My friend has had massive issues with Dell for a motherboard replacement. Plus, the video card fan might be going too. So we looked into a new Dell, and I was thinking that this could happen again since Dell uses proprietary parts. I do not have time to research and build a PC for a friend. I looked for some stores, search engines seemed to pull up repair shops and used computer stores only. I suggested we go to Micro Center. I almost forgot about them because they are in Madison Heights, and that is far away due to slow traffic and lights to get there. The miles to get there is not bad.

We walked in and was not impressed with the Dell’s and Gateway’s. The store brand that has standard parts was not powerful enough. So, we wanted to see what the difference was between the Intel Quad-Core i7 970 and the previous one. He pointed us to the CPU / Motherboard counter. We went and talked to Derek. I asked him is it possible to help us build one and I will build it. He said sure. Before you know it, 3 hours later (One hour eating diner while parts were supposed to be pulled), my friend had a computer that would have cost-ed $2,228 (Still not quite as good as the one we built) on Dell as they jack up prices on higher end video, memory and hard drive upgrades. This one was $1,900. Derek was, very helpful and friendly. Since these were retail parts does not seem like this is commissioned.  My friend got a great video editing system, that Derek said would last 6-8 years (of course with some upgrades over the years.)  Some options, like OpenGL 3.0, and other options that are not used fully yet, so this is why this pc will last so many years. If a part breaks, there are other options. My friend only needs to get the same or newer part. Most parts come with a 3-6 year warranty. But, my friend bought the 2 year extended warranty. This allowed for getting the part replaced in store on the same day instead of up to two weeks from what Derek said. Since he needs his computer for school, and later for jobs, and would need fast replacement. Derek sure knew what he was talking about and pateint and very kind. My friend decided to have it built in store since I could not promise (due to family issue)  to build it by then, so he paid them to do that.

The prices on other stuff was better than Best Buy and other stores, and the prices are near what you would pay on line. Well worth the gas and paying tax to go there. Also, the return policy is more than fair. I purchased a TrendNet 5 port 10/100/1000 switch for $44.99. I was gonna get a Linksys for $30, I did not want 1 gigabit due to cost, but this once claimed up to 70% less power consumption, and that was the main reason and also the 1 gigabit. I got a low end Creative Audigy SE for $30. The $60 was better, but the Media Center computer is not gonna last too many more years due to new tech, so I got the lower one and a 25 foot cat5e for $18. To my surprise the switch has a $10 mail-in warranty, which I did not see marked. I was really happy.

I also bought a SATA Docking Station for my business. This allows me to plug it into my USB port, and if a computer has bad hardware, I can get the data off of the hard drive. This was $55 dollars. A bit more than the one I ordered off of buy.com for $32 with free S&H. It has a eSata connector also. Buy.com now has a 15 day return after it ships policy. The part ships out 1-2 days after and 7-9 days after with free shipping. After I changed it to free it said something about having to wait 3 more days (cause free shipping was just as fast as the next option and they now hold back items now I guess.) making it impossible to return. I guess, I will not be buying from buy.com any more. But, I sure will be going to Micro Center again. Oh, and another surprise, this had a $10 rebate also!!! WOW I save $20 without knowing it. Oh, and my friend can price match all his componenets with retail stores and MicroCenter itself. for 30 days after purchase.