Supply chains

So we didn't have a chance to buy a freezer the first couple of months after we got here, then there was the Pestilence, and now... well...

Lowe's has a bunch of freezers of suitable characteristics advertised - but, "In-store purchase only."  Yeah, that helps; we're trying not to go into stores at this point, and besides we can't even tell on line what's available in the local store.

Home Depot has some suitable-looking models orderable on line - for delivery sometime in August, maybe.  Ugh.  Well, we may end up going that route; we'd still have time to stock it for winter, and we wouldn't totally miss harvest season (though I think by that time most of the berries will have come and gone).

And, on the smaller-appliance front: it's about time to order the parts for the new workstation.  The mini-tower case I'd bookmarked is still available, and the price has even come down: good.  Most of the other bits, price and availability are pretty much unchanged since a week or so back.  But!

The motherboard I'd marked as preferred is now available only from a third-party bazaar seller, and marked up by about a factor of three.  The various second-choice-ish models seem to be backordered but available sometime before mid-June, which I guess isn't too bad.  And... main  reason the preferred one was preferred is that reviewers indicated that it predictably came with a recent BIOS installed and thus was ready to run with a 3000-series Ryzen CPU; the others seem to have been spotty about that.  But, if they're back-ordered... do I trust that a new batch is on the way from the factory, and they'll all have the current BIOS installed?

Oh, well.  Guess I'll get organized and start ordering computer pieces before other stuff goes out of stock.  And, looks like Amazon has better deals than Newegg these days, on the things I'm looking for (as well as accepting back-orders on those sometime-in-June motherboards).

The freezer?  We'll have to ponder that one.

Update:  I'm actually having second thoughts about the mATX form factor.  Seems that populating the PCIe X16 slot (in just about any of these) with a video card with fans on it (which is to say, anything but the most basic) covers up the next slot, meaning that there are really only two usable PCIe slots, which is just enough for my immediate needs - nothing left for surprises.  So, possibly back to full-ATX form factor, and a full-tower case.  I think availability of full-ATX motherboards may be better, too.

Comments

[Rob]

When I'm shopping on-line with big box stores I find what I'd like and as I go thru the order process there is generally a place to specify "pick-up", and I can see if they have it in stock anywhere close to me. If it's not available I start over checking on a different one.
Awkward but it generally works.
You have a pickup, have them set it on a pallet in back & strap it down there, you can use your tractor at home to take the pallet off the truck so you don't have to lift it.