Question for you Yanks (and southerners) ;)

21st Oct, 2006 at 10:07 PM

I'm a geek without a paddle - I have no sources for tech gear here other than the mall.

So tell me, and it's pretty urgent right now, what are the best places to shop online for PC parts - good, but cheap, parts, cases, PSU's.. etc etc. Computer building research basically.

Help?

[Edit: I went with www.newegg.com in the end. Frys is apprently great, but their website sucks - so online ordering is a pain. It seems that Pricewatch is also good (though ugly), and I used it to search for stuff. Newegg came out on top most of the time so I switched to that. TigerDirect.com were pretty good, but newegg was better laid out and easier to search, plus a tiny bit better on price for some things (mostly because they had a better range - or I could at least find the other stuff).

Thanks Everyone! you rock]

Comments

( 10 comments — Leave a comment )

(Anonymous)

22nd Oct, 2006 06:33 (UTC)

aren't you in the bay area?
Fry's rocks
If we had 'em here I'd practically live there... but I make do with Microcenter

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darkcryst

22nd Oct, 2006 19:59 (UTC)

yes oh Anon person! In the bay area, but not that close to a Frys store actually - the nearest one is at least a 45min drive away, which is a bit far for research purposes.

The seem good though!

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bodelian

22nd Oct, 2006 08:01 (UTC)

I really like tigerdirect.com

they have good barebones deals.

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anab1

22nd Oct, 2006 09:37 (UTC)

man.. I wish I could help. There was a time, when I lived in California, that I did know the answer to this question, but time marches on and my memory becomes a wee timorous beastie. I mean there is the sort of obvious CompUSA, Computer City, PC World and other large stores owned by "the man". There used to be an awesome, if annoyingly understaffed computer superstore that Bry and I used to frequent when we lived in LA but I think it has completely folded, but I'll be damned if I can remember the name. There's lots of mail order places. I'll see if I can get

elmofromok to help you out. He'd likely know.

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banshea

22nd Oct, 2006 13:36 (UTC)

I'd say go to Fry's, but they're in Silicon Valley. Fortunately, it looks like they actually have an online store these days. http://www.frys.com

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anab1

22nd Oct, 2006 15:07 (UTC)

That's the name of the store I was trying to wring out of my memory.. but it never came out!! There was a huge one in L.A. where I used to live. It has been 8 years since I lived there though so I'm forgiving myself.

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damedini

22nd Oct, 2006 15:04 (UTC)

Hi! Anab1 sent me. www.tigerdirect.com is, IMO, the best. Good luck!

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galateadia

22nd Oct, 2006 17:47 (UTC)

I noticed that PC Club has a few locations in northern cali, don't know how close they are to you. They are generally one of the brick and mortar places us here OKC go, but then we really only have other choices like BestBuy and CompUSA (not much competition when it comes to cheap computer hardware).
I've also heard more than a few good things about Tigerdirect, but I see others have already told you about them. ;)

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moriarty6

22nd Oct, 2006 19:40 (UTC)

Pricewatch.com. It's an aggregate that scours a ton of merchants (including Fry's, NewEgg, and TigerDirect) and sorts them by part and price. Think of it as a Craiglist for computer stuff.

If you've built as many computers as I have, Pricewatch is your Bible and HardOCP is your Magna Carta. When I built and sold computers for a year I ended up cancelling all of my merchant accounts because Pricewatch always gave me a better deal than my own wholesalers did.

In conclusion, PricewatchPricewatchPricewatch.

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