What is your favorite electronics store to shop at and why?

It really depends on what I'm looking for. For instance, if I want DVDs, I usually go to Best Buy, as their selection is enormous. If I'm looking for televisions and home theater, I stick with Sears, because the selection of quality brands and models at the mass-market level is the same as pretty much anywhere else. If I want computers or peripherals, Best Buy has a very large selection and it's very customer-accessible environment.

I shop online most of the time and read a ton of reviews before I buy electronics. 

Best Buy = CD DVD BluRay Digital Cameras, Cell Phones,

Home Theater - ( have separate sound rooms to display this product)

MicroCenter =  computers and peripherals / most software

TV's - Sears but it depends on the store & most Essentials HE Depts. are not well supported with inventory stock , HDTV's especially . You then have to go to a full line store if you want to "take it home today".

It almost seems like Essentials stores got an HE Dept but the DM's or whoever just dont have the interest level in stocking items to compete with a bigger sister store or the competition down the road, we all know who they are.....too much overhead maybe? Associates who work in these types of stores really suffer, most know their product well enough to consumate the sale, but I think its hard to compete, or convince the customer " we will have to order it for you" folks dont like to wait around for your"transfer sale" procedure, I didnt

Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Costco, Frys , Vans and your regional outlets...lets face it, the competition is quite fierce. Your HA, HE and your Hardware Depts pull in most of the $$ on Essentials stores, or I presume they do, so they all should be well supplied or folks will just go elsewhere-hopefully to another large Sears FLS.

From the outside looking in this is what I have experienced as a customer/cardholder. I want Sears to be "the place" for electronics needs but it just ain't happening.

I currently work in a FLS Sears store, and truthfully even in the FLS I see this as the number one reason that customers shop elsewhere for their TVs. Much of the problem that I have seen stems from the limited stock room available for our store and the over abundance of stock of particular TVs instead of a nice amount of all.

As far as the CDs, DVDs, Blu-Ray DVDs i myself find that I shop more at Best Buy for those, but have found that many of those can be found cheaper at Wal-Mart or even places like Hollywood Video, Blockbuster, Movie Gallery where they sell new videos as well. Yet on a typical day if I am looking for a specific Blu-Ray movie I go to Best Buy. Not sure if it is out of habit, comfort with the store, or their excessive stock, but I do seem to gravitate to it.

If it must be a store, i always try Sears first.  They usually have what i want and if not it's comparable.  If not a store it's always Amazon, they usually have what sears doesn't and it's almost always free shipping.  Plus the reviews are helpful.

I just wanted to add that you can always shop at Sears.com and have your TV shipped to the store where you can pick it up. It takes a bit longer, but then you have the expanded assortment of TVs online to choose from. So if you don't need the TV that day, you can still get it at the store this way!

I usually do most of my electronics shopping online at sites like newegg and tigerdirect, because they generally have great product descriptions with details other sites leave out, and specs the back of the box or little label in a store never mention. Most of their items have loads of pictures too, so if i can't get my hands on it, its usually not a problem since they have shots from every angle and measurements to detail it to me.

I browse through Best Buy a lot, but usually don't buy there, because i tend to get much better deals online, and the few times i would browse for large-ticket items, they were totally unwilling to help me. (from not wanting to show me the back of a television or hooking up an alternate video source, to not letting me listen to a home theater receiver.) On the other hand, i ended up buying my last TV through Sears, because the salesman was not only already knowledgable about the product, but was more than happy to help me move it around to examine the inputs on the back.

Sears has a really nice selection and if you have to have it now most hometown stores are willing to sell what they have even the display.

For computers, their accessories, and  computer repairs I go to Staples. They have a free PC tune up on right now and it cleaned up my computer and they made recommendations about my laptop. etc

Best Buy doesn't live up to it's name (especially with the demise of chief competitor Circuit City) as most items are strictly MSRP . . . and they ALWAYS try a hard-sell for an extended warranty.

Sales at Sears must be tremendous - earlier this year I tried to buy a new LCD TV on sale at the Sears Grand in Austin, TX . . . except for the displays, they were completely sold out of every advertised model, with (according to the saleswoman) absolutely none available for the store to order. Business must be really good . . .

Which TV were you trying to order?

when i lived in northern california i loved to go to frys for hours and just browse around. if there was one around here i would most likely go there. but the service agreements at saers are 2nd to none. thats why i bought my tv from them. 

You can thank the digital transition for the shortage. People waited until the last minute, and ended up depleting supplies of televisions and converter boxes in a matter of weeks.

If you were trying around February-April, we were in model year transition, and, again, nobody anywhere had televisions (not just Sears, either!).

Not true I bought six converter boxes in March and help friends buy three 50 inch LCD Samsungs and a couple of 17 in LCD all in March. Installed all of them also. Stop spinning the lack of due diligence by Sears Management. Their mistakes have cost Sears millions of dollars and customers. Yeah I waited til the last minute but not my job or problem. I took care my people.  

I used to love CompUSA but then they went under. I like Best Buy but their prices aren't that good unless you only buy what's on sale. I wish we had Fry's down here in Louisiana.

As michelina stated, I do most of my electronics shopping online. Newegg.com FTW.

Televisions- Sears ALL the way! Of course certain weeks are better than others. 24 Months, No Interest OR 10% Instant Savings is always great. Larger stores tend to have an impressive stock, despite select Tvs (like the 2-4 i would consider) are usually sold out, knowing my luck... while the other 50 Tv models that I don't want, Sears has in stock. Sears offers FAR more reasonable prices on accessories than Best Buy.

Sears also pays their associates an hourly rate with a SMALL commission rate. If I can get the same price at both a commissioned store and a non-commissioned store, i'll pick the commissioned store.... associate there care ALOT more. Sears associates get a base hourly rate... so they aren't crazy agressive like H.H. Gregg associates are.

Computers: ONLINE, www.slickdeals.com

Computer Parts and Components: www.tigerdirect.com

DVDs: Wal-mart

Cameras: Best Buy

Mostly Tigerdirect, and sometimes NewEgg.

Being a system builder, I find that both sites offer enough product at reasonable prices to accomodate the needs of myself, as well as my clients.

Oh, and sammen, some Sears Associates are COMISSION-ONLY out here in the real world...

seems a nice split retail and online. In Chicago there is a nice experieince in shopping at Abt. Not the place to go if you want to be in and out of a store but a fun shoppioung experience. As for online NewEgg has set a bar and has great customer service and shipping. Also OneCall is a decent site looking for home electronics. See lots of comemnts about PC's and peripherals and no comments on Apple Stores. Some friends of mine claim they are loyal and love the Apple store experience.

CompUSA...used to love going there as a kid. Used to always buy PC games over there or look at their computers.