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"24K gold-plated connectors help protect the cable's optical lens to ensure consistent signal transfer"

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Rocketfish%26%23153%3B+-+8'+Digital+Optical+Cable/8315147.p?id=1174694191675&skuId=8315147&st=optical


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Here's a laptop with 2 GB and 2.2 GHz for $329.

Though not exactly on topic, I feel like I should post this like I always do...

"24K gold-plated connectors help protect the cable's optical lens to ensure consistent signal transfer"

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Rocketfish%26%23153%3B+-+8'+Digital+Optical+Cable/8315147.p?id=1174694191675&skuId=8315147&st=optical

Who is "we"? I'm pretty happy with what the iPad is. Also, I'm happy to pay half the cost of an IdeaPad, and get it 8 months sooner.

Well then I'm sure you're thrilled to get a tablet with multitouch, a full hardware keyboard, and a full operating system, RIGHT NOW, except $50 cheaper, with a hardware keyboard, a full operating system, and a 250 GB Hard drive.

Oh, I'm sorry, you only care if it has an Apple logo slapped on it? I'm sorry... (Stupid Slashdot ate the link code the first time... let's see if it works this time)

Who is "we"? I'm pretty happy with what the iPad is. Also, I'm happy to pay half the cost of an IdeaPad, and get it 8 months sooner.

Well then I'm sure you're thrilled to get a tablet with multitouch, a full hardware keyboard, and a full operating system,

Oh, I'm sorry, you only care if it has an Apple logo slapped on it? I'm sorry...

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Mitsubishi+-+60%22+Class+1080p+Rear+Projection+DLP+HDTV/9487192.p;jsessionid=8D252B7ED6DD1A88A0DF15E6F9B7001B.bbolsp-app03-37?id=1218112691007&skuId=9487192

This information comes straight out of the mouth of three Best Buy (store 483, Rego Park, NY, US) employees, a blue shirt sales guy, a white shirt manager, and a black shirt Geek Squad guy, on exactly 2009-08-30 and it was said front of myself, my wife, and my mother. Some of the quotes I am paraphrasing from memory since I did not record the conversation, this time around.

BB: "You cannot buy any of the HP G60-445DX that we have [about 8 in stock] locked away in the cage [in front of you] because they all have been pre-optimized and you need to pay for the optimization package already installed." - Best Buy Employees - Blue Shirt and Black Shirt Walking by to Assist

Me: "I want to buy this model HP G60-445DX shown in your circular and also shown on your web site as available in-stock from the Best Buy web site for the advertised price in both places for $529.99 USD. Wipe the machine and use the restore disks to bring it back to the original factory configuration and sell me the laptop."

BB: "No, you have to pay for the optimization package already installed on these laptops. We cannot sell you the laptop and we cannot wipe and restore it. Why don't you leave and come back next week on Thursday when we get another laptop shipment and try to come early and call ahead to get one before we start optimizing all of the ones that come in." - Best Buy Geek Squad Employee (Black Shirt)

Me: "Why can't you sell me the laptop that you have right there in front of me in the locked case behind the gray bars?"

BB: "We [Best Buy employees and management] are ordered by the company to pre-optmize most or preferably all incoming laptops, especially the ones that are advertised in the weekly circular newspapers and we cannot sell them without this package." - Best Buy Employees & Manager

That day I went to purchase a HP-Laptop with AMD Turion X2 Dual-Core Mobile Processor - Model G60-445DX (SKU: 9377104) for $529.99 USD for my mother to replace her old Dell. I wanted the laptop without any optimization package, pre-installed software, or warranty service since I am a senior server admin with experience and certifications for the Microsoft OSes and also laptop hardware certifications (including HP ASP) for the HP laptop hardware and I have access to HP's part replacement system for my own repairs.

We walked out of the store after wasting almost a full hour arguing with employees and managers to buy the laptop. I did not give up but instead used my HTC Mogul web phone to get on the Internet and I placed the order for the laptop on the Best Buy web site for a pick-up in the same store 483 for the original price of $529.99 USD + $47.04 tax for a total of $577.03 without any optimization charges. We paid by credit card on the web site. Magically the order was accepted, and a few minutes later as we were shopping in the mall I got the "Your order is ready for pick-up" e-mail on my phone.

