Micro Center Archives

SSD pricing gets media attention

Dave Farquhar Hardware December 24, 2012July 15, 2017computerworld, Micro Center, ocz, samsung

It’s not news to my regular readers that SSD pricing continues to drop, but Computerworld noticed that this week.

Everyday pricing is well around 90 cents per gigabyte now, and with some shopping around, it’s possible to do better than that.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.

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What to make of this Black Friday’s sub-$200 laptops

Dave Farquhar Hardware November 12, 2012amd, best buy, black friday, compaq, lenovo, Libre Office, Micro Center, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Security Essentials, netbooks, office 2010, windows 7, windows 8

It’s still a couple of weeks off, but we already know two retailers will be offering sub-$200 laptops on the day the United States gorges itself on bargains.

The question is, what do you get for your $200 on these minimalist laptops? I’ll answer those questions, then you can decide whether they’re worth $200 and braving the crowds, the weird hours, and likely the cold. (Yes, there are costs beyond the money you spend.) Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Early impressions of G7’s 900-lumen 9W LED bulb

Dave Farquhar Saving money November 10, 2012led bulbs, lumen, lumens, lumens per watt, Micro Center

My latest lighting experiment is a 900-lumen bulb from G7, which is rated at 9 watts and priced at around $16. It’s advertised as equivalent to a 65W incandescent. I’ve had two of them for about two months now, and my initial impressions are favorable overall.

Dave Farquhar

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The lightbulb reinvented

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized September 19, 2012CFL, cfls, costco, led bulbs, lumen, lumens, lumens per watt, Micro Center, wi-fi

Timothy Hunt asked me (via Twitter) if I’ve seen the lightbulb reinvented, an LED bulb that screws into a standard socket but has wi-fi capability so you can tune its light temperature and otherwise control it with a smartphone.

I hadn’t. But I found it interesting, and appreciate the mention. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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The tradeoffs between AMD’s Phenom and FX CPUs

Dave Farquhar Hardware August 26, 2012April 15, 2018amd, intel, math coprocessor, Micro Center, phenom

Micro Center is dangling some dirt, dirt cheap AMD CPUs these days, which has me thinking. I have a couple of pokey machines hanging around that I don’t use very much, so what if I modernized one of them?

The current-generation FX processors are cheap, but previous-generation Phenom CPUs are even cheaper. What to do?
Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Buying that Nook was more work than it needed to be

Dave Farquhar Hardware July 19, 2012kmart, Micro Center, Nook Simple Touch, VHS

I drove to the Kmart the 90s forgot–on Manchester Avenue in St. Louis, if it matters–in search of a $70 Nook Simple Touch. I found it in the electronics section, in the very back of the store, in a glass case with a bunch of obsolete stuff. If you need VHS tapes, I know your place.

The price was wrong. That was a bad sign, but I waited until the clerk wasn’t busy.

Dave Farquhar

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A preliminary review of the Inland warm white A19 LED bulb

Dave Farquhar Saving money April 29, 2012April 29, 2012CFL, cfls, led bulbs, lumen, lumens, Micro Center, philips

Micro Center had the Inland warm white A19 LED bulbs on sale this week and had a hard time keeping them in stock. I snagged an 800 lumen (60W equivalent), non-dimmable bulb, which uses 10 watts, for $13. It’s not the state of the art in 10W LED bulbs, but the price is right and it has a 3-year warranty. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Best Buy needs to clone Micro Center, not Radio Shack

Dave Farquhar Retail April 1, 2012April 22, 20181990s, best buy, computer software, IRS, Micro Center, radio shack

So Best Buy is planning to close 50 big-box stores, downsize others, and try to focus its efforts on selling cell phones, tablets, and e-readers.

Sounds to me like they’re trying to become Radio Shack. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Another questionable SSD bargain

Dave Farquhar Hardware March 29, 2012April 2, 2025amiga, amiga os, BSOD, intel, Micro Center, ocz, samsung

There’s a deal floating around on 90 GB OCZ Agility 3 drives for $80. But I’m not inclined to bite, for two reasons. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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HP has a brilliant idea

Dave Farquhar Hardware February 16, 20121990s, acer, apple, asus, corsair, dell, hp, IBM, Micro Center, pc magazine, pc world, Super Bowl

After last year’s flip-flopping on getting rid of its not-quite-as-profitable-as-they’d-like PC business, and the resulting self sabotage, HP needed a good idea to try to undo the damage.

Their idea is completely unoriginal, but it’s tried and true and more likely to work than anything else they could possibly do: Bundle their premium PCs with premium-level customer service and charge a little more.

Dave Farquhar

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