Shopping for a New Computer
We took a family trip to Fry's Electronics, the B&M of Outpost.com. My parents wanted a new computer, plus an LCD monitor. After perusing the various options, we decided on an eMachines T2682 (2.6 GHz Celeron, 80 GB HD, 256 MB RAM [we added another 256], CD-RW, DVD-ROM), which Fry's advertised with a $50 MIR. For the monitor, though my parents originally planned on a 15", I convicned them that what they really wanted was a 17", so we got the ViewSonic VA720, which came with a $100 MIR. Fry's also offered the Canon i250 printer as FAR ($50) with a computer purchase, so my parents got that as well. At checkout, the clerk was only able to find the latter two rebates - the rebate we were given for the computer was for different models. (I later discovered that the rebate for the machine we bought had expired on 1/11/04, two days before our purchase, but during the same sale). So Fry's gave us a form to fill out, promising to send the rebate form to us when they found. This was a bit worrisome in my mind, and we got a CSR involved who promised to take care of it personally. Two days later, she called back saying she had credited my parents' credit card $50, because the rebate couldn't be found.