All three of us stormed into the store and walked straight to the Customer Service counter on the right side. We told them we want the pick-up the order number and they went and got the laptop. The white shirt manager who was arguing and refusing to sell us the laptop half an hour past was the one who brought it over to customer service and he did a double-take to see us again. He looked at the order information and my mother's name taped to the laptop and noticed that the total price was $529.99 without the optimization charge. He walked over to the Customer Service girl and told her to hold the laptop while he want to talk to the store manager to verify that he can actually give and sell us the laptop

Continuing the I bought XYZ at Best Buy thread. I bought the $199 Acer nettop and slapped Ubuntu on it for a little dev workstation. (My old ones crapped out plus they were very old machines.) I wonder which trumps: noob cred for buying at best buy, geek cred on repurposing with Linux, noob cred for going with the cutsy nettop. Hmmm.

I like it. It works nice and it came with keyboard and mouse. It's not a very fast machine but the GUI is peppy, although the disk not the fastest. Instead of a recover CD, it comes with a partition containing the OS restore so I can return to factory state (Windows XP Home) if I wanted to give it away. The bonus is it's awfully cute. I can also let it run 24x7 with little guilt over power consumption. Running a dev desktop drawing 300-500 watts to run mostly idle services doesn't make a lot of sense. Overall it's a much better option over running something like the Sheeva plug or work-a-likes because it's a real PC with lots of USB ports, SD card port, VGA & HDMI output, and an e-Sata port.

Also, on the reviews the biggest complaint about it was that it's single core, but 2 cores still show up on /proc/cpuinfo because of hyperthreading.

Sounds like you want an Aspire Revo. ( see http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Acer+-+AspireRevo+Nettop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Atom%26%23153%3B+Processor/9535434.p?id=1218120545008&skuId=9535434 ) costs $200, ION graphics, 1 gig of RAM, HDMI support, and a 160 gig HDD. I also think its got an E-SATA port on the front of it which is a nice addition. According to reviews its easy to crack open and upgrade the RAM. While the Atom CPU might be on a bit of the sluggish side, I think this might be what you are looking for if you don't want a laptop.

Sure, the new printer has less ink than a new cartrage. BUT, I can get a new printer and a new cartrage for around $100 from best buy (cheaper if you go online). The replacement ink for that printer is only $13. So while this new printer has less initial ink, he will still come out ahead if he bought the printer with low ink replacement costs.

Printer: $79.99
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Deskjet+Multifunction+Printer/+Copier/+Scanner/9317429.p?id=1218084031435&skuId=9317429
Ink: $13
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+60+Ink+Cartridge+-+Black/8761912.p?skuId=8761912&id=1202650704918

And, as always, read the Amazon reviews before you buy.

Sure, the new printer has less ink than a new cartrage. BUT, I can get a new printer and a new cartrage for around $100 from best buy (cheaper if you go online). The replacement ink for that printer is only $13. So while this new printer has less initial ink, he will still come out ahead if he bought the printer with low ink replacement costs.

Printer: $79.99
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Deskjet+Multifunction+Printer/+Copier/+Scanner/9317429.p?id=1218084031435&skuId=9317429
Ink: $13
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+60+Ink+Cartridge+-+Black/8761912.p?skuId=8761912&id=1202650704918

And, as always, read the Amazon reviews before you buy.

I've been checking Best Buy's site now and then for a while now to see if they've fixed the description on a dishwasher that comes with a carrying case and neck strap. So far they haven't.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Whirlpool+-+24%22+Tall+Tub+Built-In+Dishwasher+-+Black/8928084.p?skuId=8928084&id=1214611181887

24K gold-plated connectors help protect the cable's optical lens to ensure consistent signal transfer

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Rocketfish%26%23153%3B+-+8'+Digital+Optical+Cable/8315147.p?id=1174694191675&skuId=8315147&st=optical

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!

The Rocketboost system at best buy is a wireless solution that will work for you: http://www.bestbuy.com/rocketboost gives a good summary of how it works.

