Using Reseller Ratings, my personal experience, and comments from others here and elsewhere, I decided to make a master list of sorts of good resellers, for different types of products.
General Hardware and Parts:
Newegg (
www.newegg.com): Rating of 9.48, 1471 reviews.
The good: The king of resellers. They stock almost every card, part, CPU, and other dohicky imaginable. How about a choice of 200 video cards or so??? Plus, thier website shows several pictures and detailed descriptions of each product, so you know exactly what you are getting, thier prices are very reasonable, often the cheapest or within 10% of the cheapest Pricewatch price, and they accept returns with little hassle.
The bad: They don't stock many digital cameras or printers, and no complete systems. Shipping on small parts like thermal grease or fans can be excessive, even when added with other items. Edit: They don't provide technical support or pre-purchase advice.
Multiwave (
www.mwave.com): Rating of 8.11, 864 reviews.
The good: Similiar to Newegg in selection and price.
The bad: No pictures or detailed descriptions of the items on the website. Rating slightly lower than I would like, wonder why.
Thompson's Computer Warehouse (
www.tcwo.com): Rating of 8.74, 376 reviews.
The good: Another trustworthy vendor with good rep on the boards. Oh, and mmmm...Lifesavers.
The bad: Much more limited selection than Multiwave or Newegg. No pictures or detailed descriptions of products.
System Builders:
There are so many system builders, I'm just going to post a few of the top rated ones and reserve further comment. These guys are usually small shops, and pride themselves on customer service above everything else. They usually carry some parts, but have a much more limited selection than Newegg or Multiwave.
CompuCheap (
www.compucheap.com): Rating of 9.90, 102 reviews.
Envision Computer Solutions (
www.envisioncs.net): Rating of 9.88, 283 reviews.
PCNUT Computers (
www.pcnut.com): Rating of 9.76, 322 reviews.
Outside Loop Computers (
www.outsideloop.com): Rating of 9.72, 109 reviews.
Minotaur Technologies (
www.minotaur.com): Rating of 9.63, 191 reviews.
KC Computers (
www.kc-computers.com): Rating of 9.59, 194 reviews.
Memory:
Beyond these, any of the above companies will also stock memory. The price and quality is about the same, so it may make sense to order memory from one of the above stores if you are buying something else there at the same time.
Crucial Technology (
www.crucial.com): Rating of 9.74, 527 reviews.
The good: Great prices and service, factory direct.
The bad: No RAMBUS.
Mushkin Memory (
www.mushkin.com): Rating of 9.69, 324 reviews.
The good: Great prices, selection (actually has RAMBUS), and service. Famous for thier bulletproof airbags they ship thier memory in.
The bad: Not much.
Memory Man (
www.memman.com): Rating of 9.62, 198 reviews.
The good: About the same as Mushkin.
The bad: About the same as Mushkin.
Cooling products:
Again, many of the above stores stock this stuff too.
Tennmax (
www.tennmax.com): Rating of 9.94, 162 reviews.
CrazyPC (
www.crazypc.com): Rating of 9.87, 114 reviews.
1Coolpc (
www.1coolpc.com): Rating of 9.65, 576 reviews, plus 9.62, 478 reviews under thier former name of 3dfxcool.
Notebooks:
This company is perfection. No need to go anywhere else (there are other companies with perfect 10.00 ratings, but none of those have more than 50 reviews).
Power Notebooks (
www.powernotebooks.com): PERFECT 10.00 RATING, 272 reviews.
Closeouts/random obsolete stuff:
Computer Geeks (
www.computergeeks.com): 6.49 rating, 227 reviews.
The good: Large selection of older and strange hardware for great prices, plus a lot of refurb/used equipment.
The bad: Due to the type of stuff they carry, they ship a lot of defective equipment. And they sometimes handle returns very poorly (hence the low rating).
Mainstream sellers:
Dell: Rating of 7.31, 293 reviews.
The good: If you catch them in a complicated rebate/coupon special, you can get low/medium end systems and parts for dirt cheap, far cheaper than anywhere else.
The bad: Their product quality (espically in their notebooks) and tech support has really slipped lately. Parts bought from them only carry their 90 day dealer warranty, manufacturer's warranties usually do not apply.
Buy.com: Rating of 7.00, 1172 reviews.
The good: Huge selection (except for the nitty gritty like CPUs/motherboards/memory/fans/etc.), cheap prices, free shipping on most items, and they carry books, etc., now too.
The bad: They basically do not own a phone, so contacting them when there's a problem can be a real pain.
Amazon.com: Rating of 8.85, 170 reviews.
The good: Basically a better version of buy.com, and they actually have heard of a device called a telephone. Thier "Gold Box" specials can be a deal if you happen to need what they are pushing at the time.
The bad: Not much, although they still do focus on books more than technology, although that is changing.
Staples/Office Max/Office Depot/CompUSA/Best Buy/Circuit City/etc.
The good: You can walk in and buy stuff the same day. Sometimes have very good deals on-line and in person if you combine coupons, specials, and rebates.
The bad: Regular prices are frequently much higher than anybody else here. Sometimes the rebates just don't show up, making a good deal a horrible one. Tech support, etc., is wanting, to say the least.
Anybody else have anything to add/change, feel free, as I'm done typing for now.
