American Express Owners

[mrCide]

who cares how it determines time, the point is its 'wait till 9pm' one click and wait till 12pm tomorrow next click that are .5 sec apart.

 

[passivex]

Get a timesync software to sync your computer's clock. Should help. Then again, which time is Amex syncing their server's clock with? Scam? Yes. For all you know, their clocks may be 3 minutes after the fact but they configured their server to tell you you've missed the deal even 2 minutes after the *real* time has passed. Then, some lucky soul clicking in at or near 3 minutes after the *real* time will get in on the deal. You can't sue them because they never stated which clock their server's clock is syncing with and somebody DID win. Just not us ATers.

Again, bleh! Scam! F'ing waste of time.

 

[jimmyjam]

according to the thread at fw, amex is synced with the time.gov server. one guy over there got the zen and is selling it for $270.
with only 1 person winning between here and fw, the chances seem pretty slim.

 

[rootaxs]

If it helps anyone, i actually got a mailer from Amex informing me about this promotion. So it's pretty legit as far as i can see.

 

[LIVAN]

They are selling a 50k BMW for 5k????


There is no way man lol...

 

[KidViciou$]

i'm looking at that panasonic camera, i like the form factor, but too many ppl say it's not that great

 

[passivex]

Google for reviews on the Zen. It sucks. I was so excited before that 9pm ET window but after reading a couple of reviews, I didn't really know if I wanted to even buy it. Google for the reviews.

Basically the Zen will have to down-convert all video and photos to a QVGA size (300somethingx300something). Fine for viewing on it but not when you try to view it on a large screen TV or plasma. What's the point of storing your videos and photos when you can't share them with friends and families?

Also, will not play most MPEG4 formats. Anything that can't be played in WMP 10 cannot be played on the Zen. So where does that leave us? A bulky 20GB mp3 player with a color screen. For $200....eh....maybe...just because I want to play around with these new PMP devices. Then again, I'd wait for the PSP to come out. Should be able to get it for around $250 when it comes out.

As for the panasonic cam, it looks cool, and at $150, it's a nice buy if you get it. But, recording movies on it is a gimmick at best and it has so so resolution/capabilities as a digicam. It's pretty much a toy or gift.

I might try to get the $50 cooking set though. And besides the Z4s, the rest are junk to me (not a big sports fan).

 

[passivex]

Just saw this: 300 Treo 600 for $150 available next Tuesday

 

[passivex]

Also found the camera here for $154 after $100 MIR from Panasonic.

 

[BoKingWen]

the 60" plasma for $650 is also good.

 

[Anonemous]

Originally posted by: BoKingWen
the 60" plasma for $650 is also good.

when's that one?

 

[BoKingWen]

Originally posted by: Anonemous

Originally posted by: BoKingWen
the 60" plasma for $650 is also good.

when's that one?

I was wrong it is a 26" Dell LCD wide screen TV they have a 60 in front of it. I guess they mean they will have 60 and it is on sale on Dec. 1st.

 

[JSt0rm]

oooo 60 for 1.2 billion people Can't wait to get in on this "hot deal"

 

[thenew3]

Had my accountant look at the Z4 deal and work out some numbers. Overall it would cost me around $16k to $17k for this Z4, not $5.

here's how he figured it. difference between the 42500 retail and 5000 sale price is $37500, since you have to pay income tax on that amount (let's say a 30% income tax) that comes out to be $11,250 in income tax. then you have to pay sales tax on the 5000, (say 6%) that's another $300.
so total is $11,250 + $5,000 + $300 + title and other fees = around $16k to $17k

Still not a bad price for a car that would've cost around $45k otherwise.

If you plan to sell it, you will never get the $42k sticker price, most likely around $30k in a private sale or less then that if you trade it in. Z4's are not selling that well so dealers are discounting them pretty heavily. Just the other day I had a dealer offer $5k off sticker without me even asking for any discount.

 

[wayno]

Woot!

Spammed the "I want it" button on two comps at 12, 4 and 9 and I got one of the Zen Media Players. It ended up being $220 after tax and shipping but it is still a bargain.

Bottom line is it is a lottery, you gotta be in it to win it.

