Usually, when I am looking for some hardware, I will always go to Computer Shopper Online to start my searches.  They list many different businesses that have online stores and I find this very helpful when tracking down an elusive piece of equipment.

There are also a couple of online auction sites, e.g. Ebay and uBid which may be of use.  uBid usually deals in remanufactured items or new (mainly overstocked warehouses) items that are at below retail prices.  Ebay on the other hand, is a great place to go for anything in general, not just computer and electronics.  But these are normally set up by an individual and a lot of the merchandise is used, so make sure you do your proper research before bidding.

A great site for getting these reviews is Epinions.  This site is full of reviews on thousands of products, movies, books, etc.  Reviews are written by professional and average consumers.  It is a great way to see how people use and like the products you may be interested in.  Some of the products may even be purchased via their online store.

As for search engines, Northern Light, Yahoo!, and Altavista are the main ones I use.  Northern Light is billed as having the largest percentage of web pages catalogued on their site.  Yahoo! seems to me be the most restrictive search engine, due to the long process of getting registered, but it also seems to have better content, due to the fact that each site is usually looked at before being registered.

If you have the time and feel comfortable browsing the Web, please take the time to use these sites before purchasing any computer hardware in town.  You can normally save money off the retail price by shopping online.  The only time I really shop in town, is if I need something right away.  Although the different online businesses can guarantee next day air, sometimes you need something right now.  The two main stores I frequent in town (Fort Wayne) are A+ Computers and Stone Computers.