My First Trip to Micro Center: A Tech Wonderland Hiding in Plain Sight

Yesterday, I visited a Micro Center for the first time. This is maybe a strange confession for someone working in tech who lives 20 minutes from one. But I had always just assumed it was much the same as Best Buy.

I couldn't have been more wrong. This is a technology store (not just a computer store) for people who are interested in having a real choice rather than just the opportunity to pick between one or two items the retailer or manufacturer have decided on that week.

Luckily for my credit card, I was on a timeline, or else I might have done some real shopping. What did I buy? They have a base model M4 Mac Mini on sale for $399! This is a crazy steal given that 16GB of DDR5 on its own is currently selling for $150. And as I'm currently working on another video making/training set-up, I needed another Mac for Ecamm.

I also got something else that will be making an appearance in a YouTube video in the not-too-distant future. But I'll leave that to be featured in the video.

My takeaway though is that when I need something tech related, I need to make this 20-minute drive rather than buying online. The selection is great, the pricing is very reasonable, and places like this need to exist so that future techies don't think everything just comes in an Amazon truck.

Do you have brick and mortar tech retailers you try to use? As someone who grew up on Dixons and Currys as a kid in the UK, this was certainly a much bigger experience!

First posted on Linkedin on 01/1/2026 -> View Linkedin Post Here