Originally posted by Nick
Another tip is to never buy a pc from a store or online... Like a dell or hp or alienware or falcon nw... These companys are just plain out rip offs. If you can't build your own pc try a site like www.internetishop.com. You can configure your own pc for VERY cheap and you have the FREE option for them to put it together for you...
Never buy online? You would have to be about crazy to not buy online. You can find lots of better deals at places in your area but most parts are better off bought online. For instance, you won't find an Enermax PSU in your area, nor a quality PSU at all. At least, not in most areas, unless of course you live near one of these online stores such as FrozenCPU.
Things like CDR's (drives AND disks), keyboard, mouse, speakers, and other items like this I prefer to always buy from places such as OfficeMax. OfficeMax has great rebates (just make sure you fill out the form correctly) that will save you lots of money. In most cases I have dealt with OfficeMax buying these types of things, the prices they had after rebate (sometimes even before) were the same or less than the prices online that were already very cheap. A good example of this is a Network Interface Card I bought not long ago. It was about $9 and was also $9 online for the exact same NIC, but online you must figure in shipping so OfficeMax is the better route.
If your able to buy online then do it. Just use common sense about where to buy, do lots of research, and what do buy online and what not to buy online.
If your not in the market for exceptional quality speakers then OfficeMax has speakers for about $35 with subwoofers, such as Altec Lansing. These specific speakers that I bought are very very loud and powerful, and for $35 that is a good deal, but I wasnt in the market (at the time) for 5.1 speakers or anything like that so it was the best choice for me.
If you want to sample some very good PC speakers then I suggest visiting Best Buy. They have a large selection and some VERY nice speakers, that not only look great but sound very good.
If you dont find what you want there then online will be the place to go (unless you know of somewhere else to look in your area).
As ALWAYS research IS your FRIEND. I research for 4 months usually before I even begin buying the parts for a new PC. After those 4 months I have looked at over 1000 different websites reading up on technical aspects of computer components, reviewing prices, making comparisons, checking out those websites on resellerratings.com, speaking to fellow techies about my choice for parts and getting opinions. After those 4 months, I have a PC that just can't be beat for the price that I spend for it (at the time -- I'm sure 2 months later you could have a nicer PC, at the rate that prices flucuate these days and technology changes).