There's a couple guys at the local Best Buy where I live that are pretty good. I will test some by acting a noob just to see what they say. It's always nice when you go into a place like that and nicely tell them stuff and actually teach them. I once asked if they carried Wireless 802.11n directional antennas and the dude I asked said they did not. So I walked to the shelf behind him and 3 feet away on the bottom of the shelf picked one up and showed it to him. I then smiled, and walked away. Gotta test those folks! At least I like to. It is really cool though when you do hold conversation with someone who actually does know their a55 from their elbow and ya wind up making a "store friend" that way. They'll remember you because you aren't a noob like 98% of the people they deal with.
That's such a win. Worst i got is when i asked for a molex splitter...and the guy got really confused, but the coworker he fetched actually knew..
Originally it was meant to be a performance rating giving an equivalent to an Intel P4 counterpart. Meaning: An AMD 2600+ would be the equivalent of an Intel running at 2.6, a 3600+ would be the equivalent of an Intel running at 3.6. BUT I think that changed during the dual core release.
That's what made me hate AMD, my Athlon XP 2000+ was no where near as good as my friends 2.0ghz Pentium.
At the risk of opening myself up to a barrage of ridicule, I will say that I myself work in the computers department at Best Buy. It really depends on the store whether or not the salespeople are quality. I will acknowledge that I am by far the most knowledgeable in the department as far as hardware goes, although one of my coworkers knows more about networking than I do. There is no doubt though, that everyone I work with has an acceptable knowledge level with computers, and certainly know quite a bit more than the average customer. Remember, you're here in the forums of a website dedicated to computer hardware. Many of the customers I deal with on a daily basis don't know the difference between RAM and storage. It's a rarity that I get to engage in a technical discussion with a customer. As for Geek Squad, nearly all of the ones in my store have an impressive level of knowledge, and I am comfortable going to them for questions I can't answer. I don't know if my experiences are average, and believe me I too have heard horror stories from customers who have received bad answers from other stores, but please don't assume all of us are incompetent. Also, if you think Best Buy is bad, try walking into an H.H. Gregg and start asking computer questions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_PCI_Express_Module http://www.pcgameshardware.com/screenshots/418x627/2008/06/9600M_GT_MXM_3.0.jpg
best buy is pretty entertaining. so was Circuit City but their not in my area anymore, probably cause their techs were actually called sales people who obviously...could not sell. are they on commision? they seem kinda pushy sometimes, especially with extra warranties. I usually don't go there, overpriced imo less its a sale but their sales are usually discontinued items.
