Microcenter v Fry's

[SAWYER]

Seeing the Microcenter thread made me think of this thread. I have never been in a MC and only went to a Fry's once when I was in Phoenix and that place was awesome. Which is the better store?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Seeing the Microcenter thread made me think of this thread. I have never been in a MC and only went to a Fry's once when I was in Phoenix and that place was awesome. Which is the better store?

A typical Fry's location is much larger and has far more products than the average Microcenter, but I think Microcenter generally has the better deals.

 

[SAWYER]

I couldnt believe how big Fry's was, they seemed to have everything

 

[Paratus]

I couldnt believe how big Fry's was, they seemed to have everything

Ours includes a space station. Yours got a theme?

 

[Six]

Fry's >>>>>>>> Microcenter in terms of everything geek.

Microcenter >> Fry's in terms of computer related items.

 

[Tweak155]

Never been to a Fry's but I live <20 mins from a MC.

It's a nice store, has lots of computer related items but could be better. Overall I like it.

 

[SAWYER]

 

[Meghan54]

Fry's >>>>>>>> Microcenter in terms of everything geek.

Microcenter >> Fry's in terms of computer related items.

Darned concise start, but I'd go a few steps further in the differences, such as: (And this is based on my admittedly limited experience with Fry's.....I've shopped the 2 Fry's in ATL vs. 2 MC's in ATL, 1 MC in VA, 2 MC's in MD, 1 MC in NJ and 1 MC in Boston.)

Microcenter >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Fry's for customer service, ease of returns, not trying to sell previously used product as new, friendliness of the staff, lack of obnoxiously fanboy-ish salespersons who diss on you if you choose a brand that's not their favorite (listened to a pair of Fry's sales boys berating a customer for wanting to buy an Intel setup vs. an AMD setup), among other areas.

And I'd make the difference between MC and Fry's larger on computer related items......Fry's has a horrible selection of fans, watercooling items (MC carries more of the all-in-one WC'ing setups than Fry's and also has everything you need to set up a pieced together WC'ing setup---something Fry's doesn't even offer), fewer motherboards (not all MC's stocked motherboards are on the floor--you have to ask for the very expensive boards), and power supplies.....heck, maybe even video cards.


Fry's comes off as what Best Buy wanted to be but never understood how to accomplish it. Microcenter comes off as a retail Newegg, at least back when Newegg was just computer/geek items.

The absolute best computer/computer junk shopping experiences have been in Microcenter, no comparison. And, at least in my eyes, Fry's lost a lot of its attraction when they quit with the good mb/cpu combo specials they used to sell years ago.....

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Ours includes a space station. Yours got a theme?

Anaheim? :biggrin:

 

[Meghan54]

Never been to a Fry's but I live <20 mins from a MC.

It's a nice store, has lots of computer related items but could be better. Overall I like it.

One of the problems when you start comparing MC or Fry's to somewhere like Newegg is inventory space and cost. It definitely costs MC and Fry's more to stock and store inventory than Newegg, hence both MC and Fry's are more limited in their in-store inventory and selection. Just the nature of the beast.

 

[drum]

never been in a frys but our columbus Microcenter is nice to have near

 

[AustinInDallas]

Generally Frys has overall better prices. MC does have the few highly known sales (CPU/mobo)/ iPads which are on a permanent loss for them to get people in the door.

 

[SKORPI0]

Been to both. 2 MCs and 1 Fry's in the Chicago area.

Fry's - Lots of typical home electronics/computer/gadgets/toys.
MC - Mostly computer parts and related items. Got most of the major parts here for my latest system. Nice mobo+cpu combo prices.

I go to visit the store depending on what is on sale. Located within 5 miles from each other, but driving to them is almost 20 miles away.

 

[Tweak155]

One of the problems when you start comparing MC or Fry's to somewhere like Newegg is inventory space and cost. It definitely costs MC and Fry's more to stock and store inventory than Newegg, hence both MC and Fry's are more limited in their in-store inventory and selection. Just the nature of the beast.

The selection isn't terrible, I think it is more the "warehouse" feel it has. I wish they had more room to spread their stuff out. It is just shelves and shelves of items.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Fry's comes off as what Best Buy wanted to be but never understood how to accomplish it. Microcenter comes off as a retail Newegg, at least back when Newegg was just computer/geek items.

I think that's the best analogy I've heard.

 

[Six]

Take a girl to Fry's....she'll last about an hour and eventually ends up in the books section.

Take a girl to Microcenter, and she's nagging to leave in 15 minutes.

