Fortune It Mall - What'S Happened Here ?

[ukrules]

I've decided to buy myself a new computer.

I want an Intel i7, a good motherboard with lots of different ports, 16 GB of RAM, SSD drive for the OS, a couple of 2TB drives, dual monitor capability, etc, etc and windows 7 professional.

I went to the same place I purchased my previous system from, it's just past the True office where you pay the bills / cafe on the second floor (I think).

I entered the building right next to the MRT and it looks like half of the place has been closed down and is being refurbished so I made my way over to the computer area.

It appears that a lot, if not all of the small 'independent' computer suppliers have gone and been replaced by 'Banana IT', they have little branches everywhere in this place. The store I went to still has it's old name on the sign but the staff were all wearing Banana IT polo shirts. It's almost as if they've somehow managed to get rid of the competition from the building.

So what's up with the Fortune IT Mall ? Banana IT appear to be pretty expensive for lots of their hardware, it looks like this is the end of Fortune IT mall for me, back to Pan Tip I guess.

Does anyone know anywhere else near the BTS/MRT for small independent system builders apart from Pan Tip plaza ? I don't need a whole mall, just a single stand alone IT store that builds, configures and does the setup on PC's is all I need.

I was going to order a PC from them until they told me that I'd have to buy a standard case for 1,700 Baht but that the power supply was not powerful enough for my hardware and that I'd have to buy a separate 600w power supply for the additional price of 2,740 Baht.

So for a case with a 600watt power supply they wanted 4,440 Baht. The 16 Gb of RAM costs 5,090 Baht and the motherboard was about 5,100 Baht making two of the main highly complex components only slightly more expensive than a cheap case with a run of the mill 600w power supply. It doesn't seem right to me.

Any thoughts ?

[kkerry]

If the case is 1700 then the included PSU probably cost only 600 baht... 2000 would be the very least I would expect to pay for a brand name power supply to go along with the other components you've listed. Depending on the model 2,740 isn't unreasonable at all.

You're in for a shock if you look at the cost of PSUs in some of the better Pantip shops. Take a walk around the ground floor to see what I mean. Also, better quality cases that sell for 2k up almost never come with a power supply included. Get yourself a decent case with good cooling and buy a decent PSU, not some 600 baht cheapie. If you're trying to save money then you are picking the wrong part to economize on.

[ukrules]

Get yourself a decent case with good cooling and buy a decent PSU, not some 600 baht cheapie. If you're trying to save money then you are picking the wrong part to economize on.

Ok, thanks. Sounds interesting, previously with lower power computers I just had the cheap cases but I guess things are changing with additional power requirements on higher spec models.

[dave111223]

I'm not sure the deal with Banana IT, it seems like stores can still maintain their own identify while being a part of the Banana IT franchise?

I've found Banana IT to be really good about returns/exchanges if anything is broken. I had a video card break and a hard drive break (from different computers) in both case the shop (which had the Banana IT logo) exchanged the components for new ones on the spot no questions asked.

I don't think you'll find much difference in price between the Banana IT vs. non-Banana IT

I agree that Pantip is much better than Fortune; i had a hard time just trying to find a case fan at Fortune the other day.

P.S. Power supplies that come with the case are notoriously bad. Just get a case without a power supply and buy a decent power supply separately.

[Crushdepth]

Monopolies are an ancient Thai tradition.