Hot!!! Antec Sonata case for $77.50 OTD

[KiltedFool]

Caught another one of these at the Bridgewater Staples while househunting yesterday, put me in a good mood for a day of slogging.

I haven't opened up the boxes yet, I'll be building this weekend.

Will I need to snag an extra 120 mm fan locally for the intake by the drive cages? Or is that included in the box?

 

[MDE]

Would BB or CC be likely to PM this (if I brought printouts of the reciept posted earlier)? The closest Staples is an hour away from me. You think they'd want a store or two closer to Chicago

.
EDIT: KiltedFool, you only get one 120mm fan (rear exhaust).

 

[KiltedFool]

I tried to PM at a CC Saturday night, one which was 4 miles from the Staples I had bought the first one at. I showed them my receipt and they ping ponged it around between several managers trying to find a way to weasel out of it since they're still trying to sell them at $130.

Finally they got a guy who was an extreme jerk to my wife and myself who refused to match it since I couldn't show him an advertised price and since I had bought the last one they couldn't verify stock at that location.

He raised his voice to my wife as well, which nearly got him hurt. Would have gotten his name and pursued it then, but we were running late for Starsky & Hutch.

Tempted to run complaint to his store or district manager on the rudeness.

Was really happy to find one at the Staples, walked out in 5 min with a pleasant experience, and flipped off the jerk from CC mentally as I walked to the car.

Staples employee yesterday said those things sat for 6 months at $130 and not one sold at the B&M, so they clearanced them.

Wouldn't surprise me if Staples decided stocking cases isn't a good use of their store space, since they don't move much product at their price point. I might be able to PM to BestBuy or something nearby, but I have as many cases as I need, and domestic tranquility has taken all the stretching it can stand for a while.


Thanks on the 120mm, I'll see if I can grab one or two locally this week, paying cash at the mom and pop raises less domestic aggro. Would a non OC'ed Barton with 2 HD and 2 optical drives run cool enough in this case without the second fan?


KF

 

[MDE]

You'll be fine with one fan. I'm planning on running an OCed Barton, 2 opticals, FX5900, 7200RPM drive, and a Raptor with just one for now.

 

[test99]

Can someone PLEASE post a recent(March date) receipt for the Sonata case?

Thanks.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: KiltedFool
I tried to PM at a CC Saturday night, one which was 4 miles from the Staples I had bought the first one at. I showed them my receipt and they ping ponged it around between several managers trying to find a way to weasel out of it since they're still trying to sell them at $130.

Finally they got a guy who was an extreme jerk to my wife and myself who refused to match it since I couldn't show him an advertised price and since I had bought the last one they couldn't verify stock at that location.

He raised his voice to my wife as well, which nearly got him hurt. Would have gotten his name and pursued it then, but we were running late for Starsky & Hutch.

Tempted to run complaint to his store or district manager on the rudeness.

Was really happy to find one at the Staples, walked out in 5 min with a pleasant experience, and flipped off the jerk from CC mentally as I walked to the car.

Staples employee yesterday said those things sat for 6 months at $130 and not one sold at the B&M, so they clearanced them.

Wouldn't surprise me if Staples decided stocking cases isn't a good use of their store space, since they don't move much product at their price point. I might be able to PM to BestBuy or something nearby, but I have as many cases as I need, and domestic tranquility has taken all the stretching it can stand for a while.


Thanks on the 120mm, I'll see if I can grab one or two locally this week, paying cash at the mom and pop raises less domestic aggro. Would a non OC'ed Barton with 2 HD and 2 optical drives run cool enough in this case without the second fan?


KF

running a slightly oc'd 2500+ in a 301 Chenming(very basic LanBoy type..) ..stock retail hsf,the stock psu fan, the stock hsf on a Visiontek 9500Pro and a single 92mm intake(not hooked up or running) .. cpu @43c ..case @ 38c ambient @ 26c..2 harddrives and 2 optical drives.I'd say run it without and monitor your temps..if needed ..put in more at that time. goodluck

 

[pecosdude]

Huge YMMV. Staples stores in my area (DFW) don't even carry CPU cases. I guess they don't care to compete with Fry's on such items.

 

[optimistic]

Originally posted by: pecosdude
Huge YMMV. Staples stores in my area don't even carry CPU cases.

What area would that be?

My staples (Covina) had none. Though they did have Antec 1040B with 350w psu for $49 OTD.

 

[TurtleMan]

Originally posted by: dbuchthal

Originally posted by: snowpeas
I believe newegg has it for around $70 also.

