[ale] What's the best geek store in Atlanta area?

[Daniel Howard]

I've often found Fry's better on somethings and MicroCenter on others. 
To really answer this question we should come up with a simple list of 
basic stuff and perhaps even hard to find stuff and do an availability/ 
price comparison, each of us noting best prices/brands of things on the 
list and comparing notes on this list?  For example, here's the kind of 
typical stuff I usually get at Frys/Microcenter for all the donated 
stuff I refurbish for schools/community centers:

Switches
Gigabit NICs
Flashdrives (when on sale)
Optical drive replacements
HDDs (SATA, PATA, desktop/notebook)
Video cards
RAM (desktop and notebook)
Mice/Keyboards
Power supplies

and of course, cans of compressed air!  If anyone sees other stuff to 
add, I'll be happy to note prices next time I'm there and report back, 
and maybe several of us could update the prices when we've been there.

(This is where a good wiki for ALE might come in handy...)

I always check price on NewEgg and see if the price plus shipping is 
significantly lower, and if so I just order from NewEgg.  But lots of 
times the shipping puts the cost over what Microcenter charges, even 
with tax.  For example, I needed 10 optical mice for our media center, 
and Newegg had them for $3 but with shipping they were $9.  Microcenter 
had a bunch on sale for $3.99 each.  It just depends.

Also, for complete systems that you can specify motherboards, etc. for, 
PCUSA.com is in Norcross, and so far all the servers I bought there have 
been solid, and you can call them and order and pick up to avoid $40-50 
shipping charges.  Downtown, GIM computers is still my favorite.

The ultimate is of course to go in and ask every sales dude/dudette if 
they have Linux at home..that earns credit in my book for best Geek Store.

Best, Daniel

-- 
Daniel Howard
President and CEO
Georgia Open Source Education Foundation