NICE Apple IIgs photoshop. I still have mine running...

We have a Micro Center in New Jersey (in Paterson, bring your body armor) and one in Long Island (I cannot handle that traffic). I have never been to either. Maybe I'll check out the Paterson location when I am feeling brave... :)

I know a lot of those who read these blogs are young. Those of us in the mid-30s + remember when things were a bit different. Brick and mortar have long been ripping customers off. Those in the know would do mail-order/telephone instead of online...

For computer components, many of us have been doing mainly mail-order since the late 1980s with a gigantic Computer Shopper and a landline telephone. Nearly every brick and mortar on the east coast would have very little inventory, high prices, and shifty staff. I remember heading to a lot of "Computer Shows" to buy stuff off of tables in a flea-market/swap-meet atmosphere.

Who remembers when slapped together systems by InSight ruled the world? 64k Trident graphic cards with 16,000 colors and 14" interlaced CRT monitors. Mmm... local BBS and Wolfenstein 3D![/nostalgia]

Of course the old farts will start talking about the REAL homebrew machines... I only go back as far as a TRS-80. Sorry. :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80

I wish we had Fry's on the east coast. I have been to a couple while traveling and have always been impressed.

Pretty simple. Equation:

poor customer service + high prices + no advertising + poor locations = failed business

After saying I would stay clear of them, I gave them a chance in August. I needed a new Bluetooth dongle for an install for a friend. While Newegg and ZipZoomFly had it for much cheaper, I needed it that evening. CompUSA's website told me the Midtown store had it in stock at twice the price, so I ordered it for "In Store Pickup" at 11 a.m. and then got to the store at 5:30 p.m. Guess what? Not in stock. Did I get an email telling me not to show up? A phone call? Did I even get an apology? No. Nothing. Just a, "Oh, we don't have that. You should check our other store uptown."

Punish the weak. Now, if we could just have BestBuy go out of business...

@ The Steven,

I still have an Egghead Software branded 5.25" floppy disk notcher lying around somewhere. :)

Check out the Fujitsu T2010. Battery life is great, 3.5lbs...

I have the first generation of this product. It is okay, but not great. I wouldn't buy it again, especially due to the battery limitation. It is not a small design.

Sound quality is excellent, especially if you bring real microphones. The phantom power is fine for most small condenser microphones. I most often use a pair of Crown CM-700s.

I did have the unit die on me during a firmware upgrade WITH ONE DAY left on the warranty. They handled it, but it took 3 weeks for them to turn it around.

CompactFlash also has an IDE controller and lower overhead for use on whatever system it is on.

Rabbits taste good.