And this is $77Looks like sonata

The $77 case at Newegg is the Antec 3700BQE. It's a pretty sweet case, in many ways nicer than the Sonata, but it doesn't have the glossy finish of the more expensive case. Check out this great review for more info on the 3700BQE, including comparison info on it and the Sonata.

glossy finish is so much nicer ;] I loved my sonata case, just snapped couple of those silenX fan... 80mm 11db.... sweet lord

 

[poppagene]

If you can find it, the Antec Sonata is $43.50 plus tax at B&M Staples.

what you could do is:

1) order from staples.com for $129.99 plus tax
2) return to your local B&M Staples
3) rebuy it immediately from your local staples for $43.50.

If all of this works and you still are adventurous, tale your $43.50 receipt to Best Buy which has a $30 rebate on this case. Get them to match or beat Staples price of $43.50 and mail in your rebate to get the case for $13.50 or less after rebate.

edit:credit to fw for the bestbuy rebate and pricematch suggestion

 

[amheck]

Does the buying online, returning to B&M and then re-buying really work?

Aaron

 

[Tsunami982]

holy sh*t does that really work? i just bought one of these for 80 . but then again i really needed it in a hurry.

 

[TehChubbz0r]

edited

 

[TehChubbz0r]

Originally posted by: amheck
Does the buying online, returning to B&M and then re-buying really work?

Aaron

It won't work because if you return with the receipt, they'll know how much you really paid for it. If you return without the receipt, it'll return at the 77.50 price. Trust me, it won't work unless you get a retarded sales person and manager (a return from 129.99 and a reringing of 77.50 will require manager approval)

 

[TehChubbz0r]

Oh yeah, I forgot, if any of you that aren't far along in a career are offered this job, DO NOT take it. It's a joke. The official title used to be 'Sales Technician' and the job description included, "the primary objective of the Sales Technician is to sell product to the customer." I can say, you are pressured like a mother to fix computers extremely fast, and 'lie' (what I call it) to the customers about what the problem is (i.e. If it's a problem with Windows that could be fixed with like 20-30 minutes of time, you should instead tell the customer they need to reload Windows or we could do it for 69.99). Now, before anyone tells me, I know that pretty much any tech job has it's low points, but still, I'm not comfortable lying to customers (can't see why I haven't been fired yet).

 

[usernamemax20charact]

Originally posted by: TehChubbz0r

Originally posted by: amheck
Does the buying online, returning to B&M and then re-buying really work?

Aaron

It won't work because if you return with the receipt, they'll know how much you really paid for it. If you return without the receipt, it'll return at the 77.50 price. Trust me, it won't work unless you get a retarded sales person and manager (a return from 129.99 and a reringing of 77.50 will require manager approval)

Unless, of course, you had one of your buddy's do it for you. Just have them wait for 20 minutes or something after you return it and leave the store before buying it. They could just ask the associate, "Oh, how much is that computer case over there?" They probably won't know, so then they'll do a price check and it'll scan at the lower price.

Just make sure to get the case back from your "Buddy" afterwards.

 

[poppagene]

Actually, if you find it in stock the cases are ringing at $43.50 online. Some are able to get the rering to 43.50 as a low price guarantee price adjustment.

Originally posted by: TehChubbz0r

Originally posted by: amheck
Does the buying online, returning to B&M and then re-buying really work?

Aaron

It won't work because if you return with the receipt, they'll know how much you really paid for it. If you return without the receipt, it'll return at the 77.50 price. Trust me, it won't work unless you get a retarded sales person and manager (a return from 129.99 and a reringing of 77.50 will require manager approval)

 

[jozone]

just scored one on North Shore of MA... going to pick it up tommorow... $4x.xx
Now Im just praying its not a return. Last year I got shafted at bestbuy by some con who went through the trouble of tearing out the internals of an antec power supply, and putting in some craptastic *dusty* generic while still leaving the labels on it. I really hate return scammers.

 

[ww4397]

Does anyone with one of these cases know if mounting the HDDs "sideways" changes the length of IDE ribbon cable needed to reach the 5 1/4" drives that share the same IDE channel?

Presently in my current box, I have two 3 1/2" HDDs and two 5 1/4" CD/DVD drives that are connected in pairs such that one HDD and one CD share the same IDE ribbon cable. The distance between the two drive connectors on the cable is just long enough to reach each drive. I wonder about this Sonata case and if changing the orientation of the HDD, from rear to side facing, would make the overall distance between connectors longer because I'd have to "go around a corner" and up to the CD? I had a heck of a time finding cables that would fit the distance involved with my current box. I don't know if I could find cables with even greater distance between drive connectors.

 

[bboy]

I had to buy a longer IDE cable to get around the corner as you mention. Standard cables are too short.

B

 

[koda]

FYI, I was at Fry's in Sunnyvale, CA yesterday and they had two pallets for these for 69.99 ($99 with a $30 MIR).
Might be an option if you can't get them at Staples.

 

[cfb44]

just picked up the display in Hulen, TX. missing the 120 fan, and front cover was broke - manager dropped it down to $30. all I wanted was the power supply ...