[TriLUG] Good PC Parts shop in Raleigh area?

[James Brigman]

Wow...the timing of this thread couldn't have been more opportune: I've
"strayed" from Intrex three times in favor of Tiger Direct, and I've
been painfully sorry every time. Two graphics cards, and two
motherboards. My record for buying "things that work" from TigerDirect
is 100%...not working, that is. 

The straw that broke the camel's back is the last motherboard I bought.
Remember my thread about not being able to "see" the SATA drives? Well,
after working through all possible BIOS settings, I got it to work,
however, the installs fail about 1/2 of the way through. It finally
dawned on me, it was a heat-related hardware problem. Isolated all the
major components, and ended up identifying the Chaintech motherboard
from Tiger Direct. Want to see my review? I have to hand it to 'em, at
least they put it on their website:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?
EdpNo=1043672&Tab=11&NoMapp=0

I may be out of luck on returning it, too: I've had it in a box for a
few months as I bought various parts on sale to make my "dream" PC that
has turned into a nightmare. 

Intrex has never let me down: they understand their products and try to
take care of the customer. Sometimes they are a tad bit higher, or they
don't stock something I want, but I've NEVER had the troubles with
products at Intrex like I have with TigerDirect. I'm starting to think
that the Raleigh TD store is just an outlet for returned, "refurb"
merchandise. I have yet to buy a complicated electronic device from them
that works. 

FYI: I have mail-ordered odds and ends from their website with 100%
success, which reinforces my belief that the Raleigh "outlet" is just a
venue for getting rid of returned merchandise. Buyer beware.

JKB

On Tue, 2005-06-07 at 21:58 -0400, Aaron S. Joyner wrote:
> Tom Eisenmenger wrote:
> 
> > Newbie gaffe on my part - I didn't realize Intrex was a LUG sponsor
> > and that IS worth a few extra dollars AFAIC.  Thanks for the
> > suggestion of TigerDirect, but I have been underwhelmed by them for
> > the most part mainly due to the "garage sale" atmosphere.  Any others?
> >
> In addition to being a LUG sponsor, if you are a LUG member, you can get
> discount pricing at Intrex.  For details, check out
> http://members.trilug.org/benefit_info/
> 
> Aaron S. Joyner