Speciality stores rock

Recently I've had a lot of problems with the wireless PCI card I bought (D-LINK DWA-510), and it made me reflect on many purchases I've made, which have ended up being a waste of money, troublesome or both, just so I could save a dollar or two.

Speciality store are generally more expensive, but more often than not the quality of stock or quality of service is well worth it.

One example I've used before is PCCaseGear, who specialise in PC Cases and cooling. Sure, they have other things too, but their range isn't nearly diverse in those sections as it is in their case and cooling sections. You'll also notice from time to time they don't carry a certain brand fan or case. The reason is that product probably sucks, not that they can't sell it.
(Recently loving the Noctua 92mm fan I bought from them, dropped CPU temperatures by 10->15c, while being under 20dBa)

Same goes for my favourite place to buy headphones, Headphonics. Marcus sells a huge range of headphones, for very good prices. Apart from having a generous 20-day trial of headphones, their forum's have recommendations for half a dozen price brackets - perfect for me!
(Audiotechnia ATH-AD700's are yum, but now I want a pair of Beyerdynamic DT250's!)

Back onto the trouble with the D-Link card, I'm very much regretting not spending the time to research the card, and look around for alternatives. If I had of, I would have bought from Cormain, who specialise in ADSL networking gear. They don't sell gear they can't recommend. Aaron from Cormain is very active in the Whirlpool forums, but without trying to peddle his own goods. I bought my ADSL2+ router from those guys, and I haven't regretted any part of the purchase, from delivery, price, and finally, the actual performance of the device.
(Netcomm NBPlus4W is a great router for the price!)

I know this probably sounds like a huge ad for these three stores, but it is more of a reminder to myself than to others that buying from specialty stores will always result in a better experience.

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