Computer Shopper

Modelworks

Lifer
Feb 22, 2007
16,240
7
76

I remember picking them up back in the early 90's and going through the hundreds of pages looking for the best deal. One could spend hours on each issue.

http://www.betanews.com/articl...er-in-print/1235776478
April 2009 issue would be the last bound edition of the US version of Computer Shopper.

"We did not make this decision lightly," Sills wrote. "Computer Shopper has a 30-year history as the most comprehensive guide to technology. Over the years, we evolved into a respected, world-class destination for trusted buying advice and reviews. Our readers demand expert, labs-based reviews of the latest technology products, delivered in a timely fashion, free of bias. This remains our editorial mission, and with our pure-digital focus, we'll be able to deliver on it better than ever. And with ComputerShopper.com's position of also being a prominent comparison-shopping engine for technology products, we will continue to deliver to our readers a unique mix of buying advice and shopping access."
 

spaceman

Lifer
Dec 4, 2000
17,616
183
106
it got the stephen king thinner disease and it eventually was going to vaprizie
it was big and fat and then shrink shrink.
 

Eli

Super Moderator | Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
50,419
8
81
:(

Sad day.

I remember when that thing was like a phone book. It was awesome.
 

FeuerFrei

Diamond Member
Mar 30, 2005
9,144
929
126
well, well. And so it slides into irrelevance.

Originally posted by: Eli
:(

Sad day.

I remember when that thing was like a phone book. It was awesome.

I ordered my first computer from an ad in one of those fatties in 1996.
$2,048 for a Pentium 100 Mhz setup from Wonderex!!!
 

Eli

Super Moderator | Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
50,419
8
81
Originally posted by: FeuerFrei
well, well. And so it slides into irrelevance.

Originally posted by: Eli
:(

Sad day.

I remember when that thing was like a phone book. It was awesome.

I ordered my first computer from an ad in one of those fatties in 1996.
$2,048 for a Pentium 100 Mhz setup from Wonderex!!!

I remember drooling over the uber expensive motherboards with like VX chipsets...

Those were the days..
 

V00DOO

Diamond Member
Dec 2, 2000
3,817
2
81
Yeah, I used to pick up Micro Times and Computer Shopper back in the days. I also remember picking up a Yamaha 4x CD burning for $450.
 

Viper GTS

Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
38,107
433
136
I remember being shocked a few years ago at how thin they had become. Back when they could be used to bludgeon someone to death they provided hours of entertainment. Of course I was 15 at the time and had no money, but it was fun to dream.

Viper GTS
 

Eli

Super Moderator | Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
50,419
8
81
Originally posted by: Viper GTS
I remember being shocked a few years ago at how thin they had become. Back when they could be used to bludgeon someone to death they provided hours of entertainment. Of course I was 15 at the time and had no money, but it was fun to dream.

Viper GTS

Yep... Good times.
 

BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
66,350
14,752
146
Gawd...in the 90's they were thicker than most phone books...the last one I saw wasn't much thicker than a comic book...:(

Unfortunately, by the time they're printed, they're outdated nowadays anyway.

The proliferation of internet-based stores has made them irrelevant in today's computer markets.
 

GagHalfrunt

Lifer
Apr 19, 2001
25,284
1,998
126
Originally posted by: Eli

I remember when that thing was like a phone book. It was awesome.

Those were the days. Picking up a new issue was a big event, that was a ton of reading material.
 

waggy

No Lifer
Dec 14, 2000
68,143
10
81
i loved that book. back when it was 6inches thick and you needed a forklift to move. yeap great times.
 

LostWanderer

Senior member
Sep 20, 2005
306
0
0
I think that publication single handedly made Gateway a success when it took off. I remember their glossy cow colored ads were a notch above everyone else's. Lots of stuff changed over the years. I think the demise of Computer Shopper came when it became common place for every do it yourselfer to go to the internet to buy parts, build, and maintain their own PC's instead of relying on mail order builders. Sad, I'm getting old enough to remember when...
 

kranky

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
21,019
156
106
The post about the phonebook-sized Computer Shopper for some reason brought this to mind:

A hollow voice says "Plugh".
 

Perknose

Forum Director & Omnipotent Overlord
Forum Director
Oct 9, 1999
46,879
10,690
147
Originally posted by: Eli
:(

Sad day.

I remember when that thing was like a phone book. It was awesome.

Indeed. Pre-internets, CS was the shiznit. I'd pour over each issue for weeks, it was a never-ending feast of the obscure!
 

eplebnista

Lifer
Dec 3, 2001
24,123
36
91
Originally posted by: Perknose
Originally posted by: Eli
:(

Sad day.

I remember when that thing was like a phone book. It was awesome.

Indeed. Pre-internets, CS was the shiznit. I'd pour over each issue for weeks, it was a never-ending feast of the obscure!

Yeah, I still remember Dirt Cheap Drives' ads.
rose.gif
 

dawp

Lifer
Jul 2, 2005
11,347
2,710
136
Originally posted by: theflyingpig
Good. Nobody reads that garbage anymore. Nobody.

Don't you ever have anything positive to say? The print copy is stopping, it'll still be online.


I remember reading and drooling over the hardware.

 

BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,769
126
Originally posted by: FeuerFrei
well, well. And so it slides into irrelevance.

Originally posted by: Eli
:(

Sad day.

I remember when that thing was like a phone book. It was awesome.

I ordered my first computer from an ad in one of those fatties in 1996.
$2,048 for a Pentium 100 Mhz setup from Wonderex!!!

I bought a 386SX 16Mhz from the shopper, a refurb for $450 back in 1990. That thing brought crapper reading material for a full week!!.
 

WT

Diamond Member
Sep 21, 2000
4,816
60
91
I miss Bill and Alice. The Lab of Doom and Pepsi was closed down many years ago.
 

grohl

Platinum Member
Jun 27, 2004
2,849
0
76
I'm not sad about it but yeah, I remember combing that phone book for new deals too...memories.
 

Minerva

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 1999
2,134
25
91
Pipeline burst cache.
Zeos PC.
Treasure Chest Computers.
Brands like Micron, Dell, and Gateway were actually built in the USA.

The good ole days.

RIP
 

Muadib

Lifer
May 30, 2000
18,124
912
126
Originally posted by: WT
I miss Bill and Alice. The Lab of Doom and Pepsi was closed down many years ago.

They were my favorites as well. I still have 6 more free issues left after April. I want a refund!!!
 

boomhower

Diamond Member
Sep 13, 2007
7,228
19
81
Yep I have close to a year left on mine. This is gone, PCworld already, my bathroom reading material is getting thin. It's getting to the point I am going to buy a netbook just to be able to reas something while I take a crap.