Last year, the pandemic and the need for remote school gear caused a tech drought. This year, a computer chip shortage has hit everything from carmakers to dog washers, and most notably electronics like game consoles, graphics cards, and computers. Demand remains high, and shortages are likely to continue well into 2022.
You're probably going to find it hard to get exactly what you want this back-to-school season. But are these items really impossible to find? It depends on where you look. You've probably heard friends lament their lack of availability, but when pressed on where they searched, they probably say one word: Amazon. We get it. Prime shipping means we tend to look there first, too. But there are a few ways to find the electronics, gadgets, and PCs you need right now.
Prepare to Pay Higher Prices
This is perhaps the only solution when it comes to the lack-of-laptops conundrum facing workers and students today. On an individual basis, it is easy to find a computer—as long as you're willing to pay more for mid-range or high-end devices. (As for buying in bulk, good luck.)
The upside to this approach: Rather than waiting for a laptop to show up from the school system, you own the computer outright, so you can do what you like to it. By paying more you probably bought a higher-end device that will last years, not just a school year.
The downside: Because you own it, you aren't likely to get as much, or any, tech support from the school system or your office IT. Some schools may not let you even have access to select services. It's worth a call to the tech people in charge before you plunk down more money.
Go Refurbished
Laptops and other devices break and get fixed, but sometimes people open a box, decide they don't want it, and return it after minimal or no use. Those products, known as "refurbished" or "open box" devices, are then resold by the manufacturer or retailer at a cheaper price. Read all about them in 10 Things to Know Before You Buy Refurbished Electronics.
Install Shopping Bargain Tools
It's possible that Amazon has the best customer service, and (at least until COVID hit) the best shipping, but the best prices? Not always. There's an entire ecosystem of software you can install, typically as a browser extension, that will tell you about better deals as you shop for products on Amazon or other sites. These tools may also help you find products Amazon and others no longer have in stock.
Extensions like Capital One Shopping, Honey, and our very own RetailMeNot Deal Finder (RetailMeNot is owned by Ziff Davis, the publisher of PCMag) will display competitor results atop an Amazon page and at other shopping sites. They are powered by users who provide the best prices they see. So you can shop at Amazon, and still buy things Amazon doesn't have in stock (if anyone has it).
Shop Obscure Online Stores
In the US, we're conditioned in many ways to see Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Best Buy as the only places to shop for tech. Obviously, that's not true. There are plenty of online outlets, whether you want to buy direct from the manufacturers like Apple, Samsung, Google, or Dell or utilize other retail outlets. Smaller retailers in particular might save you some money, and aren't as likely to sell out instantly as the manufacturers and big-box stores are.
A few to consider are Newegg, TigerDirect, Micro Center, OutletPC, Discount Computer Depot (but sadly, not Frys.com). Don't forget eBay, which is now much more of an online department store for thousands of resellers than an online auction house.
Subscribe to Deals
There are sites with entire communities devoted to promoting the best deals online. Slickdeals boasts 10 million users who upvote the best deals. BrickSeek focuses on brick-and-mortar stores (the name comes from the origins of collectors seeking out Legos). Our own sister site, Offers.com, has links to savings every day on all products, not just tech, with plenty of coupon codes to use when making a purchase.
You can also subscribe at some sites to find specific products as they become available. Even Walmart and Target will send you in-stock notifications on a lot of products. But branch out to the larger internet. Zoolert monitors products’ availability and lets you know immediate if one of your alert tracker items is in stock. NowInStock does the same.