You can add speakers and audio sources around your house, and the speakers have a "next source" button that lets you flip between your audio sources. It is modular, where you can buy as many units as you need and they all join together into one big network in your house. It isn't super-cheap, but it is cheaper than other products that are equally as flexible in how you set them up.

Disclaimer: I worked on this product (wrote the protocol stack for moving the audio data over the air), so you may want to take my recommendation with a grain of salt, but I am happy with how well the product turned out and I think it's pretty neat.

MSI - Wind Netbook with Intel® Atom(TM) Processor w/ 2GB RAM and 6-Cell Battery - Black. That was the first result googling 2gig netbook.

Falcon

Even today, when I'm looking for a movie with my friends, we'll look in the newspaper.

In the New York Times, I can see all the movies displayed, in proportion to how heavily the studio is buying ads to promote it, by flipping through just a few pages, and I can see which ones are playing in my neighborhood. I can circle the ones I'm interested in and decide which one to go to at the end.

In principle, I should be able to do the same thing online. In reality, it's not as easy. http://movies.nytimes.com/pages/movies/index.html It's funny, when it finally comes down to deciding which movie to go to, I actually prefer the ads.

Similarly, I picked up a Sunday newspaper the other day and it had advertising sections. I forgot how convenient they were to look through. I could see the latest printers, how much Best Buy was selling netbooks for, etc. I really can't get that from the online web sites. http://www.bestbuy.com/

Newspapers are great for browsing and deciding what you might want to buy. That's a seller's dream, and they're willing to pay for it.

Of course, when I know exactly what I want, like a specific product, I can find it more easily online,

I'm sure there will be a time when we'll have portable displays equal to or better than a newspaper page. I'm sure we'll have better user interfaces to help me pick out movies. But I don't see anything ten years out.

Maybe people growing up with the Internet will have different preferences.

Those Egyptians did a good job with paper. It's had a long run.

Does apple even sell full version of their OS that don't come bundled with their hardware?

Yes Apple sells the OS X, Snow Leopard now, DVD. You can order it online, in an Apple store, or from retailers. Those who live near a Fry's Electronics can buy Snow Leopard there. If there is no Fry's near you, as much as I wish there were one near me so I could buy electrical and electronic components there isn't, you can also buy it at BestBuy.

Falcon

You've obviously never attempted to buy an accessory at any of these stores. Compare online prices to your typical 'store brand' prices.

This isn't limited to cables, its endemic in brick and mortar stores. Anything other than your baseline items are so heavily marked up that only the uneducated or the desperate would purchase them.

Add on top of this the almost pure profit of their Customer Protection Rackets, and it's not hard to see why they might skimp on the 'pay premium dollar for employees who can provide premium service' plan in favor of 'pay shit for teenaged con-artists who'll scam the rubes for every penny they've got' plan.

You mean like the Rocketfish toslink cable with 24k gold plated connectors..

Yeah, they have those too:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7832223&type=product&id=1142297086861

"24K gold-plated connectors for corrosion resistance and enhanced signal transfer"

Brilliant.

Blu-ray player, new (not refurbished). $149.99
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9245514&type=product&id=1218067604633

"Reasonable" HD cable: $29.99
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8427106&type=product&id=1181832627516

Percentage of price: 20%. Is that significant?

Blu-ray player, new (not refurbished). $149.99
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9245514&type=product&id=1218067604633

"Reasonable" HD cable: $29.99
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8427106&type=product&id=1181832627516

Percentage of price: 20%. Is that significant?

Yes, of course you're right.

But have you actually looked at the prices for Monster Cable at Best Buy? $70 to $100 for a 4-foot HDMI cable. I'm not sure what sort of analogy is appropriate, but it's got to be one that matches the adjective "obscene".

Funny, seems like they still sell consoles that are made in 1999. So a 10 year old console is definitely not something many would throw away.

*shrugs* I have karma to burn...

I bought almost everything from Logic Supply. I found the staff there was very helpful in answering my questions, and made suggestions for issues that I might run into, and how to engineer around it.

