Have you ever bought something from RealPC.co.za??

L

ld13

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Well please let us know because...
The site looks like it is not an authentic site and I don't trust *it* because:
-They say they have been open for business from "26 October, 2003" BUT their whois records indicate otherwise! They have been registered from 2004!
-Their product voting shows that NOBODY has ever voted for a product!
-Their prices are *too* cheap!
-They do not list ANY delivery rate’s prices!
-Something’s just not right...

Anybody??
 
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They are cheap because their stock is from Sahara. Sahara = low prices + crap service. You dont have to have a website to be able to sell stuff. Possibly they were selling privately or to a few businesses prior to opening the site.

Personally, I wont buy from anyone who isnt VAT registered. I see those guys are VAT registered, so their turnover must be pretty high. I know when I applied for my VAT number, I had to prove I would be selling over R400k worth of stuff a yr.
 
I have a Sahara PC. MB is Asus Tusi-M (Celeron)

Never had a problem with it. Do Sahara make their own MB's ?
 
infoseeker said:
Do Sahara make their own MB's ?
Click to expand...
Nope but they sell OEM MSI boards that they smtimes just rebrand.

and they dont stock Asus anymore, well at least not in PE, just MSI and some Intel boards.
 
Cheap???

Whahaha..
yeah right dude..

Look at their LCD's for instance:
BenQ FP 937S 19 inch TFT LCD
R4 392.00

That's from Esquire Technologies who currently sell it for R1989 ex VAT

That's like -+100% markup :o
 
Yes, but that's cost price so retail would prob be around R2.5k - R3k if you buy from someone who's not out to bend you over and shaft you ;)

So pm me if you want one and I'll set you up without any daylight robbery being involved :D
 
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a 19" lcd runs about £185 inc vat here retail pricing for bargain bucket quality (which benq IS)
so you should be able to figure out what a realistic price is, and who is shafting who..
 
Decotey said:
Its R2399 excl. which is closer to R2 750
Click to expand...

Decotey.. I guess the suppliers don't like you very much.

I get them for what I stated, no mistake there :P
 
werner said:
a 19" lcd runs about £185 inc vat here retail pricing for bargain bucket quality (which benq IS)
so you should be able to figure out what a realistic price is, and who is shafting who..
Click to expand...

BenQ may be "bargain bucket" as you state but they use excellent quality panels and the specs are very decent. Last I checked they had the same panels as Dell. Think it was AUOptronics panel but i might be mistaken.

Only difference is the higher priced models such as Dell have added features such as PiP which i don't really care for anyways.
 
quik said:
BenQ may be "bargain bucket" as you state but they use excellent quality panels and the specs are very decent. Last I checked they had the same panels as Dell. Think it was AUOptronics panel but i might be mistaken.

Only difference is the higher priced models such as Dell have added features such as PiP which i don't really care for anyways.
Click to expand...

true, considering there arent many factories producing lcd panels (high cost of setting up a factory)

read bargain bucket as "no name brand" i.e. doesnt mean they are cr@p:-)

also, auoptotronics is a rebrand lcd panel.

Works like this...every bit of dust etc in an lcd panel factory= one dead pixel. So the factories have to be cleaned. And they are shut down while they are cleaned (usually one month out of a year)

so, 11 months production, 1 months downtime. Not good business. So, the competing factories actually have a pretty arrangement. I will produce panels for you when your factory is shut for cleaning, and you produce panels for me while mine is shut for cleaning.

Which is why there are quite a few panels with different names on them, yet identical pinouts, specs and mounting holes.

Also, this explains why sometimes you get a high amount of dead pixels in a batch, and at other times practically none. If the factory has just been cleaned, then dead pixel rate is way below 5%. If the factory is due to be cleaned then the dead pixel rate is above 5% (by 5% I mean, of ALL the panels produced only 5% exhibit any form of dead pixel, number of dead pixels/sub pixels not taken into account)

It also happen that a reputable factory, e.g. LG when approaching "cleaning time" may resell their panels to others, which rebrand them....that way the LG name doesnt get tainted with dead pixel syndrome, even though LG actually made the panels.
 
I've read about this before but the issue of dead pixels has become less of a problem as processes and technology improve. Out of all the BenQ LCDs I've bought for myself and sold to clients, I have not seen a single dead pixel on any of the panels.

I remember when LCDs just hit the market this was more of an issue and suppliers often had certain tollerance requirements before an LCD would be replaced, where there had to be up to 8 dead pixels in some instances.

I believe you are mistaken about AU Optronics though, as they are one of the most respected panel manufactureres worldwide. Check out tomshardware and Anandtech and you'll see the excellent reviews on Brands that make use of AUO panels in their LCD monitors, such as the Viewsonic range.

The other two big names in LCD panel manufacturing are of course LG and Philips.
 
Panels nowdays should be graded according to iso13406-2 standards. This should be listed either at the point of sale (for a web shop) or on the packaging (if bought in a store)

class 1=zero pixels defects (very few manufacturers will ship class 1)
class 2=most of the stuff you buy (I think 17" is 10 pixel/sub pixel defects...higher sizes=higher tolerable defects)

if no class is stated then class 1 is assumed. So, if you buy a lcd monitor and it doesnt say "class 2 iso 13406-2 panel" SOMEWHERE on the packaging, receipt, web shop etc, then the panel is assumed to be grade a and has no defects. Which means, get your money back if you have a pixel anomaly.

Of course, this is immaterial if the wild west of south africa doesnt apply the iso standards:-)

p.s. yup, looks like auo are a panel manufacturer. My statement was based on seeing auo and lg panels that were identical in every respect, and assuming LG were the original manufacturer.

linky: http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=iso+13406
 
I think that would be an excellent idea, as (touch wood) I have never had problems with LCD panel defects, but if this were to happen, what would be my options?

Some blemish or spot on the screen would drive me insane and I would not feel comfortable selling such a piece of equipment to a client.

We are currently supplying a client with a large quantity of high end slim line LG LCDs and for the price we are paying I expect them all to be 100%. I'd definately feel more at ease if some kind of quality assurance was included.

Also, these being the higher performance range the quantities are fairly limited and the supplier is bringing in a batch especially for us, so if there are any defects replacement could take a while. Such a quality grade implies that the equipment undergoes some kind of testing to ensure that at least manufacturing flaws are eliminated to a point leaving one less thing to worry about.
 
weird...just browsing some online shops in sa..(googe: 13406 inurl:.co.za)
and most of them link to standard manufacturers spec sheets...mentioning iso 13406-2 compliance, but they dont state the grade, yet 13406-2 says "if you dont state the grade then class 1 is assumed)

I wonder if these places knwo the repurcussions of this from a legal standpoint

additionally, www.lge.com has links for lg south africa, and lg uk.
lg south africa site search for 13406 produces no results.
lg uk site search for 13406 brings up an faq explaining what it is, but not what part of the spec lg complies to.

additionally, samsung announced on 1 jan 2005 that any tft they sell from that day onwards will have zero defective pixels. This may just be a marketing ploy with sub-pixels not being covered, but at least they are taking a stand..

p.s. 13406-2 was penned in 2000, when defects were more common, so a panel conforming to 13406-2 could potentially be horrendous by todays standards, yet still pass 13406 class 2 requirements. Modern manufacturing techniques mean less dead pixels, but the standard is very loose in that most panels fit into class 2, which is why it is so nice that class1 is assumed if no class is mentioned:-)
 
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