Fry's is a complicated beast. You can't just show up and run through with a shopping cart and fill it up. Fry's shopping begins on friday, when "The Frys Ad" comes out. It used to be that frys actually sent cease&decsist letters to people posting these online, so you had to actually buy a copy of the San Jose Mercury (or other local paper, presumably). Now they're posted on the SJ Mercury's web site (kids have it so easy these days). Then, you have to look through then you have to look through the eight to ten page ad, looking for the lost leader prices which will be distributed through pages of normally prices on sale items. Now, you make a mental list of the things you want, and head off to the store. If you go on friday, there's a chance they might have the items that are good deals. If you wait for the weekend, they'll be sold out. Once you get to the store, you wander up and down through the sections where you think the products you are looking for might be. If you're lucky, you'll spot it, because unless it's That Weeks Hard Drive Deal, it won't be marked in any way. If you're lucky, you'll end up with a $20 wireless router and some $0.25 ethernet cables.

On the other hand, Frys is great when you need something odd, right away. They've got everything, but just like any bricks and mortar store, it's going to cost more than what you can get it on the internet for.

Matthew