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India has a lot of consumer electronic shops, but not many when it comes to tech like computers, laptops, hardware and software. So when I was in the US on my first international trip, there were a couple of stores that I wanted to visit: B&H or Micro Center just to experience what a paradise for tech lovers feels like. Due to a tight schedule, I visited Micro Center in Brooklyn. This was after visiting Dumbo and Brooklyn Bridge.
My dad brought home our first computer when I was in the second grade. A huge cabinet and an even bigger monitor. With all the latest tech then, Windows XP, 80 GB HDD, 256MB of RAM and an internet connection. I remember the first thing I did on it was to open MS Paint and draw a house. This was a couple of decades ago and that was when I fell in love with tech. And over the years, this love has only grown deeper. From computers to smartphones, fitness bands to cars, I love tech.
In this post, I’ll share my experience of visiting Micro Center, a paradise for tech lovers and THE THING I purchased from here.
Micro Center – The Tech Retail Store
Talk to any tech lover and you’ll understand the pain of not having dedicated tech stores in India. The online stores don’t have much choice and everyone can visit Nehru Place, Delhi or Lamington Road, Mumbai. Finding the right gadgets and components is difficult in India. This was the case in the US as well back in the day.
The founders were employees at Radio Shack – a retail giant known for radio and electronic components. Micro Center was founded in the late 1970s and since then it has had multiple stores in the USA. It’s become a go-to place for building computers and gaming PCs. The store has anything and everything that is required to build a computer. From the latest CPUs, Graphic Cards, Cabinets to RAMs, networking switches and everything you could imagine.
Today, Micro Center boasts over 25 stores in the USA and is among the popular names for computer enthusiasts. While in the US, I decided to visit Micro Center in Brooklyn as that was the closest one. I had an option to visit B&H, but I chose this instead.
Reaching Micro Center Brooklyn
After taking a walk on the Brooklyn Bridge, and clicking pictures at Dumbo, I walked to the nearest metro station which would take me to Micro Center. Since I had the weekly unlimited metro pass, I used the metro. So I took a train from York Street to Jay-St Metro Tech and from here I took one to 25th Street.
From here it was about a 15-minute walk. From Brooklyn Bridge to here, the landscape and neighbourhood changed pretty rapidly. The walk to Micro Center wasn’t through the swanky US that you have seen. Nonetheless, since the weather was nice, it didn’t bother me much.
This Micro Center outlet is located on the ground floor of a building and is massive. I initially thought the whole building was Micro Center but that isn’t the case. Nonetheless, I was already excited to visit the store and get mad. The biggest constraint I had was the luggage (and money), else I would have brought so many things from here. I’m sure that more than 60% of the things are easily available in India.
My Micro Center Experience
Upon entering the store, you have distinct pathways, on the left you can go and pick up your order if you placed it online. (I had placed an order too, but I took a right to explore the store.) The first section was related to peripherals – only keyboard and mice. From RGB and mechanicals to wireless and wired, you name it they had it. There was also a massive collection of cases and covers for tables and smartphones. Moving a little further, there was a section for computer chairs and there were quite a few gaming chairs too.
A networking section that had devices that I had seen for the first time ever. From switches to routers to wires and cables, you name it they had it. Similarly, there was a section on audio and there were hundreds of cables, adapters, amplifiers and whatnot. A couple of racks at least for these if not more. The gaming section had joysticks, games and even gaming consoles and handheld devices.
PC Builder’s Paradise
The section that fascinated me the most was the CPU, GPU and the cabinet section – the core PC builder setup. There were CPUs that you won’t easily find in India, the latest GPUs from the era and all of these were available in so many configurations that one couldn’t imagine. Most of the brands were present here and you would find your perfect PC for sure. The cabinets too were in large numbers and options. In short, if you’re planning to build or upgrade your PC, look no further!
There’s also a section on laptops, TVs, audio and other consumer electronics. Though there were quite a few laptops from different brands on display, the number wasn’t extravagant. I felt that many of such stores in India had more models on display than this one. However, the people over there are super helpful and even if an item is not on display, they have many of them in stock, so all you need to do is check with them.
And then there was also a dedicated area for smartphones, where you had the Samsungs, MIs etc. of the world. Apple has their own section. So from iPads to iPhones and Macs, there was everything here. And again they had configurations that you may not find all the time even at Apple stores.
Pro Tip: I would highly recommend visiting their website to know the exact things that are available. You can choose the outlet that you intend to visit on the website and it will show you what Is available so, if you know what you’re buying, it is better to place an order online. There’s no payment involved in booking an item, you only pay during checkout. They’ll hold your item for 3 days after which it will go back to the warehouse.
But what did I buy?
If you’re following me on Instagram, you probably know what I bought.
Anyway, my earlier Dell 5370 laptop went kaput, the screen kept flickering randomly and I had to spend minutes to get the screen angle right for the display to stay on. I even took it to the service centre and got the display cable replaced but that didn’t work either. And earlier I had to get a battery upgrade for it too. So I was on the lookout for a new laptop for personal use.
So when it was decided that I’d be visiting the US, it made sense to get one from there. But which one? I got the Apple MacBook Air M2 from Micro Center after a careful thought process. More about it in the next blog post, but for this post, I’ll leave it here.
So that’s about it for this post. If you’re a gadget freak and love technology, visiting Micro Center in the US should be on your list. If you want to purchase something, I’d highly recommend planning your trip in a way that you can place the order online and pick it up from here. So that’s about it for this post, let me know your thoughts in the comments below, tweet to me at @Atulmaharaj, DM @Atulmaharaj on Instagram or Get In Touch.
