Canada Computers is perhaps the most astonishingly useful computer parts store in Southern Ontario, and as the downtown Toronto location (one of more than a dozen that stretch from London to Waterloo to Hamilton to the GTA to Kingston to Ottawa, with MORE COMING), this store seems to consistently have at least a slightly better selection in store than the others I frequent.
(I'd cut off my review there, but that would not be in keeping with my Yelp history. If that's enough praise for you, feel free to stop right here; otherwise, read on.)
A hypothetical Canada Computers Trip of Excellence and Awesomeoness starts before we even leave the house, by checking their website. Flyers are updated regularly, prices are accurate and - MOST importantly - live stock info is shown for EVERY STORE IN THE CHAIN. I know before I even leave the house that the Downtown store should have 25 of the hard drive I want in stock, so unless someone just got a truckload of Drobos, I don't need to rush over there to get mine.
In the store, cheaper stuff is available in the middle area, self-serve - a welcome change from the locked-cabinets-everywhere approach of just a few months ago. Memory, hard drives, notebooks, motherboards, video cards, etc. are all behind a counter or in locked cases, so you'll need to track down sales help to get them.
This is the only really bad part about the store: the service. When you can get a hold of a sales rep, they're generally very knowledgeable, get you your stuff quickly and send you on your way. It's the actually getting someone to help that can be a problem, especially on weekends, when the entire population of the GTA evidently decides they need a new WiFi router. The move away from locked cabinets for everything has alleviated this, but getting the $7 SD card on sale can take FOREVER some days.
A tip for the newcomers: when you buy stuff from a cabinet or behind the counter, it generally won't be handed to you, but taken up behind the cashiers at the front. Don't be alarmed - just try to remember which Heaping Pile of Tech Goodness is yours.
Speaking of cashiers, they're generally pretty fast and efficient - people sometimes take a while to pay or have large quantities of stuff to buy. There's also the usual disagreements over price - in my experience, always from someone not understanding what product they actually picked up, or the 3% cash discount policy that applies seemingly everywhere. Lines can be long, but they do move.
Space is at a premium in the store - though the new location is much better than the old one. For comparison, go across the street to Jumbo Computers, and imagine all the stuff that's in Canada Computers in there, with about as many people. Those of us who shopped there before don't have to imagine it - we just remember it, because THAT'S EXACTLY THE WAY IT WAS. The crampedness is, I feel, just a testament to how much stuff is there. In that sense, it's a good thing, but navigating with a backpack can be trying at times.
So why do we put up with the hard-to-find staff, the cramped space, and the sometimes slow-moving lines? Selection and price. I hardly check anyone else for price anymore - one visit to Canada Computers' site and I know instantly if I want to pay or not. I've found that there's just no point - other places may be a few bucks cheaper, but the cost of shipping is simply NOT worth it. Canada Computers is my default computer parts store now. Also, if Canada Computers doesn't sell it, the other stores around aren't likely to either. I really only check them if Canada's out of stock, or if it's something weird / used I'm looking for.
Bottom line: if you need parts - RAM, hard drive, optical drive, motherboard, cable, media, whatever - check this store first. Well, check their website first, but then go on in for a visit.