Are there any descent PC shops in Northern Ireland? I can't find one It's a first class pain trying to find modding supplies locally instead of having to order everything online and getting spanked for delivery! MPlex is in Belfast but they are severely limited in what they stock.
Thanks for the PM John The unfortunate and frustrating answer to your question is no. Other than two MPLEX branches that I know of (Belfast and Portadown - which is closer to my permanent home), there are no other stores that I know of where I could walk in and say 'I'd like this or that' and have any chance of getting it. There is one other place in Belfast that a friend of mine has mentioned a couple of times but I've never been in and don't even know what it's called. I think he said it was behind Castlecourt shopping centre, if that helps. We buy all parts and products from England or further afield, and like yourself get pretty much spanked for delivery on everything. Ebuyer and some other e-tailers don't consider NI to be part of the UK and as a result charge extra for postage here. Materials I do try and buy locally, there are several places where you can buy sheet aluminium and steel from and if you are interested I'll give you those names. Plastics have to come from England too unfortunately, as I haven't been able to find a supplier here that sells in small quantities. They only deal in large orders for signeage companies etc, and trying to buy off those companies third party is both expensive and difficult because they never have the colour or thickness of plastic that I need in stock. It's a very irritating problem that I fully intend on addressing within the next few years. Unicorn Systems' growth is limited at the moment by the amount of time I have to put into studying for my degree. Once I am qualified and have more time to put into the business, I hope to expand our services to supplying components and materials to the modding community. Until then, I'm afraid you might have to make do with paying delivery on all the PC kit you buy Sorry I can't be of more help mate. I'll keep this thread bookmarked and post any new info I find for you. It's nice to hear of another modder based in Northern Ireland. We're pretty rare you know
That would be Mplex It's in Smithfield Market. They're good but very limited stock-wise, it's only a small unit.
It's just as bad in Ireland, believe me. I order most of my parts from mainland UK, thankfully I've only ever had one issue, mobo from Scan that just wont work and I am currently RMAing.
I'm from NI and I think it's going to be hard to beat mplex for service and prices. They are quite competitive and friendly from what I've observed.
Thanks Unicorn and all Nice to get so many replies, I'm from Bolton originally and I've kinda been spoiled in the past, what with Scan being down the road, lol. I've managed to get stuff sent royal mail in the past, 'cos they do consider NI to be part of the UK, it's the courier companies that wont, like city-link, ups etc. Seems there are a few BTers from the Province
Komplett.ie are the only ones I know of mate, there may be more though. Ah, fair enough. Shows you how many times I have been in that branch (0). Erm, I'm not talking about supplying the same sort of standard, sometimes outdated, low spec components that Mplex stock, and I'm also not taking about drawing the line at components. Try asking the guy behind the counter in Mplex for a water cooling pump Last time I walked into Mplex and asked them for anything it was an i7 920 CPU. The guy looked at me as if to say "how do you know what that is?" and proceeded to tell me that they didn't have any. They also didn't have any non-Biostar AM2 mATX motherboards that day. I went home and ordered the stuff from Scan, and it was on my doorstep the next morning. Sorry, but my experiences and yours are obviously different. They may be fine for the average DIY PC customer, but for those who know their apples from their oranges, Mplex stock and prices suck. No problem mate. I didn't actually know there were as many people from here on bit either
Wow, calm down Unicorn! I am not comparing them to the services you can get online. As far as shops go in N Ireland M-plex seem to be the best, and they can get in what ever you need and they will try to be competitiive on their prices. Beggars can't be choosers and I don't see any better alternitives as far as shops in NI are concerned. We are talking about shops not deliveries from scan, who are far from perfect from what I've read. I order all my gear from tekheads and microdirect, but if I need bit's and peices mplex does the job. A friend of mine got a 500 gig spinpoint from mplex for £43, I beleive that to be as good as anywhere else... I mean are we talking about the best compter shops in N Ireland, or not?
Perhaps it's a redundant category... Saying that I just thought of Maplin, no idea what they're like price-wise and they certainly seem limited as regards stock but they do exist They're also in the South, to answer earlier queries about that. And I hate to bring it up but for small bits and pieces PC World aren't actually that bad... Prices aren't brilliant but if all you need is a few fans or molex connectors etc in a hurry and theres one nearby you can't go too far wrong.
