honestech software (they make a total sucking combination in my system)
2)ANY OPTICAL DRIVE FROM SAMSUNG
3)Cheap digicams and mp3s (chinese)
4)Dealers will try to sell cheap smps , dont fallon them use powersafe, vip or antec (if you can prefer antec)
5)Cheap ups that turn to backup even if there is a slight changein voltage (prefer wipro or apc)
6) 100 rs keyboards and mice die in 100 days
7)Cabinets that are light and dont have anything on their front panel
8)norton products if u r on a low end or midend system
9)Avoid bottlenecking anything
D
Mar 16, 2006 at 11:59 AM
Don't buy Antivirus, Antispyware, Firewall software. There's always a freeware alternative (which is sometimes better)
M
manmay #55
Mar 16, 2006 at 1:27 PM
dont buy ups other than apc.
apc's value for money and services are really good.
and extra 200-300 bucks is totally justified.
C
capri435 #56
Mar 16, 2006 at 4:10 PM
Another complete waste of time thread.I think within a month all the products available in the indian market will be listed here.Some say dont buy smsung HDD some say seagate,some maxtor and some hiatachi.Then what the hell one buys. :evil:
I think i'lll have to start a new company. :D :D

The thing is a few bad experiences doesnt make a product bad.People are mentioning all kinds of products without giving any reason.
Am sorry to say but this is misleading information.
And by the way dont buy a DIGIT magzine its very addictive.(See i gave a valid reason :wink: )
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I see Dead pixels :shock: :shock: :shock:
Vyasram
Vyasram #57
Mar 16, 2006 at 7:58 PM
@capri go with what the majority says.

For eg let's take optical drives
Some say samsung sucks(me), some say lg sucks , some say liteon sucks. But the majority accepts that samsung sucks . So only samsung sucks big time , so dont buy samsung. This is similar for other products as well.

I anyway wud recommend u to see online polls instead of this to find which products rock and which products suck
ymhatre
ymhatre #58
Mar 16, 2006 at 9:05 PM
GUYS
may be this one wont sattisfy the post but i read somewhere tht dont buy original microsoft products
Now im confuse with this
Is buying microsoft media center keyboard priced at 4550 RS fair enough ???
U can see the reviews here
*www.microsoft.com/products/info/pr...3d5dae9e-3bcc-4516-8cdd-25d1745a9734&type=ovr
PLZ reply
ymhatre
ymhatre #59
Mar 16, 2006 at 9:12 PM
capri435 said:
And by the way dont buy a DIGIT magzine its very addictive.(See i gave a valid reason :wink: )
Hey man u hav got good sense of humour. I liked it
And now for donts
PLZ dont repeat wht others says, unless u hav a valid reason......
Pyaar - Yogi
A
Mar 16, 2006 at 11:10 PM
AGENT_SMITH said:
grinning_devil said:
DO NOT buy pixelview playTV Pro 2 TV/Fm with winXP SP2....will NEVER work ... !!

He is right never buy any pixelview tv tuners
their drivers for XP s**k :x

never buy any original products from microsoft :D :lol:

AGREE COMPLETLY!!!
A
Mar 18, 2006 at 1:26 AM
sms_solver said:
-> Don't buy cheap SMPS

What do u do when u get only iball, mercury, frontech, intex and other cheap smps in a city of 1 million plus and all the distributers insist that mercury, frontech etc are of very good quality and everybody seems to be ignorant of the needs of good quality smps? The only lucky ones are those who buy branded computers.
A
Mar 18, 2006 at 1:32 AM
grinning_devil said:
never buy an i-Ball Cabinet...
their build quality s***!!!

I am upgrading my comp and thinking (in fact, already ordered) for an iball benz (never saw the built quality, just saw the pic in their website). What do u suggest from mercury, intex, frontech and iball (vip, antec r not available).
teknoPhobia
Mar 18, 2006 at 7:51 AM
actually, the PSU's in the branded comps are in the same class as the "cheap" smpses.. I've been through a few and for the most part they are tailored to provide only as much power as the system requires... no headroom for upgrades

Also Microsoft hardware is, in my opinion, good value for money, I have been using microsoft peripherals for a long time (currently comfort curve 2k, basic optical mouse, sidewinder 3d pro(ancient)) and I do find that they are more comfortable and last longer than their closest competitor in the Indian market.. logitech, for example... the mouse wheel on the logitech mice get spoilt very quickly... and also the lettering on the keyboards get rubbed out.. all my friends with logitech hardware are suffering from these probs... (the WSAD keys are wiped clean :D and the scroll wheels have become loose and spin randomly, the friend who bought a mx 510 cannot adjust precision anymore b'coz one of the buttons is no longer working) we do abuse our keyboards and mice quite a lot and the MS products seem to hold up well under the abuse... if I am paying 900 odd rupees for a keyboard... I'd expect the lettering to last at least a year or two ( not that having the lettering makes any difference :lol: ).... and the same goes for the mice...
mav3r1ck
mav3r1ck #64
Mar 18, 2006 at 8:34 AM
andysmith45 said:
sms_solver said:
-> Don't buy cheap SMPS

The only lucky ones are those who buy branded computers.

Arre bro,
NEVER BUY BRANDED COMPS, U CAN'T SEE WHATS UNDER THE HOOD, CAN'T UPGRADE, IF U TRY WARRANTY GETS VOID :(

NEVER BUY LE VERSIONS OF ANY GFX CARD.
I
Mar 21, 2006 at 1:49 PM
andysmith45 said:
grinning_devil said:
never buy an i-Ball Cabinet...
their build quality s***!!!

I am upgrading my comp and thinking (in fact, already ordered) for an iball benz (never saw the built quality, just saw the pic in their website). What do u suggest from mercury, intex, frontech and iball (vip, antec r not available).

You shd have considered the zebby cabbies too. I recently bought a Zebronics cabinet and I'm more than happy with it.

Code:
*www.zebronics.net/
H
Mar 27, 2006 at 3:17 PM
I also have the zebronics antibiotic and satisfied with it....everybody says wow