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2002 Buyers' Guide: Best Places To Buy Online

I'm browsing an online store whose home page features a slick-looking sales rep in shades hawking deals on digital cameras, laptops, and so on--a little cheesy-looking, maybe, but the price is right. Another site's home page is more cluttered than my eight-year-old's bedroom floor, but it offers free shipping. Still another site has a clean layout, lots of product information, and a trusted name, but yikes--high prices!

Choosing where to buy stuff online can be a baffling experience. You want a great price, but not if it means crummy service or shady deals. You also want a site that's easy to get around and tells you everything you want to know--from full product specs to total price with shipping to return policies. Finally, you want a site that'll be there for you if there's a problem.

To find out where you can get the best bargains and service, we shopped at a dozen online computer stores. Our goal? To locate the smoothest overall shopping experience--and to cull the sleazy vendors from the virtuous. In the end, we were pleased to find more good guys than slimy sales reps, though we still encountered snafus. Here's our story.

How We Tested

We ordered from big-name vendors Amazon.com, Buy.com, CDW, Computers4Sure, Dell, ECost, Micro Warehouse, Outpost.com, and PC Connection, along with no-name stores--A2Z Computers, MP Superstore, and TigerDirect--that often show up on shopping search engines because of their low prices. From each store, we bought an IBM ThinkPad R31 notebook, an Olympus Camedia D-40 Zoom digital camera, a 19-inch NEC MultiSync FP955 monitor, and a copy of Microsoft's Office XP Standard Upgrade. If a store didn't have what we wanted, we bought a similarly configured substitute.

We also comparison-shopped 16 other products--from PCs to PDAs to security software--by checking their availability, price, and shipping costs at every store.

We evaluated sales and return policies, shipping options, and overall ease of use. We ordered online and called customer service along the way to test its efficiency. As stuff arrived, we unpacked and powered up each item except the software. Then we returned the items for refunds.

The Big Picture

Our best experience was at Computers4Sure (which is owned by Office Depot), thanks to its easy-to-navigate site, terrific selection, and helpful service. PC Connection, CDW, and Micro Warehouse also came out near the top of our list for their good selection, fair prices, and reliable service. Our gripe: Vendors should make a greater effort to tell shoppers which items are nonreturnable (although Computers4Sure and PC Connection made exceptions by taking products they initially said couldn't be returned).

A2Z and TigerDirect get our booby prize for bungling every step of our shopping experience. A2Z had a lost order, indifferent customer service, and apparently used software being sold as new; TigerDirect had little selection, aggressive marketing, and distrust of its customers.

As for the other sites, each had a major glitch that landed it in the middle. Dell took weeks to refund money for a couple of returned items, and its phone customer service can be like an Escher print: loops leading nowhere. Buy.com makes it difficult to talk to a rep. ECost has a tough return policy, MP Superstore's selection is limited, and Outpost.com's site design is clunky and hard to navigate. And while Amazon.com is a great place to buy books and CDs, we'd go elsewhere for PC gear.

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