Fry's Electronics

[earthpigg]

i went to fry's for the first time in ages the other day with a friend.

normally for small stuff, i go to Best Buy or to the mom and pop place a little farther down (after i call them to make sure they have what i want on hand).

i think i like Fry's. their book section had linux stuff, and they carried the two 'big' linux magazines. i didn't feel like an unwelcome covert intruder, as i normally do at best buy.

i also liked how they sell hardware components. they had the motherboards and video cards and whatnot displayed out where you could see them and easily glance to see if X motherboard and Y video card and Z other parts will physically fit in a certain case.

they also had a very small jewlery section. i guess that means us nerds are getting girlfriends more... or that there are more girl nerds. either way, woot. i got my gal a nice little necklace. impulse buy.

[CharlesA]

Woot! Fry's rocks. :D

[AllRadioisDead]

Never heard of it.

[FuturePilot]

Never heard of it.

Me either.

[pwnst*r]

It rocks. Best in the West.

[Old_Grey_Wolf]

I have had good experiences shopping at Fry's. The one I shop at is huge.

They have chassis, motherboards, graphic cards, CPUs, power supplies, and so on. It is all out there on the sales floor where you can see it.

They don't sell computers with Linux installed. However, if you buy one of the pre-built computers, they don't care if you are going to install Linux on it. I have never had to return one for repair so that could change things a bit.

I like the sales people as well. They don't try to give me advice about a computer unless I ask for advice. It is refreshing to not have a salesman try to give me advice when it is obvious they don't know what they are talking about.

I have seen reviews were people complain about Fry's not giving them advice. Oh, they like other stores better because of the BS advice they offer. :)

[CharlesA]

They only have stores in 9 states.

I've had overall good experiences at Fry's. I think I had someone try to get me to "upgrade" some stuff I was buying, but it was no big deal.

Most of the time they give good advice.

[Kdar]

I never been to the actual store, but I bough CPU from Fry's online store for very very good price.

[SmallerNuke]

I always go to Fry's just to see what they have. They run some good weekend specials for mobo/proc combos. That's how I usually get a new computer started.

[The Toxic Mite]

Sounds like a good store! Shame I live in the UK... ](*,)

[LADmaticCA]

I went to Fry's for the first time yesterday in Alpharetta, GA...very nice store. We don't have have a dedicated computer/electronic store where I come from so I was blown away. Had a hard time leaving.

[lukeiamyourfather]

Me either.

Some of them are big. They've got all kinds of electronics (computer components like motherboards, electronic components like resistors, appliances, movies, car audio, cameras, etc.).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fry's_Electronics

I used to live a few miles from one and got totally spoiled, now the closest one to me is over 200 miles away. :(

[Mike'sHardLinux]

I also like all the cool stuff they have at Fry's. It is like a geek flea market. But, there is a dark side to Fry's, too. There are websites dedicated to spreading/sharing the bad experiences from Fry's.

[oldsoundguy]

Fry's started out as a Chinese delicatessen and market in San Francisco (a block from my lawyer's/accountant's office years ago in the days of the 8088 .. convenient). Electronics sold in the back! They still have an interest in food and have food markets and deli's in a couple of their stores in the bay area .. and a straight ahead food market/deli in Corte Madera CA (A deli to die for .. fantastic food!). The Fry's in Fountain Valley CA also is one of the largest model railroad stores in southern California. (they sell on line through the hobby magazines.)
LOWEST prices on new stuff in the San Francisco Bay area and a great selection of electronics tools!
We have one that is 25 miles from where I live now in Oregon and it sells everything from appliances and tv's to food!
It is well worth the trip if you are building a box from the ground up ..
Their SERVICE DEPARTMENT SUX BIG TIME, though. They get their techs from a local "get these clowns off of welfare" school.

here are their US locations:
http://www.frys-electronics-ads.com/frys-store-location.htm
They also have a web site.

[steveneddy]

They don't sell computers with Linux installed.

:)

I have bought desktop PC's from Fry's with TurboLinux installed.

