I am a guy who likes my toys. I buy computers, cell phones, printers and other equipment. I shop at Best Buy, Staples, EBay, Wal-Mart and Craigslist. No one store has the best price on everything just like grocery stores, so I will tell you where I shop for what.
When it comes to computers, I would prefer to buy them from Best Buy because I appreciate their variety, the prices are great, and they are local in case I have an immediate problem. With the fragile nature of hard drives and LED displays, I do not like to risk ordering a computer online through EBay. I would consider CompUSA, but I am learty of them for they sell so many items that are refurbished. I believe refurbished items sometimes are better than new if they have major parts replaced. I also worked for a computer store once and many times it is difficult to get an error to duplicate itself for someone else. Therefore some refurbished items may get repackaged and never fixed the problem because they couldn’t find it.
I like to purchase my printers from Staples because many times they have a buy back program in effect to buy your old printer. This works out well as they give you more money for an old printer than you could get selling through EBay or Craigslist. I have purchased printers through EBay before, but these days prices on EBay for a lot of equipment are not much better than in stores.
These days nobody wants another computer and would rather get a tablet. I purchased my Motorola Xoom tablet from Verizon during the Black Friday sale after this past Thanksgiving. It cost $199 with adding a 2 year contract for a data plan. This worked out perfectly for me as I needed Internet access with my tablet for presentations. I would not have purchased a tablet from Verizon because they charged more for theirs than Best Buy because of the modem.
I have noticed in my most recent tablet purchase for my wife, that prices for the newest tablets like the Asus Transformer Prime are higher on EBay and Amazon than Best Buy. This happens when you have a high demand for a product with limited quantities. We will pick our up 5 days after purchasing it from Best Buy. And the keyboard dock cost $149 from Best Buy and it is over $162 everywhere else plus shipping cost. We will use the reward certificates from the purchase towards the keyboard dock purchase at Best Buy next month.
I love getting the latest smart phone from Verizon. I was extremely disappointed with the Samsung Droid Charge I purchased last June. The phone did not work very well and I was locked into a 2 year contract with it. Through Craigslist I found individuals selling their HTC Thunderbolts and I bought 3 of them for myself and family members. I turned around and sold the Droid Charge for more than I paid for 2 Thunderbolts. And by purchasing used phones from Craigslist, you do not have to extend your contract. For the hottest, latest phone, you will probably pay a premium for it through Craigslist. But if you wait a few months, you will get the phone at a reasonable price. Just make sure you call your provider before purchase to verify the phone was not reported as lost or stolen and make sure it is not on someone else account.
From time to time you will need to purchase a cable or a battery for a phone and they are all pretty much the same. I like going to Family Dollar for inexpensive auxiliary and HDMI cables. All other cables and battery can be purchased from a variety of sellers on EBay. I purchase micro USB cables for under $3 with shipping included from EBay. I had purchased some from a seller in Hong Kong only to be disappointed with a crappy product where the cable came loose. You can get that bad type of cable from a MetroPCS store. I have not had a problem with US sellers for cell phone accessories. Many times the products I order from EBay are better than the stock cables. I would never purchase another cable from Best Buy or RadioShack.
There you have where I purchase most of my technology stuff. I am sure I left something out, but I am willing to revise this if there is a question.
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