Do You Actually Save Money in a Microcenter Store? (2024)

SKORPI0 said:

Nearest MC is 25 miles from me. Bought my mobo and CPU combo Sept 2012, saved about $125 compared to Newegg, after tax.

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So, it is way cheaper. It "says" 40 minutes, but if I drive 85MPH-100MPH like I normally do, it will take 20-30 minutes which Im fine doing.

Microcenter is famous for deeply discounting Intel CPUs, that is where the savings is coming from. They do require you to buy the CPU in-store and usually have bonus discounts if you buy a CPU with a mobo. They also have very cheap house brand flash memory (thumb drives, SD cards), and also can have very good deals on hard drives.

The rest of the store is competitively priced with newegg and amazon, you are not going to find as wide a selection in store as you will on Newegg (for obvious reasons). They also don't seem to carry much in the way of higher end GPU in the store. They do have cases out of the boxes to look at, which is definitely nice.

I usually build systems from Newegg, but it's silly not to at least pick up the CPU at Microcenter if there is one in driving distance.

Of course, if you get a speeding ticket while driving there that savings is going to go right out the window.

Here and there their might be a specific item on Sale.

Otherwise, their prices are higher than the Online stores like NewEgg.

I would Not Drive 40 miles to and another back unless I see on their online site a specific item that I need and it is Deeply Discounted.

You could have just looked at the price and saw it for yourself.

Intel CPU+Mobo combo is INSANELY cheap at microcenter. My 4770k cost $330 on newegg (I think?) and mobo was well over $100.

I drove 40 minutes to MC (I don't speed anymore, or I try not to. Didn't speed at all on this trip), and paid $400 for mobo/4770k and tax. Definitely worth it to me.

JackMDS said:

Here and there their might be a specific item on Sale.

Otherwise, their prices are higher than the Online stores like NewEgg.

I would Not Drive 40 miles to and another back unless I see on their online site a specific item that I need and it is Deeply Discounted.

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If I go on a Sunday morning and the Merritt and 287 are almost empty, I can cruise at 110-120MPH and get there in 15 minutes. I drove to Yonkers before at that speed...cheetah :biggrin::biggrin:

NewCanaan said:

There is a Micocenter 40 minutes away from me (I can make it in 25 at 85-90MPH.) Anyways, are the prices they have in the store really much cheaper than Amazon or Newegg? Is the drive worth it?

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NewCanaan said:

So, it is way cheaper. It "says" 40 minutes, but if I drive 85MPH-100MPH like I normally do, it will take 20-30 minutes which Im fine doing.

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NewCanaan said:

If I go on a Sunday morning and the Merritt and 287 are almost empty, I can cruise at 110-120MPH and get there in 15 minutes. I drove to Yonkers before at that speed...cheetah :biggrin::biggrin:

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I gotta feeling the OP is trolling us.

My Motherboard/CPU were bought at Microcenter, but once I factor in gas and sales tax, it's usually not worth going there for anything else. (vs. Amazon Prime and no sales tax.) And my last couple system builds have been weird ones, like a Celeron 1037U NAS and an i5-4670T, neither of which MC would have had. So I mostly buy stuff there when I want instant gratification or don't have time to order it before a weekend. (When I have time to tinker.)

The lines are crazy-long, usually around half an hour of waiting in line on a Saturday afternoon. I bought some screws there a few weeks ago - bought them online the night before and they were at the will-call. I highly recommend it.

And the overall environment is kind of disheartening. Like... there are way too many people (other customers) there who actually care about what video card I have, and who would like to engage me in conversation about GPUs in general... and it's kinda creepy.

NewCanaan said:

So, it is way cheaper. It "says" 40 minutes, but if I drive 85MPH-100MPH like I normally do, it will take 20-30 minutes which Im fine doing.

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Speeding wastes gasoline. The most efficient speed for most cars is about 60MPH.

NewCanaan said:

If I go on a Sunday morning and the Merritt and 287 are almost empty, I can cruise at 110-120MPH and get there in 15 minutes. I drove to Yonkers before at that speed...cheetah :biggrin::biggrin:

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So.. save $$$ on the CPU gear, and lose $$$ on speeding ticket + insurance rates go up...

Sounds like a plan!
()

chimaxi83 said:

Hey OP, who gives a rats ass how fast your mother's car is?

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x2

It depends on what you get. Some items are heavily discounted (CPUs, some mobos), some items are about the same as Newegg or Amazon (SSDs, monitors), and some items are more expensive.

Oh, and their open-box prices are fantabulous. I've gotten a couple of open-box laptops from them--looked like buyer's remorse, as there was absolutely nothing wrong with them and they looked pristine--for really great prices.

And of course, they are great for I-need-this-part-right-now scenarios (e.g., unexpected hardware failures).

The last time I built a PC, I got about half my parts from my local MC, and the other other half from Newegg. You can check out the prices online without hopping in your car (and even reserve items for in-store pickup), so why not make use of that? Do some price comparisons with Newegg/Amazon/etc., decide what part to get from where, and then reserve them for pickup at MC, if you decide that there are some that are worth driving for.

dave_the_nerd said:

And the overall environment is kind of disheartening. Like... there are way too many people (other customers) there who actually care about what video card I have, and who would like to engage me in conversation about GPUs in general... and it's kinda creepy.

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LOL. Like women chatting in a grocery store?

GMasonDragonDad said:

I prefer to get my spinning rust from a B&M. No UPS/FedX mishandling of my drive. Not many other stores around anymore.

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...Read the 1 word under the OP's name :smack:.

NewYorksFinest said:

...Read the 1 word under the OP's name :smack:.

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...Junior?

dave_the_nerd said:

...Junior?

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Or maybe he was referring to UConnHusky1, which I'm guessing is one of his (many) former usernames?

GMasonDragonDad said:

I prefer to get my spinning rust from a B&M. No UPS/FedX mishandling of my drive. Not many other stores around anymore.

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What about the shipping from the distributor to B&M, or the from the factory to the distributor?

My wife says she doesn't save any money when I go there.... but what does she know???

I usually get my CPU/mobos there, I've bought quite a few cases and HDD/SSDs there. No, it's not cheaper, usually, than Newegg because I pay sales tax, but I have the luxury of looking and handling a case, mobo, et al, before I buy it, plus I have it RIGHT THEN. When my SSD puked last year, it was worth the extra $50 it cost me to drive down and buy that Plextor M5Pro, rather than wait on it to be shipped to me from Newegg.

In the end, it's only worth what you are willing to pay for it. I'm damned glad I have a MC near me (and MC isn't the only one... I have Fry's, Altex, TigerDirect near me...) in Dallas... but I prefer MC. In fact, I swore I would NEVER go into Fry's ever again, so mark them out.