In article ,
Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Find a better source for your boards.

Or, at least, be reasonably cautious about what brand and model you
are buying.

My guess is that Frys (like most mass-market merchants) puts together
"deal" combo packages to hit specific low-price points, knowing that
consumers are often very price-sensitive. As a result of this
approach, the components in these "deal" packages tend to be cheaply
built, and not terribly robust. Even if Fry's weren't recycling
consumer-returned components (which they do - they're usually marked
as such with a small discount, but I imagine that some aren't properly
marked) the reliability of the combo packages isn't great.

Cheap is often very expensive.

I think you're better off selecting specific models and components
from the higher-tier manufacturers *before* you go into the store...
build your own system design rather than depending on whatever package
Fry's is tossing together this week. If Fry's happens to have them
(and I wouldn't bet on it) and you're willing to trust that the
specific one you pick off the shelf is actually new and not a return,
it's probably OK to buy from them... you know you can return 'em if
you aren't happy.

I tend to prefer to mail-order the components I want (I've used
NewEgg.com several times with good results) - the chances seem better
that I can actually find what I want in-stock, rather than having to
call around to six different Fry's stores and get put on hold for eons
before being allowed to talk to a salesdroid to find out whether their
computer says it's in-stock and whether there's actually one on the
shelf.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
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