What are good PC shops in your area?

I sent my mom into memexpress but the sales guy tried to upsale the fluff out of her and was arrogant as all hell from what i gathered.

Plus she said that he admitted he wasnt even a computer sales guy but was a camera sales guy and she should mention him when she checks out because they are on commission dont cha know.

then he tried to sell her the 500$ warranty on the computer that comes with the BEST warranty in the business (ASUS that is, 1 year free and full accidental warranty as well as 2 years parts and labour on defects on top of that)
When she said she needed to consult with me on that he then tried to downsell her the laptop to a cheaper model thinking she couldnt afford it.

I sent her in there to spend 2k on a lappy and she left with nothing because the employee was an arrogant ass.

Where else is good for her to shop electronics in the area or do you use memexpress and should i just have her go in complain about the idiot and shop there anyway?

he's on vacation this week, but I'm sure he'll be absolutely happy to respond when he's back :)

if you really need to know soon, he's mentioned a few in the staff channel, so I can go through the logs if you find + bug me outside of work hours... :p

does your mom live in qz's area?
If she's looking for a desktop, you could ask qz to build her one, if you provide the $$$ get the parts shipped to his place and maybe some RAM for his trouble :p
I would certainly do that for most folks -- computers are cheap to build yourself, and if you're not savvy with them, salesmen may take advantage of you. I hate seeing people get taken advantage of, since building computers is cheap. Laptops not so much, but if she wants a desktop (which is what I gathered from your story) those are very cheap to build yourself if you don't want a gaming or editing rig or something.

Or alternatively, you can order something online for her and get it shipped to her house. I've done both for my parents (who aren't super computer savvy) but I've found building it myself is better value, if they're looking for a desktop. I'm the only really techy guy in my family right now (even extended family) at least until my cousin goes to school next year, so I know your position well :p

Having grown up in that area I think that your choices for local computer shops are somewhat poor out there. Most people I know from there tend to order stuff from newegg ect.

Shes looking at a New laptop not desktop :P

An QZ lives about 20 mins from her. she is in one of the small villages just east of Edmonton.

Also I always forget you were a westerner martian.
Being low on options was what i was worried about tbh. Looking online there seems to be quite a few stores but they are all fluff websites and i never trust a PC shop with a fluff website.

Canada? I don't know what online resources you have available but speaking from my experiences in the US.
For Laptops your best option is always buy online 50% of the time direct from manufacturer the other 50% of the time usually you can find a boutique vendor that has cheaper prices or something better.
Xoticpc.com would be a boutique vendor.

Being for your mom though I am guessing you are not looking for high-end gaming laptops and are looking for something lighter and likely long battery life. In that case I would suggest Dell, HP, Lenovo, Toshiba, Asus, and the like and going direct to their website first and seeing about pricing and for those that do not allow web ordering and customization usually they will give you a list of recommended vendors.

Many people seem to believe by going through a retail store and paying there upwards to 30% markup price that you gain some protection but in reality all you gain is up to a 30% higher price. When your laptop is broken they don't fix it, they send it back to the manufacturer and charge you the repair cost plus the retail stores fee. They save you making 1 phone call and having to keep some documentation handy from your purchase.

tl;dr summary..
Use online means for purchasing.

Galandy: There are plenty of computer stores in Edmonton but my experience with them has always been that they were more expensive than futureschlop (which is already pricy).

Symac: that's generally true here too although some computer shops seem to manage to be as cheap as the online means for some reason although in terms of repairs you are generally on your own. I do agree that most of the time ordering direct *is* better but Dell tends to be hit and miss based on what people I know have experienced with them.
Oh yeah, based on my work experience I haven't had a good experience with any lenovo product yet.
I had a toshiba laptop once and was very happy with it.

the only laptops i've ever been happy with have been macs
and they are damn expensive

For recommendations I have to agree with ya Martian.
It will be a long time before I go Dell again due to not just hit or miss on pricing and dropping the good products for crappy HP/Apple copies that are garbage but their quality is also hit or miss.
In fact I would recommend no one early adopt a system from Dell, don't buy unless it has been out for a few months.

Lenovo ruined the rep they bought from IBM. Although in the final years some of the thinkpads were getting iffy.

My current laptop was boutique and made by Clevo, been happy with it and Clevo seems to be a lot more concerned with quality than Foxconn stuff.

Price is not an issue and im getting her to buy a sandy bridge 17" gaming laptop.

Im doing this to be sure she never has any issues running any apps or has the ability to say the pc is running slow.

If she gets a gaming rig with a 1.5gb vid card and 8 gb of ram supported by an i7 Sandy then she will never have issues other than human error. I would like her to get local based off if she doesnt like the weight or style of the lappy she has a window to effortlessly return it and we can resourse another option for her.

Know what i mean?

