Where do Information Technology Professionals buy hardware and most software? They buy it online and they buy it often from vendors you may not know.
Let start with a disclaimer. I am not being paid to recommend these businesses. I don’t have affiliate agreements with any of them at the moment, I may in the future. I use these companies to help my clients.
For cables and all things connecting – I usually shop Monoprice. Monoprice has a large selection of cables and the quality is good to better. They have the things the big office supply places sell for way too much – like standing desks, and monitor arms. They have low cost network switches, USB hubs, and cable management supplies.
I don’t usually use low cost network switches. They have their place, but for anything that needs a long life and heavy use, I am always going to prefer a manageable smart switch. My goto brand lately has been TP-Link. The popular names Netgear, LinkSYS, D-Link, and Cisco all have products worth considering but TP-Link usually provides the best value with the core features and performance I need. For these my preferred source is Amazon.
For desktop and laptops (Windows computers) it is usually Amazon again. Lately for business class laptops, I have had a better than usual experience with Lenovo ThinkPads. However, specs and client preferences make up a lot of what will be the deciding factors for laptops and desktops. For Apple gear, its almost always the Apple Store either online or in person. Apple technology is not discounted by 3rd parties and Apple’s buying experience is so good when using their retail outlets – it is usually worth a trip to the Apple store.
If you have a preferred shopping resource, SBS can get that gear up and running for you. Just give us a shout and we will get it going.
