Great bargain

Calcutta, May 30: Personal computers for Rs 4,500, laptops for Rs 20,000 and printers for Rs 1,000 will be on offer at a discount sale in the city.

The annual fair — Compass Used and Discounted PC Show 2007 — will be on between June 1 and 3 and will be organised by the Computer Association of Eastern India (Compass).

In India, low-cost models include Wipro’s Janata PC, iNabling Technologies’ e-mail device iStation, PicoPeta’s Simputer and Ezeebee from HCL. Research shows that if the price of a PC is between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000, India can absorb 10-20 million desktops annually.

PC shipments increased to 5.5 million units last year, a 25 per cent growth over 2005.

“This fair serves the dual purpose of helping channel partners clear their old stocks and providing cheap computers to customers who would otherwise resort to the grey market. The show has also attracted buyers from other eastern cities,” said K.L. Lalani, president of Compass.

Compass, which is an association for IT entrepreneurs, including manufacturers of hardware, software developers and channel partners, has about 270 members and accounts for 80 per cent of the IT turnover from the eastern region. This year, the fair will have 21 stalls. All the products will have a seven-day warranty.

The warranty period for a product can be increased to a year by paying Rs 1,000 more.

Scanners and office equipment such as copier, fax and refurbished computers is also available at the fair.

“Many parents are reluctant or cannot afford to buy computers because of the expense involved. At this fair, they would be able to buy computers and later upgrade to new models,” said Lalani.

The fair is being held for the last seven years and last year about 400 to 500 computers were sold.