I bought a new camera yesterday. A Canon IXUS 860 IS. I hate having to retire my old camera cos I've had my old Canon IXUS 40 for almost 3 years now but my old 4.0 megapixel camera feels kinda outdated LOL plus I wanted a better one with not just a higher resolution, but also with wide angle lens and a more powerful optical zoom.
I wanted to buy the new camera when I was in Singapore last weekend but it was neither cheaper there nor were the shops there offering me a better deal [I get more freebies thrown in when I buy it here] so I decided to pick it up in KL instead. In Singapore I shopped around Orchard Rd and Sim Lim and most shops were offering that camera for SG$580. A couple of them offered SG$530 when I walked out of their shops. Sheesh. The cheapest deal I got was SG$450 at a shop in Sim Lim. There's a catch however. At $450, the camera comes without warranty from Canon! I was not going to risk buying a camera without warranty.
Each time I got a price quote in SG, it was exclusive of the 7% GST. I am not sure whether it's intentional or not. Half the time they don't even bother telling me that the price is GST inclusive or exclusive. Maybe they assumed that I was Singaporean. The other thing I didn't like was the attitude of the people in those shops. I must have browsed at at least over 20 camera shops and almost every one of them weren't the least helpful had the "I-couldn't-be-arsed-if-you-don't-buy-the-camera-from-me" attitude. Most were middle-aged chinese farts. There was this one guy, when I asked him about another Canon model replied "sorry we don't have that in stock cos it's an older model". When I asked further "what's the difference between the two and which has better specs?" The old fart actually replied "You just buy whichever one u prefer la.." Another guy when I asked if they were gonna throw in a free SD card with the camera sarcastically replied "Ya you go to Canon at Harbourfront to claim the free SD yourself la.."
So in the end I bought my camera from Low Yat Plaza. On level 2 in Low Yat there are many camera shops and it's a much more pleasant experience buying it here. The guy who I bought the camera from was a rather cute looking young Chinese bloke who persistenly asked why I wanted that specific Canon model. He was trying to sell me another Sony camera.. hehe. He probably gets a higher commission on Sony cameras. In KL almost every shop offered free 2GB SD card, camera case and a mini tripod, unlike in SG where you only get a free SD card.
My new camera is still sitting in the box. LOL. I haven't had the time to test it yet. Umm.. Keroshin will be my first test subject Hahaha
