Over at [H] Consumer (an offshoot site of HardOCP [ http://www.hardocp.com/ ]) some dilligent editors have published a pretty complete roundup of the kinds of service and information you should expect if you head into your average electronics store looking to buy a computer. And since many many people wind up actually going to an electronics store for computer purchasing and rely on the sales and technical staff in the store for accurate information and buying advice, this review is all that much more important.
The editors hit four different stores, Best Buy, CompUSA, Fry’s Electronics, and Circuit City, and came out of the experience with a lot of information about what you can and can’t expect when you walk into one of these stores armed only with the knowledge of what you’d like to do with your new computer and the trust that the staff there will be able to help you figure out what’s best for you-they won’t be able to, and even if they can, they might have an agenda that’ll keep them from giving you exactly what you need. The moral of the story? I’ll go ahead and spoil it for you-do your homework! Buying a computer isn’t a haphazard thing; you need to know what you’re getting into, what the differences between DVD-ROM and DVD-RW are, and why that difference might matter to you.
Regardless, head over to [H] Consumer to read the full article, including the editors’ experiences at each of the four stores, their comparison of the stores’ warranties, and their final advice to you, the consumer. Definitely worth reading!
(This article has been cross posted to our awesome new tech blog, Gears and Widgets! What’s that? Haven’t checked it out yet? Head on over for even more tech news, tips and tricks, articles and reviews, and up-to-date info on all things tech, as well as more commentary on this very story!)