Does anyone have suggestions for trusted online software retailers that have good competitive pricing (sales, discounts, etc)? I’m an engineer at a Structural Engineering firm (20 employees – millions of $ in projects a year), and my boss came up to me (knowing I do a lot of computer stuff on the side like TPU) asking if I knew of any online software retailers. Our firm is looking at stuff like MS Office, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk software, etc. Its typical office oriented software, but I was just wondering if anyone had suggestions for any good, trusted retailers. If I can pull this out I’ll look pretty good (and maybe get a bonus for saving them money sweeeeet =). I threw out newegg.com real quick, just cuz I know it's good, but any other suggestions? Thanks all.
Well if you are still interested in buying retail, you can generally get some good proces at frys.com (love em, buy from them all the time online and instore) and tigerdirect.com (buy from them too, but i prefer frys) and ya, newegg is pretty good too. Also, you could use amazon.com, as long as the store has a good rep, you can generally trust them but as for me, most software i have is pirated, generally i just buy hardware from the said stores above. Pirating is the best way to go! lol
Vendor Experiences Thanks Datcat! Surf's post really interests me particularly since I tend to upgrade frequently (soft- and hardware). Maybe moderators would consider a new class: Vendor/Retailer Experiences. With that in mind, let me share a couple of other incidents that illustrate my recent experiences with online vendors. TigerDirect Two years ago, I built a gamer from scratch (replacing a three year-old custom box). I obtained all of the pieces-parts from TigerDirect, many of which came with mail-in rebates. Overall, my experience was good. I run a CD-RW ROM and two SATA DVD-RW ROMs. Three months ago, I decided to upgrade one of my DVD-RW ROMs. TigerDirect advertised the best deal I could find so I purchased it from them. What was delivered? I opened the box to find one repackaged DVD ROM - nothing else: no manual, no software, no cable, no interchangeable B/W bezels - nothing that the manufacturer's "what's-in-the-box" description contained; just the drive! "But wait," as they say, "there's more!" They had substituted an earlier model drive for the one I ordered! I sent it back (with approval) but they are not refunding me the shipping. So I have to file a complaint (VISA/AG) to get my shipping refunded. Buy.com Two months ago, I was in need of a cheapo MP3 player (you know, the one that goes hunting, fishing, and works on motorcycles). Buy.com advertised a SanDisK Sansa 2GB machine for 14 bucks and free shipping!!! Nice - and I bought it. What did I get? Glad you asked: a bubble bag in the mail with the machine and earphones. No software, no manual, no carrying case, no arm band - none of the "what's-in-the-box" items listed by SanDisk. Buy.com's response: oh, go online and DL the software and manual. As for the rest, they ignored me. Amazon, eBay Stores I have NEVER experienced problems with Amazon and the eBay stores. It seems to me that the bottom line is still buyer beware; but plan an escape route. I ALWAYS purchase with a credit card (NOT debit), or Paypal since these services will readily investigate complaints. I would never purchase from vendors who advertise a fully functioning, say Office, prog for $39.95 if only because you can obtain one of these free from Torrent, P2P, or warez sources. As noted in my earlier post, you can also DL fully functional demo or trial versions that succumb to the slightest tweak or patch. I visualize MyDigital users as quite a bit above the average user and I believe that they should have purchasing skills, in addition to computer skills, that would serve the community. If others pipe in with their experiences (positive or negative), we will at least have some empirical data which we may consider before buying. Monk