Actually, Pricewatch is my favorite price search engine. I don't care if some of the stuff is OEM -- that works fine for me. And the stuff that won't work as OEM, I just pay a few more and get the retail -- and usually for less than most other price search engines' lowest OVERALL price. Besides, do you really want the crappy retail fan with your CPU's? I'm putting together a top of the line TBird system
(with EVERYTHING -- TBird 1.2 GHz with 266 MHz FSB, Mushkin PC2100, GeForce 2 Pro - overclockable to Ultra level (I hope!), X-Gamer 5.1, etc, etc, etc.
) for $2400 -- and that's AFTER SHIPPING with NO CRAPPY PARTS. Not to mention that that's only the SLATED price -- it will most likely come down when the parts I'm looking at actually come out.
And lol about the scam thing. I've noticed that with some retailers, but most of them give you the lowest price with reasonable shipping. For those you're unsure of, just go to
Reseller Ratings and see what others have to say.
And I'm not saying these sites are the be-all and end-all of online shopping. Just that they're invaluable if you really want the lowest price. Especially with Staples PM and coupon (I LOVE that!).