Why small Parts stores ROCK

[taleya.livejournal.com]

ok, just an update on my last post....



I rang up Panda Computer earlier today. (Yes, they're open on Sunday) Had a talk to the owner, laid out the evidence before her, and even though the motherboard was bought 21st June last year, she said bring it down.

I love panda. Seriously. It's one of those pokey little tech stores run by a bunch of tiny grinning Asians, literally just around the corner from my place. I've been going to that place for years, recommended it like hell to friends, and I've spent well over 10K there, so she knows I'm not a fuckwit, and they freakin' love me :) (Especially since I threw someone out of the store on their ear for them a couple years ago)

So we're down there, I'm poking the motherboard for her and showing the fuckedness, then she has a poke, and says "Eh, fuckit" and writes out a RMA. Now she knows this is the one for my main machine, and as I'm sitting there bitching about having to wait for Asus to get off their arses and admit it's fucked, she disappears out into the back room and comes back with...

A gigabyte K8NS Ultra-939.

For me.

Free.

She's gonna RMA the bastard mobo and just keep sending it back until Asus give up and issue her a credit note. I've offered to pay for the mobo, but she doesn't give a rats arse and said to just keep it, and she'll stick the RMA on a store credit for me because the hardware was hosed, and she knows I didn't break it by being an ass or overclocking.

jesus CHRIST I love that store...And if you live in Melbourne, go, go GO! There's a reason why that store's been there for so long..they actually take care of techs who know what they're doing

(arsehole lusers are another story....)

Comments

[jecook]

Wow.

Shame I live (literally) on the other side of the world, otherwise I'd shop there.

We used to have a fair amount of small "mom n pop" stores up here, until Fry's Electronics came into town and crushed most of them.

We still have a few mom n pop stores now, and they still buy from the two big wholesalers that are left in town, but they are (sadly) few and far between...

[spacebird.livejournal.com]

We have, and had, about 3 or 4 little computer stores until Fry's show up. They all sucked. Fry's is better, and what's that tell you? There's one little shop left near me and everyone that works there is bitter and evil and their stuff is overpriced. But that's what they do...

(Sorry, just annoyed I've never had a good retail experience ANYWHERE EVER when it comes to a bad computer part.)

[taleya.livejournal.com]

ugh, you poor bastard. I've got panda around the corner, next to ISOS (who once offered me a job after I grilled the shit out of one of their salespeople regard DSL modems) and two great places near work.

Oh and a piece of shit store up the road, but I got banned from that one after I snapped when they fucked me about for three months. Cops kinda got called...

[fixerkitty.livejournal.com]

Fry's isn't bad, but you *do* have to know what you're getting. half the high school dropouts that work at that place are pretty clueless, as I've found out the hard way.

They're GREAT for finding old and rare DVD's though.

Fry's isn't bad

[irishmasms.livejournal.com]

I like going to mecca (the fry's store here in Vegas), but just to look. the prices seem to be a bit higher than even Newegg.com

[unluvedpenguin3.livejournal.com]

nyce

[ravenshrinkery.livejournal.com]

I get many of the parts I can from a computer recycling shop that goes in and cleans out dot bombs and larger companies that file Chapter 11 or have antiquated inventory of computer junk that has to be disposed of without taking it to a landfill. Sometimes it still works and they resell it. Making friends around there is a good way to score big network switches, backup power supplies, server racks, and other big stuff that you can't get at your local big box, and even if you could, you'd be paying out the rear for.

Even better, you'll be getting a much better price than the general public, especially because much of the time there's a very small segment of the population that has any interest in the stuff because they have no idea what the hell to do with it and no place to put it. But there's no sense junking perfectly good power conditioners or Laserjet 5Si series printers or such. This was also the shop I picked up a pretty well loaded G4 tower from for $200 - the systems were going for about that before shipping on Ebay and without as nice a loadout on features and accessories. But as always, caveat emptor - they had some Quicksilver boxes that were approaching the price of a new Mac Mini that if you weren't paying attention you wouldn't walked away with a lot less computer and hardly an ounce of warranty. It's our version of the used car lot.

computer recycling shop

[irishmasms.livejournal.com]

dam dude, do not hold back - what is the name of this place & where is it?

Re: computer recycling shop

[ravenshrinkery.livejournal.com]

Rochester Computer Recycling and Recovery - that's Rochester, NY.

Re: computer recycling shop

[irishmasms.livejournal.com]

cool, the next time I am back east & near home I will try to check it out

Re: computer recycling shop

[irishmasms.livejournal.com]

oh, their web site looks to be http://www.rochestercomputer.com/

Re: computer recycling shop

[ravenshrinkery.livejournal.com]

That's them - but their website doesn't do them justice in the least. They have a massive warehouse outside of the city where they do most of their tearing apart of stuff (smelting the old shit that doesn't work), and their in-city warehouse that is their sales floor (that used to be their whole operation. Their building goes quite underused, and it really helps to get to know the guys in there, cause they'll hook you up if you know exactly what you're looking for. Sometimes it helps to call or email if it's something particularly uncommon that you're looking for cause it will have to come over from the out of town warehouse.

Most of their business does come from the common luser. A lot of good deals can be had on dual processor stuff and rackmounts though on the same logic - most people aren't gonna run stuff capable of effectively using it. They also have an eBay store where you can pick up some pretty sweet SGI toys too. I can get the name of it sometime if you like.

Re: computer recycling shop

[irishmasms.livejournal.com]

I hate using eBay [1], but let me know just i case...


[1]
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20030707/engle
http://research.yale.edu/lawmeme/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=925

[jjjiii]

I love small businesses that care. They're the greatest thing, truly.

[adamjaskie.livejournal.com]

My freshman year in college, I got into the dorms and went to hook up my computer, when I discovered that the "network jack" was six pin, not eight. I found out from my RA that in that dorm, you need a special $20 "West Wadsworth Network Cable" from the campus computer store. This is, of course, a Sunday, and nothing is open. Besides, I don't want to pay $20 for a six foot network cable when I already have a network cable I was planning on using. Luckily, I had a crimper that could do 4, 6, and 8 pin modular connectors. I called around, and found an electronics parts store that stocked such things. The owner, who answered the phone, said "I'm not open on Sundays, but if you drop by, I'll open up for you."