jason parekh

Almost two months later, entry #2!

This summer I made two big purchases: a Scion tC and a MacBook.

I spent the summer with an internship at Avaya Labs in Basking Ridge, NJ. Overall, good experience in terms of both checking out a research lab’s environment and being close to NY and other great cities (== great food!). A few days prior to my planned departure back to Atlanta, my car breaks down! I barely drive it back to the place I was staying (engine was crazily vibrating) and do as much diagnostics as I can without proper tools. I check the forums, and realize I have at least one dead cylinder. Long story short, I had a few dead cylinders caused by a blown head gasket. At this point, I knew I was screwed. The car was already a rebuilt salvage, so it’s value was lower than the cost of any repairs. I end up selling the car to the mechanic for $500, and he keeps the LCD (I took HIDs and RAM+CPU+blown motherboard). I did get screwed, but not much else I could have done. I ended up finding a 5 speed super white Scion tC (exactly what I wanted!) on eBay! It was a rebuilt car, so the cost was half of what it would have been with a clear title, and aside from the hood being misaligned slightly, the car was in great shape. I set out with a cashier’s check for $8,500 and convinced him to let me have it. This car came riced out. It’s slammed to the ground (no finger gap!) and has a huge exhaust, both of which I don’t like. I took off a tire the other day and checked out a spring, turns out they’re factory springs with a coil cut off! My ride is HORRIBLE, I have to go 5 mph over any bump. I ordered some aftermarket springs (not too much drop from factory), so I’ll be putting those on (it’s gonna be rough, but I’ve done it on my old car).

Second purchase was a MacBook. This one I got through crazy bartering. I was browsing FatWallet and found a deal on an HP DV2000t at OfficeDepot for really cheap. It was built-to-order, so you don’t get it in the store, instead it gets shipped to you. I ordered it with a few upgrades, and after rebates and taxes it will come to $500. The retail price would be around $1,000. Oh yeah, I got a free AIO printer too. At this point, I could either keep it (had it’s own set of great features) or sell it and get a MacBook. I figured I might as well sell it, and so I did. I got $800 + 40 for the printer. Next, Apple was having their MacBook + iPod + AIO for $1050. I aligned this purchase with the tax-free period in Georgia (which covered laptop and printer purchases!), so I get it for $1050 + 10 tax on iPod. I also got 1.5% back from my PayPal credit card, and 2.5% FatCash. I wanted to get my order in before the tax-free rush, so I placed the order on Thursday 12:15 AM EST, and tax-free started Thursday 12:01 AM EST. Turns out Apple’s systems go by PST, so they didn’t give me the tax credit right away. After tons of arguing (this took a month before I got the refund–their customer support really blows, but at least they speak English) I got two $50 credits. I sold the AIO for $70 and the iPod for $160.

Leaves me at:

$1060 + $500 - $42 (CC + FC) - $840 (HP + AIO) - $100 (CSR credits) - $70 (MacBook AIO) - $160 (iPod) = $348

My old laptop was a Gateway 4025GZ that I bought a year before in Austin (during IBM Extreme Blue internship) for $350 brand new (another FW deal!). I sold it for $350: $348 - $350 = -$2

After a lot of time investment, I got paid two bucks for using a new laptop for a year and eventually upgrading to the MacBook. Thanks FatWallet!