DATE: Monday, August 25, 1997               TAG: 9708250083

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MATTHEW DOLAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   58 lines

COMPUTER BUYERS HUNT FOR BARGAINS AT PAVILION WITH TECHNOLOGY CHANGING FAST, DEALS ARE CRUCIAL.

With a high temperature reaching for - but not quite breaking - 80 degrees here, Sunday's weather couldn't have been more perfect for a day outdoors.

But many Oceanfront-bound travelers, such as Peter Liao and his family, were not heading to the beach. They were steering onto the information superhighway. Destination: The Market Pro's Computer Show and Sale at the Pavilion.

Liao was among thousands of computer bargain hunters at one of Market Pro's perennial discounted weekend events Saturday and Sunday.

With changes coming so fast, vendors said computers are akin to new cars, losing half their value once ``driven'' off the lot. Finding the best price, they said, becomes paramount.

``We're looking for a computer for our kids,'' said Liao of Chesapeake, who was accompanied by his wife, Nina Peng, and their son, Peng Peng.

They already own a 3-year-old system. ``We know whatever we buy will be outdated soon, so we don't want to spend a lot of money on an expensive computer,'' Liao said.

Though many vendors said their sales usually drop off during the summer, several said business in late August attracts those almost ready to give up sun-worship for the soft glow from an iridescent computer screen.

As fall approaches, many parents heed the call of their technologically ``deprived'' offspring.

``Most systems now have 2 gigabytes . . . people are upgrading to 3.8, giving them the ability to store more information,'' said Valroy F. Williams, a manager for NerdWorld computers in Virginia Beach.

``But most consumers can be broken into two categories: thosethat want to play games and those using their systems for a home office. Yesterday, everyone seemed to be shipping off to college,'' Williams said.

Lance Hoffman of PCSMART said he offers his customers a 30 percent discount under what they see in retail shops. His $3,000 in sales Saturday was good, he said, though he predicted a drop-off Sunday.

``My customers are looking for motherboards and processors,'' Hoffman said of those who build their own system. ``And the parts we sell are universal, which gives customers a lot more flexibility.''

And for games, Thad Renaud of A & W Software was selling a rainbow of challenges.

Renaud's company searches the Internet for games that are free or ``shareware,'' compiles the games by subject and packages them together in a computer compact disk for resale.

At $5 apiece, Renaud said it was not money for nothing.

``We spend about 10 weeks apiece putting these together,'' said Renaud, 26, of Harrisburg, Pa., adding that he was raised on games like Pong and Pac Man. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

L. TODD SPENCER/The Virginian-Pilot

Sabrina Rodriguez and Steve Harrington of Virginia Beach spent part

of Sunday strolling - then buying a computer for the coming school

year.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu