[ The PC Guide | The PC Buyer's Guide | Understanding PC Sources, Vendors and Prices ]

Researching Vendors and Prices

Given the wide variety of different sources for PC systems and components, and the thousands of different vendors available for you to choose from, making your selections can be overwhelming at times. In another section I discuss the various factors you should use to differentiate between vendors; these will help you sort the good from the bad. However, when you come down to it, you will need to do research on vendors and on their products and the prices they carry.

Research is important because unless you make the effort to do it, you will always be "taking your chances" to some extent. You'll never know if other people are having problems with the vendor you selected. You'll never be sure if that great deal you found really is a great deal.

Fortunately, there are a number of different tools that you can use, online and off, to help you determine whether the purchase you are considering is likely to be a good experience or a bad one.

In this section, I will provide some ideas to help you do your own research into vendors and component and system prices. I will discuss different resources that are available to you for doing research, and how to use them effectively.

Tip: The page discussing vendor and product reputation is also of relevance to the material in this section.

Next: Take Your Time

Home  -  Search  -  Topics  -  Up