Where do you buy computer hardware on STT?
Does anyone know a place that isn't outrageously overpriced? I mean we're all used to paying more for everything here but I recently bought a 2GB stick of totally generic DDR3 for $100 from MicroMax. That same stick in the states is $14, how's THAT for a mark-up?
I know of MicroMax and the PC place next door to Shipwreck Tavern, but that's about it. OfficeMax does carry some stuff but not much, I need a place that carries motherboards and cpus and hopefully video cards and drives, power supplies and cases. Pricesmart and Electronics Unlimited don't have these things, neither does Kmart.
Do we have a decent parts store or is it all internet orders?
Mail order or day trip to PR..... I have yet to find a good parts place here hince why after years of building my own machines the last 2 were prebuilts.
I don't know if they will ship to the USVI but I have mostly gone through newegg.com to get parts with some from Amazon.com
My techie uses eBay!
It's been a couple years but when I was running my tech business on St Thomas I used this place a lot: http://www.directron.com/index.html
They ship USPS to the VI and have a decent selection of PC components and other stuff at pretty good prices. I ordered from them weekly and never had any significant problems with the parts, prices or service.. but again it was a couple years ago so YMMV.
::edited to add:: Also, unless things have changed they ship the majority of their stuff from Texas or Florida so it usually makes it to St Thomas pretty quickly via USPS Priority Mail.
I've used Directron.com, Newegg.com, PCConnection.com, Tigerdirect.com, and Amazon.com extensively. Newegg doesn't ship here but I don't really mind because honestly their prices aren't as outstanding as they used to be.
PCConnection has a lot of inventory but their shipping is outrageous. Directron, TigerDirect, and Amazon seem to be the way to go for the most part.
Problem is, sometimes I really need/want a part and I really need/want it now... but MicroMax is priced too crazy to even consider on a regular basis.
Maybe a business opportunity for someone? (Almost entirely kidding.)
Yeah, that's tough when you need/want something right away on island it's either not available or it's cost prohibitive.
It was with that in mind that I started stocking more "inventory" when I was running my tech consulting biz so I would have it when items when I needed them. Word got out in some circles (with tech people mostly) and people started coming to me for parts periodically but it was a tough situation then too because they would price things at stateside prices and weren't very accepting of my marking things up past about 15% of stateside prices. After a year or so I got tired of sitting on thousands and thousands of dollars of inventory and dealing with all the associated drama for such a small return. Also doesn't help that most PC components start dropping in value rapidly as soon as you purchase them, tough business for sure.
After that I went back to just keeping enough inventory for in-house use and things worked out better, at least for me.
Anyways I feel your pain, sorry.
micromax and pc zone (vitraco park) both good when you need i.t. stuff fast.
I've used Directron.com, Newegg.com, PCConnection.com, Tigerdirect.com, and Amazon.com extensively. Newegg doesn't ship here but I don't really mind because honestly their prices aren't as outstanding as they used to be.
Newegg started shipping down here again someone told me, I haven't ordered from them in quite awhile so have not confirmed this
Maybe a business opportunity for someone? (Almost entirely kidding.)
Like Count said unless you have money to burn, a parts business down here is one that is difficult to pull off