Being an early adopter I often look back at my purchases and realise they were based more on infatuation with a new gadget than sound reasoning. March is looking like a dangerous time for me: incoming iPad 2 and 3DS.
I was talking to my wife’s friend about this, and discovered she was doing some research about the purchasing patterns of early adopters for an article designed to help them get the best deal on products — it seems early adopters are a marketing demographic unto ourselves now.
The conversation threw up a range of ideas to avoid falling into the same old pitfalls with the upcoming 3DS and iPad 2. She suggested the appropriate deal was a triangulation between price, region and accessories. I had to admit I often just went for the bundles that looked the most attractive — the wrong thing to do apparently.
After we spoke, she wrote up her suggestions for finding the right 3DS deal:
3DS
The best 3DS launch deal isn’t always the cheapest. You need to consider all the angles to come away with a purchase that is really best for you and your family. Like many decisions we make at retail, the best way to get value for money is to do your research first.
Perhaps the only way to get the best deal from consumer electronics is to wait until they are much older. Buying secondhand games is always cheaper and hardware will inevitably be reduced in price after a few years.
If you are an early adopter and really can’t wait, then the criteria I’ve laid out here should go some way to ensuring that you avoid falling into too many launch day pitfalls and come away with a 3DS deal that really is best for you.
After reading this I decided to switch my pre-order bundle to just a 3DS and one game (I went for Pilotwings Resort). Having done the math for this it turns out that this is actually much better value. Perhaps I’m cured; bring on the iPad 2!
The Nintendo 3DS is available from March 27th for $249.99 from Amazon.
[Header image credit: apple.com]
