so i'm considering opening up an account at charles schwab, just to have some money outside of the fidelity network (although i love them SOOO much), and because they have a branch close by and i've always wanted to be able to go inside a building to do stuff (fidelity is in downtown sf; not worth the bart/muni). anybody have experience with schwab? what do you like/dislike? I'm thinking about starting small (like around $3000) - would they look down on me, or would they still be willing to help out?

What are you buying/selling? individual stocks? If so then I would recommend etrade, which I have...

OTOH, if you need to talk to someone face to face, then that might not be such a good option

Here's a review:

http://www.smartmoney.com/brokers/index.cfm?story=2005-intro&pgnum=1

ttac

i've read the smartmoney review, and i'm not really interested in another discount broker - i have fidelity for that. yes, i am mainly interested in buying/selling individual stocks in the account. i just wanted to know if there are any features of schwab that make it better than other places like tdameritrade, etc.