I too live in a huge metro area, but I find that the retail B&M, especially Walmart and Best Buy, rarely stock much of a selection. Walmart is really bad. They have a gillion items, but very little selection within each category. And BB is well known for selling stripped down computers and other items that have the exact same model numbers as other stores sell, but with parts removed. You might get Laptop #2345 for $100 less at Walmart, but the one at Target or Amazon will have BT and a larger drive and actually match the manufacturers specs. Plus, Amazon has much better CS. So for me the Prime is a no brainer. I get what I want without settling for whatever crap that is left on Walmart's shelves.