I was an OK distro and one of my first experiences with Linux.

http://www.frys.com/

Look at the Linux literature they carry!

http://www.frys.com/search?search_type=regular&sqxts=1&query_string=linux&cat=0&submit.x=0&submit.y=0

[earthpigg]

Fry's started out as a Chinese delicatessen and market in San Francisco (a block from my lawyer's/accountant's office years ago in the days of the 8088 .. convenient). Electronics sold in the back! They still have an interest in food and have food markets and deli's in a couple of their stores in the bay area .. and a straight ahead food market/deli in Corte Madera CA (A deli to die for .. fantastic food!). The Fry's in Fountain Valley CA also is one of the largest model railroad stores in southern California. (they sell on line through the hobby magazines.)
LOWEST prices on new stuff in the San Francisco Bay area and a great selection of electronics tools!
We have one that is 25 miles from where I live now in Oregon and it sells everything from appliances and tv's to food!
It is well worth the trip if you are building a box from the ground up ..
Their SERVICE DEPARTMENT SUX BIG TIME, though. They get their techs from a local "get these clowns off of welfare" school.

i was at the one in concord :P

we are pretty blessed, in the bay area. (http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&q=fry%27s+electronics+bay+area&fb=1&gl=us&hq=fry%27s+electronics&hnear=Bay+Area,+California&view=map&ei=L8BTS6m-DZLAsgPp_9XgCw&ved=0CBUQtwMwAA&hl=en&ll=37.811954,-122.288818&spn=1.905115,4.487915&z=8)

and yeah, expecting a corporate retail store to have knowledgeable employees when it comes to IT stuff is to much to expect.

thats ok though, this is what the intertubes are for.

[raymondh]

Every trip I make to Phoenix ... FRY's is the first place I visit. Too bad we don't have it here in Wichita.

[CJ Master]

It's a very awesome store. Ours doesn't stock any computers with Linux pre-installed, but I forgive them because they have a train bursting out of the wall in the entryway. :)

[Warpnow]

Their $40-$60 motherboard/cpu combo deals are the most amazing things in the entire world.

[coldfire2122]

I love Fry's Electronics. For those of you that have never been its like Best Buy only in a Costco size building with every kind of electronics you can imagine. The newer stores are defiantly a lot nicer that the older ones though.

[OutOfReach]

Ahh I love Fry's, it's the first place I go whenever I need something computer-related, or to just look at all the wonderful stuff. It has everything! Books, TV's, everything a technology nerd could possibly want, even a nice small cafe.
Luckily there's one in my city, maybe a couple of miles away from my home.
I especially love their large inventory of books, just looking at some of them gives me great temptation to buy them :)
The prices for electronics are reasonable too, I've seen some great offers during sales.

[jmszr]

Every week Phoenix Fry's have a newspaper insert with a "Build It Yourself" section. This week's combo deal: AMD Athlon II X3 425 & Biostar MCP6P M2+ for $70 - $10 rebate.

Been meaning to build a development box...hmm.

I usually buy from Newegg, but Fry's is definitely worth keeping an eye on. I stop by every couple of months to browse around and/or buy.

[The Toxic Mite]

You guys are making me jealous already...! :(

[Icehuck]

You guys are making me jealous already...! :(

You're not missing much. I have a Fry's within 15 minutes of my house and I will still order from Newegg 99% of the time.

[sgosnell]

If Fry's doesn't have it, you don't need it. Lots of stuff at a very good price, and some sale stuff at amazing prices. The one south of Houston, TX is NASA themed, mocked up to look like the inside of the space station. I don't think I've ever been able to walk out empty-handed.

As much as they sell, there are always going to be some unhappy people, because some people will never be happy, even if they get their stuff for free. Mistakes will happen no matter what, but I just can't get too excited about it.

[Zonie]

When I lived in Phoenix, I used to go to Fry's Electronics all the time. Loved the place (Think Geek Heaven on Steroids) and would often find myself losing track of several hours as I wandered around.

PROS: Prices, selection, wide aisles.

CON: Being treated like cattle to get checked out of there (one line for 40+ registers) and then have to stop and show your receipt at the door.

But hey, it is the only place that I know of that I could get a chassis, MoBo, the latest Linux mags, case of Red Bull, King sized 3 Musketeers all under one roof - and not feel out of place.