Specific links to the hardware I chose are:
The Case - Morex model 5689, with 80W A/C brick
The Motherboard - MSI IM-GM45
The Processor - Intel P8400
The WLAN - Intel 5100 802.11a/b/g/n, with 4" 2.4/5.8GHz pigtail antenna

and insert hard drive/memory of your choice. I went with 4GB of generic SO-DIMM DDR2 memory (that, about a month later, got swapped into my laptop, with the laptop's 2GB put into the HTPC, still plenty for Windows Vista x32 Ultimate... I do love MSDN... :P)

I had to drill a hole in the case to mount the pigtail antenna, but other than that, I didn't have to modify anything in the case. It's surprisingly easy to work with, actually... first computer build I had fun with in a long time.

As far as the TV tuner, insert tuner of your choice. I went with a rebranded ATi TV Wonder 650HD, made by Diamond Multimedia, because it came with a media center remote control... I later bought a Pinnacle USB remote control because it came with an IR blaster for controlling my set-top box. The Diamond remote also has very small buttons that are mashed together, and I was finding it very difficult to hit the right button in the dark... the Pinnacle remote control has fewer buttons, they have different shapes, and the remote is more ergonomically comfortable... it's not quite as good as the old Microsoft Windows XP remote, but it's still better than anything else I've tried.

For the optical drive, I'm using a USB Blu-Ray drive made by LG that I picked up from the Dell website back in January, and couldn't tell you the model number. It's main selling feature, aside from being USB, is that it's not a burner, so it only cost me $100. Not bad for a blu-ray drive ^_^. If you're planning on running Linux, you wouldn't need to worry about that, and can pick up a USB DVD drive anywhere. I'm connecting to the display via HDMI cable (with audio as well), but the motherboard has DVI and VGA display as well. AFAIK, Linux doesn't properly support HDMI (and that, along with Blu-Ray support was the main reason I went with Vista on it), but if you're planning on using VGA or DVI, you shouldn't have that problem.

About the only weird part that I had to MacGyver was an adapter plate... my TV has VESA 600x400mm mounts, and the mounting plate for the case has VESA 100x100mm holes. That, I actually found at Best Buy, of all places... I'm in Canada, but you can find the plate I used on both the US and Canadian sites by product name... I went with Best Buy because they had the best price on that kind of thing.

The VESA adapter plate. It comes in a kit with two, but you only need one of them... if you were near here, I'd give you the one I have left over, when you need it. That screws directly to the TV's mounting holes, and the mounting plate for the case connects to the VESA 100x100 holes that the adapter has. (the adapter also has 200x200 holes, if you go with a different case)

Finding screws that were short enough to use while keeping the heads and ends flush (so as to not scratch the TV's case, and so that the computer can actually sit on the mounting plate in the first place) was a bit of a chore... there, I'm afraid I can't help. I went to a local store called Ottawa Fastener Supply where I was able to find the M6 screws that my TV's VESA mount wanted, as well as the 4mm long pan head screws and appropriate nuts to fasten the computer's m

Toshiba Satellite L305-S5955, its got pretty pathetic specs, but is nice for watching DVDs, runs Vista not to terribly, and aside from some odd display problems (occasionally it refuses to go to its native resolution, but logging out and logging in works just fine) it works flawlessly in Ubuntu 9.04. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9368169&type=product&id=1218092959299 is the link, apparently it increased in price $30 since I got it, but when I bought it it was $300.

The PS3 can install Linux out of the box and can play BluRays. A BluRay player is still $200+, and $250+ for a decent one. Add $250 to the price of an XBox 360 and then tell me which is cheaper.

You can't do much with Linux on a PS3. Sony won't let Linux use the GPU, you can't play Blu-Ray disks from Linux (you have to reboot the box), etc. Also, BDLive-enabled Blu-Ray players are down to $100 bucks now.

XBox Live is better. I agree. But I prefer a free experience since I don't have 25+ hours a week to play my console online.

There's more to Live and PSN than just online gaming, and the Silver account for Live is free. The Xbox game and video stores are much better than PSN in terms of interface. For example, on Xbox the demo and full version of a game are in the same place. On PSN, I have to track down the demo vs. the full game in two completely different locations. Also, Xbox has its XNA/Community/Indie Games. PSN doesn't have anything comparable to that. No, games written for PS3 Linux are not the same since as mentioned above you don't get the full power of the console available to you. Your only viable option for homebrew PS3 games is to hack your console, and with the rate Sony sends out dash updates that's a risky proposition.

