Yup, I agree meritline.com has changed to become very competitive nowaday. For ordinary available stuff, I still go with newegg.com. I browse xpbargains.com for electronic ads.
I just browsed mydigitaldiscount.com, they do stock some interesting rare stuff.
Dealextreme and focalprice have free shipping and some weird items. I don't buy memories from there. They are for sure fake, but i bought a lot of useful small devices, usb changer, usb/serial adapter, usb card reader, wireless door bell, ... and everything is working very well.
Now, Dealextreme has an Online Live support and even Price Matching .
of course it doesnt fit the 'cheap' criteria - but thinkgeek.com has some of the weirdest/oddest tech stuff out there. Its good for finding funky things - then google for a cheaper vendor
For electronic stuff, good prices, often equipment pulls but many new items: http://www.allelectronics.com/
Get on their mailing list for a free catalogue.
And of course the old standard that everybody loves to hate: http://www.tigerdirect.com/
They are often one of the first to offer something new and sometimes their prices are good.