Just wish we had one where I live now...

Thx for the nostalgic trip, btw.

[Warpnow]

If Fry's doesn't have it, you don't need it. Lots of stuff at a very good price, and some sale stuff at amazing prices. The one south of Houston, TX is NASA themed, mocked up to look like the inside of the space station. I don't think I've ever been able to walk out empty-handed.

As much as they sell, there are always going to be some unhappy people, because some people will never be happy, even if they get their stuff for free. Mistakes will happen no matter what, but I just can't get too excited about it.

There's one here near DFW that's western themed with these fake plastic cows.

[CharlesA]

There's one here near DFW that's western themed with these fake plastic cows.

There's one near Burbank, CA that has an alien ship crashed into the front of the store.. with various alien stuff inside. :D

[xuCGC002]

i went to fry's for the first time in ages the other day with a friend.

normally for small stuff, i go to Best Buy or to the mom and pop place a little farther down (after i call them to make sure they have what i want on hand).

i think i like Fry's. their book section had linux stuff, and they carried the two 'big' linux magazines. i didn't feel like an unwelcome covert intruder, as i normally do at best buy.

i also liked how they sell hardware components. they had the motherboards and video cards and whatnot displayed out where you could see them and easily glance to see if X motherboard and Y video card and Z other parts will physically fit in a certain case.

they also had a very small jewlery section. i guess that means us nerds are getting girlfriends more... or that there are more girl nerds. either way, woot. i got my gal a nice little necklace. impulse buy.

The one over here in Renton, and the one I went to in Dallas TX have restaurants inside. :P

[aktiwers]

When I go on vacation to California, I usually stop by Fry's a couple of hours :)

[alexfish]

I also like all the cool stuff they have at Fry's. It is like a geek flea market. But, there is a dark side to Fry's, too. There are websites dedicated to spreading/sharing the bad experiences from Fry's.

hi
could you enlighten us to the reasons as why

RE: There are websites dedicated to spreading/sharing the bad experiences from Fry's.

[Icehuck]

hi
could you enlighten us to the reasons as why

RE: There are websites dedicated to spreading/sharing the bad experiences from Fry's.

Why? When customers are treated poorly they tend to complain.

[alexfish]

Why? When customers are treated poorly they tend to complain.

were you treated poorly?

[Icehuck]

were you treated poorly?

What does that have to do with anything? People were treated poorly and therefore are complaining.

[jrusso2]

Well they never sent me a rebate for the power supply I bought. Six months later the power supply fried and took out the motherboard.

But I was treated ok

[pwnst*r]

What does that have to do with anything? People were treated poorly and therefore are complaining.

Um, there's a website of that sort for EVERY retailer.

[Icehuck]

Um, there's a website of that sort for EVERY retailer.

Yep, people complain. If there were no complaints about a store then I would be more worried.

[Frak]

We have, to the best of my knowledge, 1 Fry's in Oklahoma. We have more TigerDirects/CompUSAs (which is sad).

[Icehuck]

We have, to the best of my knowledge, 1 Fry's in Oklahoma. We have more TigerDirects/CompUSAs (which is sad).

CompUSA has stores again? I like tigerdirect when i need some cheap off brand stuff. I picked up 3 hdmi cables for like $20 from them last year.

[Frak]

CompUSA has stores again? I like tigerdirect when i need some cheap off brand stuff. I picked up 3 hdmi cables for like $20 from them last year.
The CompUSA stores are just the ones that were never re-branded to TigerDirect. And, yes, they are cheap and crappy.

[Ginsu543]

I suppose I am fortunate to be living within reasonable driving distance to two Fry's stores, 15 minutes to one and 25 minutes to the other. Sadly, the one farther away is newer and nicer than the one closer. Since I like to build my own rigs, having Fry's so close is definitely a plus. However, for major purchases, I like to buy online at Newegg.com.

On the other hand, my experience at Fry's has been meh... not bad, but not great.

[Sporkman]

Me either.

It's a west coast thing.

I went into a Fry's once - seems more like a flea market than a store. Aisles are dimly lit, with merchandise haphazardly arranged on crowded shelves. There seems to be a blurry line between "new" and "used"...

