[squish]

I'm planning on buying this hard drive and this enclosure for my Powerbook. The only problme is that I don't have a "credit card." But I do have a VISA Check Card. It basically is a credit card, right? it just takes money out of my account rather than using credit, etc. right? Can I use my check card to purchase these items?

[wildcard]

Most places, those cards are interchangable.

[G-mac]

Absolutely!

I use a Visa Check Card with all sorts of online and retail purchases. Like the previous post said, it's almost treated the same as a credit card (although they aren't the same thing of course).

Buy away!

[Cake]

Um, fraud doesn't happen very often, but with a debit card you are much less protected:

Although payment card fraud is extremely rare, all Visa check cardholders are
protected by Visa’s zero liability commitment, which means consumers won’t have to
pay for any unauthorized purchase on either their Visa credit or debit card.
Cardholders can only be guaranteed of zero liability fraud protection when they
choose to sign with their debit cards. Some issuing financial institutions offer zero
liability protections for certain PIN transactions as well – but it’s not a guarantee.
Visa’s zero liability commitment surpasses protections mandated by federal law,
which caps liability to $50 for credit and up to $500 for debit.

I used my debit card to pay a moving company and shortly thereafter I got a ton of charges for computer gear. Luckily, I signed for the moving charge - that's the key.
You are much less protected using a debit card online.
Just be sure that the vendors that you're buying from are reputible.
Computer Giants seems kinda iffy just from scanning the reviews at Reseller Ratings. FireWire Depot is unrated.

Good luck, but beware.

[The Oracle]

I use mine, but only with reputable businesses, e.g. Apple. Remember, you may be protected from fraud liability like with credit cards, but can you deal with having your entire account wiped out and remaining empty while the bank sorts it out?

buyer beware indeed.

[Eriamjh]

Debit cards are bad. Credit is good. Why? Because in the first case, your money is GONE, out of your account, bye-bye, the moment the transactioon is processed. With credit, the bank uses their money to pay your bill and you pay them back on your next statement. When a charge is fraudulent on a credit card, you do NOT have to worry about getting YOUR money back because it isn't your money. But on a debit card, your money is already gone.

Avoid the trouble. Do not use debit cards.

[Jerman]

I use my debit card online just for small purchases. (Like I bought Lord of the Rings at overstock.com for 13.50) but any large purchase, I would use a credit card or something like that. (Well, right now I use my dad's, but when I get my own, that is what I would use....)

[superfula]

Originally posted by Eriamjh:
Debit cards are bad. Credit is good. Why? Because in the first case, your money is GONE, out of your account, bye-bye, the moment the transactioon is processed. With credit, the bank uses their money to pay your bill and you pay them back on your next statement. When a charge is fraudulent on a credit card, you do NOT have to worry about getting YOUR money back because it isn't your money. But on a debit card, your money is already gone.

Avoid the trouble. Do not use debit cards.

You may want to do a little more reading about credit cards. If you really knew the ins and outs, you'd be saying "avoid the trouble, do not use credit cards".