Recent considerations to replace an HDD have led me to the question where you would buy a single internal HDD (or different device of similar size and fragility) - from an online retailer specialized in PC components or in a brick-and-mortar shop?
The pro of the online retailer would be that the part would come from a storage that only the employees would frequent, but there's the danger that the component is being manhandled while it's being shipped to me (I don't know how effective the padding really is in the event that it gets literally tossed around or similar).
Brick-and-mortar shop is pretty much the opposite, I guess. The components may have been sitting there since forever and anyone can just grab a part, in the worst event maybe even drop it and just put it back. On the other hand, I'd rather trust myself to safely get it home.
I suppose that all in all, though, both options come with a certain risk. But I'd like to know if there tends to be a preference for either.
The pro of the online retailer would be that the part would come from a storage that only the employees would frequent, but there's the danger that the component is being manhandled while it's being shipped to me (I don't know how effective the padding really is in the event that it gets literally tossed around or similar).
Brick-and-mortar shop is pretty much the opposite, I guess. The components may have been sitting there since forever and anyone can just grab a part, in the worst event maybe even drop it and just put it back. On the other hand, I'd rather trust myself to safely get it home.
I suppose that all in all, though, both options come with a certain risk. But I'd like to know if there tends to be a preference for either.