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Which Vendors Do You Trust For PC Parts?
CaryTheSane writes "After six years, it's finally time for my old Pentium 4 to retire to web browsing duties, and I want a new gaming PC. I'd like to build my own this time, and I've scoped out most of the parts I want for a moderately high-end system. Which online vendors have you used before that you trust for parts? I've dealt with NewEgg, and I like them, but I live in Tennessee, a state in which they have a presence. Unfortunately, this means they have to hit me up for 9.5% sales tax. That really eats into my system build budget, so I'm looking for alternatives. I'd like to use the fewest number of vendors (preferably only one), so that all the parts arrive at the same time and I don't have one part's 30-day return policy run out while I'm waiting for parts from another vendor to show up. So, which reliable and economical parts vendors do you recommend?"
Conversely, are there any you'd recommend avoiding?
Try http://www.resellerratings.com/
As a fellow Tennessean, I'd first like to point out that Neweeg is still a great choice. I order from them regularly because:
1) They are usually still nearly the cheapest
2) They ship quick
3) If it ships from their TN center, I have it the next day
4) Their customer service ROCKS
5) Their website is the best of any I've used.
If I don't use them, I will use either mwave, ZipZoomFly, or (if you don't mind open-box items) Tech For Less (just remember to leave a comment when ordering that you know wtf you are doing, else they will hold your order until they get ahold of you).
I've also used ProVantage a time or two, but really only when they had a good deal.
I second this motion. Tiger direct sucks ASS if ever your order gets screwed up. And it will, eventually.
How much is your time worth to you?
I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
I'll see your mwave and raise you a zipzoomfly.com... I have had good luck with both actually.
-bc
Did you notice the ASK SLASHDOT part of the title? It's not supposed to be news, it's supposed to be a question! I am not even asking you to RTFA, just read the damn title before you post!
Every city has at least one or two. The best are the crack in the wall places with a guy in the back surrounded by parts.
Some of the items you'll buy will be a great deal, others maybe not, and yeah, you'll have to pay tax. --But you won't pay for shipping, (which, if you're buying lots of goodies, will probably cost a fair bit, though probably not 10% of the cost of a well-equipped new machine).
But nothing is nicer than being able to run out on a gut-feeling of inspiration and pick up a stack of parts that same afternoon. Speaking as a geek, I have to say that walking out of a shop with an OEM hard drive packaged in nothing but an anti-static bag is one of the best feelings in the world. --I realized on one of those occasions why my girlfriend loved shopping for clothes so much, and it was with a bit of wistfulness that I recognized I only shopped for computer bits once every few years, whereas for her cruising the used-clothing stores was a weekly fix. Comfort shopping is silly, but it's also human, so when you do end up spending a whack of money, it's nice to jump in and get right into it.
There are other advantages when you buy from a local, private vendor. If you change your mind about a part, or if a stick of memory is faulty or whatever, you can always go back and hash it out with the owner. Either he'll tell you what you did wrong, or replace the part, and he'll nearly always remember you. A human connection is great; you don't have to fill out impersonal forms and take a number or stay on hold or any of that lousy nonsense. You've got a guy right there who wants to help you, partly because he doesn't want to have to give your money back and partly because he's also a geek who instinctively wants stuff to work right. And sometimes you'll meet a really cool person where it's fun just to chat and trade opinions and such; more than once I've gone into a shop with a well-considered shopping list only to have the guy behind the counter say, "Oh, we don't have that mother board, but check it out! We do have this one; it works great and it costs less than the one on your list, plus it has this extra feature which is really cool! The manufacturer just put out the next model, so they're trying to sell off their previous one, which is why it's such a great deal." I've picked up some awesome hardware that way. So I'd say it's well worth the extra expense (if it even adds up to that much when you take shipping into account, and any unexpected in-house deals or whatever), to buy from small vendors.
I will say, however, that buying on-line does generate a sort of Christmas day feeling, where you get to wait in eager anticipation for stuff to arrive, plus you get to build exactly the system you want because you can be really specific about the parts. But I prefer the more adventurous side of going out to find parts yourself. I think it might satisfy some kind of latent hunter/gatherer gene inside us all.
By far, however, the absolute worst way to spend money on computer parts is to go to a big, corporate, well-lit box store where the guys have little name tags and same-color shirts. Ugh! --I mean, that's fine for laptops and big screens and such, but for hard drives and mother boards and video cards and bags of little screws? What a waste of an experience! I'd rather use an abacus than build a computer from parts obtained in a damned box store. Not to mention that it's nearly always a LOT more expensive that way. Nobody can beat them on price for big items which they order by the shipping palate, but for smaller parts. . , there's simply too many to choose from, so they stream-line their stock and charge you up the wazoo for them. And anyway box stores, you know, have no soul.
Anyway, I hope everything works out for. Enjoy!
-FL
Here's how it works. In the US there is no federal sales tax. Sales tax is set and collected by the individual states themselves, and possibly some additional local tax on top of that. That results in a problem when you order online across state lines. Do you pay tax in the state the warehouse is in, in the state the customer is in, maybe both? The answer is, if the company you're ordering from is in your home state, they can collect tax. If the company you're ordering from is out of state, they don't charge tax, and you are supposed to declare that purchase on your tax return and pay a "use tax."
Of course nobody actually does that and most states don't get any of that use tax because people are effectively cheating on their taxes. Some states are getting more riled up about collecting tax than others, but most just don't care. Personally I think the government gets more than enough of my money anyway.