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: wayno
Woot!

Spammed the "I want it" button on two comps at 12, 4 and 9 and I got one of the Zen Media Players. It ended up being $220 after tax and shipping but it is still a bargain.

Bottom line is it is a lottery, you gotta be in it to win it.

Congrats on winning! Now if I could only "win" a Z4...

 

[tk149]

Ok, their webpage now has a clock on it. At 11:59:50, I started clicking on the "I want it" button. Each time, the webpage did not reload, but just said "offer not yet available."

Until the clock hit 12:00:00. At exactly that moment, plus or minus 0.2 seconds, I clicked on the "I want it" button, the webpage refreshed, and said...

"Just missed it."

:|:|:|:|:|

 

[Muadib]

Low odds withstanding, I want that Z4!!!

 

[passivex]

an FWer found out how to hack the game.

He did a packet capture on the destination host then analyzed the http requests. He found the link to get the item as well as a list of the IDs for all of the items on the Amex offer. He posted the link to today's deal on FW and a ton of ppl got in on it. They were able to use that link to buy the camera ahead of time. Man!

Of course, I missed that so I did my own packet capturing. Amex fixed the flaw. Now the xml files are nowhere to be found (Amex probably changed the item IDs anyway) and a referrer link is implemented (you have to get to the item order form from the mywishlist.com flash page).

So...back to clicking

 

[sat4fun]

Originally posted by: passivex
Google for reviews on the Zen. It sucks. I was so excited before that 9pm ET window but after reading a couple of reviews, I didn't really know if I wanted to even buy it. Google for the reviews.

Basically the Zen will have to down-convert all video and photos to a QVGA size (300somethingx300something). Fine for viewing on it but not when you try to view it on a large screen TV or plasma. What's the point of storing your videos and photos when you can't share them with friends and families?

Also, will not play most MPEG4 formats. Anything that can't be played in WMP 10 cannot be played on the Zen. So where does that leave us? A bulky 20GB mp3 player with a color screen. For $200....eh....maybe...just because I want to play around with these new PMP devices. Then again, I'd wait for the PSP to come out. Should be able to get it for around $250 when it comes out.

As for the panasonic cam, it looks cool, and at $150, it's a nice buy if you get it. But, recording movies on it is a gimmick at best and it has so so resolution/capabilities as a digicam. It's pretty much a toy or gift.

I might try to get the $50 cooking set though. And besides the Z4s, the rest are junk to me (not a big sports fan).

My feelings exactly. Besides the car, and possibly the feeling of getting something for cheap, there is little to see here. I am moving on. Good luck.

 

[BoKingWen]

WTF there is hacked link where am I??? I want this camera bad I try clicking the dam link for 5 mins this is worst than yesterday instead of getting a you missed the deal try again later sucker. I got this "The online store is currently at maxinum capacity. Please try again later." Amex really did a bad job on this.......

 

[Jeraden]

You can get the same camera from Buydig for $250, with a $100 rebate on top of that... so final price ends up being $150, same as the Amex special price, although you do have to wait for a rebate.

 

[BoKingWen]

That is the point "rebate".

 

[AStar617]

Just thought I'd take a second to thank my employer A*****, Inc., for providing me with an AMEX CORPORATE CARD with no hard limit and thus putting me in the running for a Z4 with the rest.

I'll never speak ill of them again :beer:

 

[jimmyjam]

Originally posted by: passivex
an FWer found out how to hack the game.

He did a packet capture on the destination host then analyzed the http requests. He found the link to get the item as well as a list of the IDs for all of the items on the Amex offer. He posted the link to today's deal on FW and a ton of ppl got in on it. They were able to use that link to buy the camera ahead of time. Man!

Of course, I missed that so I did my own packet capturing. Amex fixed the flaw. Now the xml files are nowhere to be found (Amex probably changed the item IDs anyway) and a referrer link is implemented (you have to get to the item order form from the mywishlist.com flash page).

So...back to clicking

no, im no genius, but it seems like if i was smart enough to figure all of this out, i would have waited to share the little secret with the world until i had purchased a z4 for $5000. but thats just me.