Visited the Microsoft Store in Costa Mesa, CA recently. The store is very aesthetically pleasing, but you can't help imagining that it ALMOST looks like an Apple store in technicolor... That said, the people there were very nice, they answered all my questions in a very polite fashion and their technicians even answered most of my jerk-ish tech questions too, which was different. Microsoft have a very large array of Windows machines, all of which are split up into groups on different tables. Tablet PCs, very slim Ultrabooks, Dekstops, All-in-Ones and finally the huge Entertainment Laptops. The price range is wide, but still edges on the very expensive (compared to online) - although they tend to supplement the price of the computers with specials (either price discounts or bundling other software and services.) As for their services, I wouldn't personally subscribe to them, however for most individuals who aren't familiar with Windows PCs, they offer a very good value - $199 for a years worth of in-store technical support. There are some 'gotchas' in the wording, for example I don't think they cover virus removal, or something along those lines, but for general maintenance of a PC, $200 is probably how much it'd cost for about 2-3 hours of a technicians time, outside of the store. All in all, I'd give it a 3.5/5, as Microsoft is trying hard. Anyone else been?
There's a Microsoft Store in Century City, but I haven't been. They have greet meetups for entrepreneurs and small business owners. I have been meaning to go, but something always comes up. I was planning to visit when Microsoft release the Surface Tablet as I'm really looking forward to it.
Microsoft has become waaaaaaay to expensive for my country. Nowadays, all business owners turn to free software, like Open Office.org and others.
I wish there was one here, but your description sounds like it definitely was an Apple Store ripoff... or Apple ripped off Microsoft... or whatever. The point is that I hate Apple!
