Dixons

[Norman Jzzzzzzz]

Curry's log their returns into the stock computer but don't have a field to indicate whether or not it's a return.  

This isn't the case. The items have a status field listing 'Pristine', 'Non-Pristine', 'Faulty'. The problem is that the POS system is shit and the training on the shit system is even shitter.

Last day tomorrow!

[gazzyk1ns]

OK, I know you could do that Frinky but what my argument boils down to is that it's infuriating to do that sort of thing and I'd rather order it from the net. We've got down to base level now, stripped the argument of all its pretense, I'm saying I prefer to order from the net and think others feel the same way. You prefer going into Menzies, I prefer tapping stuff into Dabs. Seriously though, I bet it's partially about where I live compared to you... if I had a PC World down the road then I might trundle down there and have it out with a 19 year old called Ricky so I could walk out with a new stick of RAM within the hour. But I can't, there would be travelling and hassle involved. Which is why I don't bother.

[Captain Crunch]

Generally, I hate department stores, and am proud of the fact that I've only ever set foot in Debenhams once, and that was because my ex thought it was a good idea to buy a mattress there.

You're missing out on a great breakfast there.

[Cardinal Tit Storm]

...

[wasp_f15ting]

I would have thought that if you're a very savvy customer then it would be a nightmare, i.e. "We can't sell you that on its own", etc.

Maybe they're just wowed by your ties, I dunno ;)

Indeed. though good ole micro direct about 10mins from my house is pretty much an excellent alternative, they sell at base value in their storage place. I go down there when I can to get new stuff like monitors (deap pixel grrrr) or new hard-drives etc, in those outlets, you need to know what you want, since there are no paper catalogues or items on display (bar a few cases etc) all in all its my favourite place to shop everything is in stock and you can bring it home straight away.

PC world .. jesus the prices are so expensive there was a £40 difference in a 300GB hdd! I avoid all of the major chain shops for this reason. Plus PC world near my gaff have nothing I want in stock the silly bastards, and most of their "state of the art" stuff is archaic

"Waspy: Have you got any 8ms monitors in mate?
PCW Shop attendant: Err no mate dunno where you got that there is no such thing.
Waspy: Have you got any 8ms monitors in mate?
MD Shop assistant: Yeh, ofcourse matey, we have the Hyundai LD90+ with DVI-D or the cheaper LG one, but it doesnt have DVI-D, so which one do you want?"

[Pseudopath]

I've always found Dell's technical support to be invariably appalling, although I suppose that's down to most of their customers being technomuppets. I'd also second the point made in an earlier post about future upgradability - Dell's PCs are chronic on this front.

Conversely, Mesh Computers generally use huge motherboards and stick in countless USB, Firewire and other expansion ports. Their cooling's top notch too.

However, I'd also recommend jumping in at the deep end and building your own. It's nowhere near as hard as you'd imagine - in fact, it's a bit like playing with Lego (albeit pricey, static-sensitive bits of Lego).

[speedworm]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/

[SetToStun]

The other problem has generally been that the guts of the machine don't seem to be put together with regard to people who want to customise their system (lack of additional power supply cables, hard-to-access expansion slots, etc.) although that may well have changed (judging by Pinball's comments about case sizes).

That's because they are designed for businesses, or home consumers who just want a PC to use. If you're a geek and are going to fiddle, you'd build your own anyway, surely. My only possible complaint would be the usage of proprietary components, so it's a pain/expensive to replace if something goes wrong outside of warranty. That said, their warranties are among the best in the industry.

Toshiba laptops - they come out tops year on year.

Only going on personal experience here, and that of my company, but no no no no no!!! My work laptop was obviously a Friday afternoon build, but in its 3 year life, it's had 2 hard drives go on it (one went last week in fact), one motherboard, soundcard/USB (on same daughterboard), numerous dead pixels, charging circuit went, and it's just started bluescreening when running on battery for more than 5 mins. Pile of shite. I'd never buy Tosh again, although they are decent laptops when they work.

To be honest, I haven't built a PC for years. It was well worth it once upon a time and then the savings seemed to fall away a bit so I stopped bothering. I haven't owned a home PC for a while now so I'm out of the loop as far as that goes. Just passing on our experiences here, like.

As for the Toshes breaking down, that's not our experience in general. Failures are quite rare for us and when they occur, we're covered by the reseller for immediate replacement (which is one of the reasons our lappies cost so much more than high-street equivalent prices).

I don't dispute your experiences, honest - I know people who have had bad experiences with premium brands of just about everything (one colleague even had a brand new VW Passat that VW wanted to buy back off her (full price) so they could send it to their engineering school in Germany as a test for the students). Just saying that on the whole, we've found them to be the best.

[zozman]

This isn't at all PC related, but it is to do with shops.  Anyway, I ordered the Bobby Thompson - The Little Waster DVD for my dad for Fathers Day.  He's a big fan, my dad.  The only place that had a copy was HMV, which filled my heart with dread gven their piss-poor reputation.  I put the order in yesterday morning, and bugger me (not really) it turned up this morning.  I was very impressed.

[Pinball]

I buy most of my Aussie DVDs from hmv.com.au, and I've found them extremely efficient, with a fast delivery time and cheap postage. Not very relevant I guess, but I saw HMV mentioned ;-)

[Adrian Brezhnev]

Looks like Dixons have made such a bad name for themselves that management have now decided to rename all of their high street stores Curry's Digital.

Not a good choice of name in my opinion.... I reckon that while they're at it, they ought to rename Currys as well.

[Morrisfan82]

I would've renamed it The Electroshed.

[zozman]

"Incompetent Thickos R Us"

[rjshade]

"But the traders need access to Currrrry's Diiiigggitaaall" doesn't really have the same ring to it.

[Adrian Brezhnev]

Curry Digital of Dock Green doesn't really sound right either.

[Morrisfan82]

I quite like the idea of digital curries.