YOU GOT PWNED

BONUSS POST

http://www.avadirect.com with a caveat

We are not setup for international shipping. If you would place an order and pay for it with Bank-Wire and after that order a FedEx/UPS pickup from our warehouse in OHIO then the order can be delivered to Canada

Also i use asus and toshiba and i stand behind asus now.

Customer service and quality for price is phenominal.

this is just a side point as i dont need recommendations on what to get her hardware wise.

Falcon NW the TLX might be of interest. They do sell internationally. It takes a couple weeks to get the computer built and shipped though.

http://build.falcon-nw.com/

Yes i know who falcon NW and ava and everyone are i am a hardware nut.

Like i stated though i dont need recommendations on what to buy as that isnt the issue at hand. Also that i want a physical location not a shipping option.

You want to get your mom something that is going to be thick as a dictionary, hot as an oven, weighs as much as a gorilla, and gets 30 seconds of battery life?! ;p
Seems you have a grudge with her.

I take it you must live too far to go with her? Honestly you can't send someone who doesn't know computers to buy a gaming or for that matter any high spec laptop. They will get eaten alive anywhere they go. At least here, maybe Canadians aren't as greedy.

PS. If you can buy a name brand laptop with those specs you let me know where. Especially for $2k... That is easily a $4k laptop.

http://www.asus.com/...use/G73SW/#specifications

Free 1 year accidental warranty.
2 years parts and labour free shipping both ways 5 business day turn around including shipping on top of that.

I use the model down from this (Jw) and its everything i need and more so it will simple be the same for her.
Its plenty of power and what is currently the best warranty in the industry.

As a side note weight is not an issue as she has been using weighty 17 inch laptops from the get go and battery life on this model with nvidia optimus or w/e they are calling it on saving mode is about 2 hours.

All that aside the main point is that at least in the US and China (as these are the only 2 places I have seen first hand) it is very dangerous to send someone into a retail store without experience in computers and with a large budget in mind.

More than anything else you should send a check list of things to look for before she goes in to ensure she gets not only what she is paying for but the product is functional and the business is stable.

One huge problem when you buy from any brick and mortar is what happens when they go out of business or if they are incompetent.

Best Buy in the states plays games all the time with repairs and they are a major corporation. The biggest thing is make sure you have the proper sales documentation so if need be it can be returned and serviced by the manufacturer directly and for free.

i chose pikachu

GTFO if you arnt going to be useful. Use another thread for once a week posting if your going to be that lazy being a part of the community.

galandy that asus laptop you posted a link to is the same one i bought my dad. He loves it.

I have the Jw and i love it to no end.

Had a keystroke issue i resolved with a bios update and a bootable usb drive and other then that its been the best laptop ive used.

Confortable, Powerful, Reliable and the warranty is bar none the best in the industry.

free accidental and shipping covered both ways on defects with a 5 day turn around? what more could you want :P

i think he was just making a joke because you called out qz in a similar way in which you would call out pikachu, based on your thread title... :p

Ooooh, thanks for the reminder!


+weekly bonus

If thats the case pang then i apologize.

Otherwise the comment stands :P

Damn, and here I was going to make a qzachu joke...

I have no advice I can offer I'm afraid, other then that anyone wanting to buy anything from Dell needs their head examined.

that's the sound he makes when he sneezes

i still didnt get why you want you mom to buy a gaming laptop?

get a macbook air !
if you want more power, get her macbook pro.

they have one huge advantage: they don't use windows lol.

She wants a Macbook pro but i refuse to allow her to support the apple

i hate supporting apple the corporation, but they do make some good products.
especially laptops!
like I said above, my macbook pro is the ONLY laptop that has even been adequate for my needs :p

why is that? :) is it because you know it's way better?
i've been working on mac since i started (around 7-8 years ago) and my bro was in computer hardware bussiness. i tried alot of last hour technologies but couldnt compare them. he had access to restricted processors and memory samples (the best kind created only for tests and fluff. producers wouldnt want those things to break in testing) and still... a PC runs 50% slower after you're done installing the software you need.
plus, mac is virus free :P and that's a great thing for non-computer types :D

Mac is virus free?

/me headdesks

lol :P

*snort*

Yeah, thanks for that, I needed a good laugh today.

Oi! :) a computer thread with my name on it!

Sadly, what others have said is true... for laptops, online is almost always your best bet...

Memory Express is the BEST! for desktop stuff though :) (or a refurbished laptop)

You have to know *what* exactly you want their IPR on though, if you get it, and have to know what you want, otherwise I could see them up-selling you; but I've never not known what I wanted going there so.... IPR for HD's and graphics cards... (i never used to do HD"s but then the seagate thing happened and fried 2 of the HD"s in the server) and PSU's if you buy a fluffty one (their PSU IPR will replace your whole system if the PSU fries the system)... and mobo/cpu/ram if you're paranoid (like i've become these day)

Always remember, a paranoid is simply a person in full possession of the facts.