[k64]

Here in California, we have Fry's all over the place. For those of you who don't know what it is, it is a warehouse store for electronics. Fry's is HUGE, and has plenty of stuff electronics wise, from phones and iPods all the way down to motherboards, CPUs, graphics cards, OEM hard drives, and cases.

And no, they don't void Linux installs like Best Buy.

Edit: The closest Fry's to me is in Fountain Valley, CA, next closest in Anaheim.

[pwnst*r]

It's a west coast thing.

I went into a Fry's once - seems more like a flea market than a store. Aisles are dimly lit, with merchandise haphazardly arranged on crowded shelves. There seems to be a blurry line between "new" and "used"...

The four FE's i've been to have never looked like that.

Just sayin.

[Dharmachakra]

We have "Microcenters," populated by mostly ignorant salesmen and chicks looking for those pink covers for their MacBooks.

I lived outside of Chicago for a few years and there was a new Fry's in my neighborhood. I didn't frequent it or anything but I would make an effort to go there over the CompUSA down the street.

[Swagman]

Here in Uk we have.... Pain (http://www.pcworld.co.uk). Anyone who actually knows anything only uses them for reference purposes !!

Those in the know use the likes of...

http://www.ebuyer.com/
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/
http://www.aria.co.uk/
etc

[The Toxic Mite]

Here in Uk we have.... Pain (http://www.pcworld.co.uk). Anyone who actually knows anything only uses them for reference purposes !!

Those in the know use the likes of...

http://www.ebuyer.com/
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/
http://www.aria.co.uk/
etc

I know :(

Aria is a pretty good place for consumer electronics though :)

[whiskeylover]

The four FE's i've been to have never looked like that.

Just sayin.

The one I went to in Dallas did look like a flea market.

[Sporkman]

The four FE's i've been to have never looked like that.

Just sayin.

This was in a Fry's in Silicon Valley somewhere, about 6 or 7 years ago. Things may have changed since then.

[Zonie]

Here in Uk we have.... Pain...

That is how I refer to Best Buy - a pain. They act like they know what the hell they are talking about, but usually don't. I (unfortunately) get better Customer Service from Wal-Mart.

My choices are limited here to either getting crapola from Wally World, spending too much for very little at Radio Shack or visiting my local Best Buy. I guess I could try the online places.

[k64]

Here in California, we have Fry's all over the place. For those of you who don't know what it is, it is a warehouse store for electronics. Fry's is HUGE, and has plenty of stuff electronics wise, from phones and iPods all the way down to motherboards, CPUs, graphics cards, OEM hard drives, and cases.

And no, they don't void Linux installs like Best Buy.

Edit: The closest Fry's to me is in Fountain Valley, CA, next closest in Anaheim.

Anybody seen this post? It may be of great importance to Fry's fans.

[Old_Grey_Wolf]

I have bought desktop PC's from Fry's with TurboLinux installed.

I was an OK distro and one of my first experiences with Linux.

http://www.frys.com/

Look at the Linux literature they carry!

http://www.frys.com/search?search_type=regular&sqxts=1&query_string=linux&cat=0&submit.x=0&submit.y=0

I guess I was wrong. The store I go to hasn't had any Linux pre-builds that I have seen.

[Warpnow]

The one I went to in Dallas did look like a flea market.

Mm...I've been to two in dfw, one in Mesquite, and one in Dallas on Plano Parkway, neither of them were at all like a flea market...

[phillychease]

i love frys. go there about once a week! :)

[sgosnell]

I bought a desktop there a few years ago that had Linspire or something like that on it. I ended up installing XP, and I still have it, with Ubuntu installed and XP reserved for those times I have to use Windows for something, which is very rare. In fact, I seldom bother to boot it, mostly preferring my netbook.

[yester64]

I guess I was wrong. The store I go to hasn't had any Linux pre-builds that I have seen.

They used to. They even had a low cost computer which came installed with linux.
I forgot the name of that computer, but i am very certain about this.

Overall i do not like fry's since i know how they work from the inside. I once worked there.
But since i never enjoyed the store as a customer perhaps i am not without any preload on this really.