LA times fry's ad deals today! 256mb pc2700 $29, xp2400 + ecs $89, 80gb maxtor $49 after MIR

[hans007]

Originally posted by: Nessism
Just got back from the Manhattan Beach Fry's to get the XP2400/ECS combo. 100% of the boards they sell for this combo are previous returns. Maybe this is why they dropped the price. To get rid of all their returned crap. Bought one anyway...fingers crossed.

Ed

we just left at 3:30 pm from manhattan. just as we were leaving they brought out a cart with like 30 brand new boards. i didnt even bother buying one as i dont need it and i'm sure it'll come up again. but two of my friends got them. brand new chips too. tbred bs etc. my other friend bought the absolute last 80gb drive too.

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

I paid $99 for this combo last week, grrr

Do they just require the register receipt for a price match?

 

[jimmyjam]

Originally posted by: DeathByAnts
I paid $99 for this combo last week, grrr

Do they just require the register receipt for a price match?

yeah, but they make you stand in the return line to get a credit receipt and then the cashier line to get your money.

 

[kehi]

would anyone be willing to pick a Siemens Switch for me? Thanks and please lmk

 

[edplayer]

Originally posted by: kehi
would anyone be willing to pick a Siemens Switch for me? Thanks and please lmk

I might be able to.

edplayer@dbzmail.com

 

[rockyct]

Anyone else have experience with the motherboard?

 

[jimmyjam]

did these expire wednesday or today?

 

[gwlam12]

should be expiring today

 

[DribbleDrive]

Originally posted by: Nessism
Just got back from the Manhattan Beach Fry's to get the XP2400/ECS combo. 100% of the boards they sell for this combo are previous returns. Maybe this is why they dropped the price. To get rid of all their returned crap. Bought one anyway...fingers crossed.

Ed

Don't look for these motherboards in the motherboard section, as you have found that's where they put all the returns. Look one aisle over or so. I think they put them there to make it easier on the salesman to just walk over to the box and hand you one. Usually they have boxes full of new ECS motherboards around somewhere. I usually hunt for a new one before getting in line for one of these combo's.

 

[pxc]

Originally posted by: Nessism
Just got back from the Manhattan Beach Fry's to get the XP2400/ECS combo. 100% of the boards they sell for this combo are previous returns. Maybe this is why they dropped the price. To get rid of all their returned crap. Bought one anyway...fingers crossed.

Ed

I went to the Woodland Hills Fry's this morning and 95% of the 100 or so boards on the floor were new, not returns. The neatly stacked ones on the upper shelves all looked new.

Fry's has the old K7S5A (no USB 2.0) on clearance now for $29.90. The FIC AT31 is also on clearance for $39.90 (IGP320 chipset: Radeon 7000 video core, LAN and sound all built-in).

 

[jimmyjam]

Originally posted by: pxc
The FIC AT31 is also on clearance for $39.90 (IGP320 chipset: Radeon 7000 video core, LAN and sound all built-in).

ive seen this board before and was interested cause its tiny and im trying to make a computer out of a little ceramic monkey. i decided to look into it a little more and found this review. i think im gunna pass now.

here's the conclusion if you dont care to read the whole thing:

Conclusion
I would like to say that, this board is stable. But it is not. I would like to say this motherboard performs better, unfortunately not. If you enable audio option with SoundBlaster support even these bad scores drop dramatically. I couldn't really analyze if it is a bandwidth issue, because I didn't want to loose more time on it. I have seen some tests on its mobile version, and scores were like our scores with sound option enabled.

Is it full of features? Nope. It has to be a good small form factor board with a dirt cheap price. But when I search it on pricewatch etc. the minimum price was $80 when I was writing these lines. Even with an AGP card, the scores was the worst of all AMD motherboards. I don't think ATI IGP320 is a good option for desktop or small factor PC. There are lots of really good options with really good prices on the market now. When I was searching for information, I couldn't find any tests from respectable sites for this board. Now I know why.

edit: me cant spell

 

[superblast]

I picked up one of these Athlon combos at the Garland TX store today. There was a pile of returned ones by the motherboards display but there was a big stack over by the counter that were brand new. The processor I got is an AIUHB 0304. The sales guy seemed to think the sale ends tonight.

 

[kidthor]

I had bought this mobo last week and went in yesterday - they let me add the CPU for the difference, but it took them a loooong time to figure out how to do it, of course. The thing runs pretty well with the 512 PC2700 they have at best buy for 40 after rebate! They had a fair amount of upopened mobos left! (and of course tons of opened ones)... ths was at the Manhattan Beach store.

 

[Dagar]

The ECS/XP combo is a good deal ... even better a couple of weeks ago for $79

The Cheepoman BIOS from OCWorkbench gets me a ~140mhz OC ... not bad for that price

 

[jacksandgo]

" Quote:

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Originally posted by: jacksandgo
Great deals, and I shop at Fry's a lot. The ECS boards from Fry's are sometimes iffy. The last one I picked up had the (un)popular "checksum error" and low CMOS battery issue. No amount of resetting the bios, rebooting, or altering bios settings stabilized this board. Stil, the price was fantastic, even for just the processor. I just didn't need the processor alone....already have two 1700+'s w/o MBs.

I returned it Sunday, and the customer service guy said he gets a lot of them back with that issue. Do a search on google for the ECS K7S5A checksum error and read the posts. They have a "no restocking fee on refunds" return policy on these, so it's not that risky, I guess. Unlike some stores. *cough* CompUSA *cough*.
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Doh! I think my board has that same problem! But its already been 30 days. Any idea if Fry's will exchange it or am I out of luck? It only happens once in a while so its not that annoying.....yet."

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Fry's return policy is 15 days. After that, I believe you have to go through the manufacturer, unfortunately.

 

[cHeeZeFacTory]

i bought the combo back when is was $120. With the cheepo bios, I can only get it up to 2.2g. I'm using a non-amd approved HSF though(same HSF I was using in my old duron 700). Its pretty stable, haven't had any problems. Make sure you get a new board though

 

[draggoon01]

bought it for $99 last week. how long is the pricematch policy good for? can i still get the difference today (saturday)?

of maybe i should just return it, and wait for that price to come again

 

[Nessism]

Just got finished testing my open box... Fry's stickered...promised to be as good as new...ECS motherboard (from combo deal). The good news is that it seemes to work just fine. Bad news is that the board is a bit of a pain to install. XP had some difficulty finding all the chipset hardware so it was necessary to force the install. No major issue but I understand why some people have troubles and give up - thus the large number of returns. Leaves a bit of a quandry: low price sucks in newbies...but ECS motherboard makes them pay for low price.

Ed