sundance-communications.com/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information HOME DEPOT OR LOWES....

Believe it or not..today I visited a Lowes for only the 2nd time in all my years...

WAS I BLOWN AWAY....stocked shelves...nice tools....tons of toys that make a grown man cry....BUT they had a crappy telecom section...NO bulk cable and not a good assortment of stuff that end-users could buy and try to be phone men....

WHATS YOUR OPINION....who do you like the best....AND whats the least amount of $$$ you ever spent in one of them toy stores....

I prefer Home Depot for a couple of reasons. They generally have a better telcom section (I see some starting to stock Harris!). And they stock Leviton. While Leviton is not my favorite, I usually keep a small supply in the truck; if I really need something on a job site, I can run to Depot and usually get what I need to finish. I've just about given up on actually finding helpful sales staff in either place, though.

If you look at the prices on there telecom stuff you will find that you can get them way cheaper at you supplier such as Codale or Graybar. At least it is way cheaper here. I always keep the truck stocked.

But on the same note I love to go to Home Depot to get stuff for the house and yard.

[This message has been edited by dtmf (edited February 01, 2004).]

We do the samething that dtmf does,but sometimes when traveling from state to state we get caught short. That is when I look for Lowes or Home Depot. Of the two I like Home Depot better.

I don't know how our local Home Depot is still in business. I've bought several things from them that wrung up wrong and just coud'nt get it through to the cashiers that they under charged me. I bought a 120pc Husky ratchet set for $38 bucks(marked over 100). I've bought bags of 10 PVC fittings that were supposed to be .20 a piece but would only charge me the .20 for the whole bag. If the computer says .20 it must be .20. I've even been to the MGR once, but hey the computer can't be wrong. So until it goes under or they figure out their pricing, I'll stick with the Depot!!!

up until a couple of months ago, the home depot in my area had everything you needed to be a phone tech. they had a full line of Harris tools(but sets, toners, probes etc..) they also had leveton jacks and inserts ideal tools, bulk cat 3 and cat 5.
one day i was looking over what they had and i noticed a guy confused so i offered some advice. the manager saw me and offered me a job. i politely turned him down but i did gave him my card. he now refers me every once in a while. i also get a 15 percent discount when ever he's on duty

Home Depot by far.
Like the other guys I don't use them much for business but I've been known to run out & pick up an extra quick port or wall jack in order to finish a job.
I almost always use the Depot for my MDF board.
Ours does carry a nice line of Greenly products and Harris as well, from butt sets to punch tools, but their just to darn expensive compared to our venders.

if you talk to the manager, most of them will drop the prices.

I frequently go to Home Depot for supplies. I get most things cheaper from distributors, but in a pinch, HD is great. I also go to some regular hardware stores, but just for tools and hardware. None of the hardware stores here stock any datacom products. They only sell phone jacks, line cords, etc.

Here in the NorthWest Home Depot is head and shoulders above Lowes. Lowes recently bought out the Eagle Hardware stores to get into the area, that may have something to do with it.
I've noticed that it's best not to ask the staff at either store any questions... it only takes longer to find what you need.