Just saying...

 

[Meghan54]

Generally Frys has overall better prices. MC does have the few highly known sales (CPU/mobo)/ iPads which are on a permanent loss for them to get people in the door.

Wouldn't say that at all, esp. considering Microcenter will pricematch Fry's (if one is local), Newegg, and quite a few other places. Rarely PM Fry's to MC as the prices are fairly equal, but have PM'd Newegg's prices at MC on more than a few occasions....and you'll never get Fry's to PM Newegg.

And in all the times I've pricematched at Microcenter, I have had only one experience in which I had to fight to get the PM done, and that was when Fry's was selling the 2500K for $149, a few months after it'd come out.

The MC manager didn't want to PM the Fry's price, but once he established Fry's was indeed selling the cpu for that price (the only time I've ever had a MC store call to verify a price), he relented (stated the price was below their cost) and I still got the $80 off the motherboard as the cpu was being combo'd with Z77 motherboards.

I'll pass up a Fry's to get to a Microcenter every day of the week, unless I'm looking for a washer, refrigerator, etc.

 

[PottedMeat]

Fry's comes off as what Best Buy wanted to be but never understood how to accomplish it. Microcenter comes off as a retail Newegg, at least back when Newegg was just computer/geek items.

I think that's the best analogy I've heard.

lol this.

the MC in dallas seems to have a huge variety of stuff - far more than any of the bunch of Fry's around, but they seem disorganized as hell. merchandise seems to be dumped where they generally should be. prices are better than fry's too.

 

[ponyo]

I don't understand the appeal Fry's or Microcenter but I stopped building computers long ago. Fry's just seems like giant Bestbuy/Brandsmart/or insert any other trashy stores. Microcenter reminds me of former CompUSA but with better service. I live pretty close to both but haven't been in either in years. And when I read about people driving hundreds of miles to go to either stores, I shake my head wondering why?

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Take a girl to Fry's....she'll last about an hour and eventually ends up in the books section.

Take a girl to Microcenter, and she's nagging to leave in 15 minutes.

Just saying...

lol. Yes I get more time to get my geek on at frys. Microcenter resulted in a let's leave after a couple of mins.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Last Sunday when I got my HD from MC, I ran into some people I know. They had her younger son with them getting parts to build a new computer. So instead of being in and out in no time, I spent about an hour with them while the kid shopped. He was looking at $150 keyboards, mice etc. I use a $30 Keytronic, its pretty much the only ones I buy.

 

[Trey22]

Ah, San Jose, CA location, on Brokaw. I worked 2 minutes down the street and was there probably 5 to 6 times a week.

Now I live in MI, and the closest Fry's is over 400 miles away.

 

[Rinaun]

Ah, San Jose, CA location, on Brokaw. I worked 2 minutes down the street and was there probably 5 to 6 times a week.

Now I live in MI, and the closest Fry's is over 400 miles away.

Good lord this and the other one near Campbell blow. I enjoy having them close by for It/electrical needs, but I've had the brokaw one bounce my boss's card and ask me to show a business card to prove I'm him. they essentially wanted me to show them a card I could pick up from any office to prove I worked at the company. The card is registered under the company name, and it was only a purchase of 150$. Normally, I just sign and deals done. After them declining me, I left the building, walked over to officemax by The Plant in San Jose, and bought the requested routers there. Another time I asked where the soldering bits were and the guy sent me to car audio. How can you mistake where something is by 10+ rows? If it wasn't for there not being an equal competitor in the silicon valley, I can bet you people wouldn't buy from there. I fucking hate that place and literally sprint through the store, get my shit, and leave.

Microcenter leaving Homestead in the bay area really made building computers a horrible experience now. It's even worse now that MALABS is about equal to pricing as newegg sales. Microcenter was even doing dirty things to Frys before they left, like listing the I5-2500k at 149.99$ and then saying "sold out" so people went to frys to price match and got it. A friend of mine snagged a 2500k for out the door like 160$. Good times!

 

[bigrash]

Fry's is so much better and bigger than Microcenter. I hate the fact that we only have Microcenters in NY.

 

[RockinZ28]

Don't really like Fry's, even though I live 5 minutes from one. Checkout line is almost always ridiculously long. They also refused to match a price from a MC ad, despite signs all over claiming they'll match any advertised price.

Only been to MC a few times cause it's about 30 min away. Badass cpu prices. Were more than happy to match a price from Amazon.com by me just showing them the item on my smartphone. They also have a separate checkout for online order pickup, and there has been no line the times I went.