I still play PC gaming, and I love the PS2/PS3 controllers. I don't have to buy separate PC controllers for PC gaming. That is nice. You can connect them with the USB cable or bluetooth, since it uses a standard USB connection. This is still a benefit of the PS3 over the 360. You said you were debunking FUD and in reality you're offering opinions, not commenting on facts.

It's a matter of preference, but at least for me the 360 controller is much better ergonomically than the DualShock. Also, the 360 controllers have replaceable batteries so you can get a new pack when your battery life starts to drop rather than having to buy a whole new controller. Finally, the 360 controllers work just fine on a PC, and have better Windows support than the PS3 controller. For wireless, you do need to buy a separate dongle since the controllers don't use Bluetooth, but then if your PC doesn't have Bluetooth (and many don't) you'd have to buy a separate dongle to use the PS3 controller. The wired 360 controllers use regular USB (unlike the original Xbox controllers), and plug right into your PC just fine.

How about the litany of developers who claim their games won't run on the 360, or the fact that now that developers know how to code for the PS3, that 360 ports look worse, or that developers have had to lower draw distances for 360 versions, or that the cold hard facts show that the PS3 has more power? Again, you're offering opinions rather than facts.

Name some that haven't gone back on those statements. Bethesda first claimed that they couldn't do Oblivion on a single disk for 360, but they went back on that and were able to do so successfully. Id has claimed that Rage on PS3 runs worse than on 360 and PC (they're still working on that and hope to bring the PS3 version up to par, but when developer god Carmack says the PS3 is worse I tend to believe him). Valve has decided they're done porting to the PS3 after the Orange Box ran so poorly (granted that was a case of shopping out the port to a 3rd party that did it poorly, but Valve's not big enough to invest in an in-house PS3 team and have said they're not doing PS3 ports again until they do). Most multi-platform games are developed on the 360 first and then ported (poorly) to the PS3.

That was certainly the case when the PS3 first launched, and they just took 360 games and ported them poorly. That certainly isn't the case anymore.

That's definitely still the case, and will likely remain the

Nobody takes any particular notice because customers bring in stuff to be recycled all the time. If you call the local store there is probably a recording describing the program. Here's the link. There is no requirement whatsoever that you purchased the item from us, either. Disclaimer: I work at Best Buy.

Easy: The best way to secure your stuff is to never let it out of your sight and never let anyone else use it. There's no WAY I would ever let another person use my computer, even in they are seemingly ignorant. Nor would I ever let someone plug in a USB drive that didn't belong to me. There are apps out there designed to auto-run when plugged in from a USB drive, or other removable media, that will search your computer for cached passwords and wireless access point keys and what-have-you.

If this is something you MUST have around, ask the institution to get you a small form-factor laptop to keep in your desk for this purpose. You can pick one up at Best Buy for Cheap

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcat17006&type=page&_requestid=110350

As you can see, of the 6 stores it finds within over 100 miles of me (Dubuque is almost exactly 100 miles away,) four of the six don't carry it.

Color me impressed, you're right that it is carried and sold in the US.

The number of Home Premium laptops outnumbers the Home Basic laptops 9 to 1, and again, I've never seen a Basic at my branch of Best Buy.

That said, Starter is still OEM only.

Haha what!? You build up an entire argument based on the fact that his only choice is to actually buy another PC and then shit on your own face in the end? Why!? Of course he should pay someone to fix it, if it's a perfectly functioning PC with a missing hard drive, why wouldn't he!? You're weird man.

Because this friend knows so little about computers that they're going to end up asking the Geek Squad, or a similar outfit, to do it for them. They're going to need their hard drive swapped out ($100 for the part, $50 for the labor), data mirrored ($160), they'll probably get convinced they need their operating system reinstalled ($130), primary office suite reinstalled ($50), and antivirus software ($30). Of course, all these numbers are presuming they still hold the disks and license keys the various software started with. At a cost of $520 for a machine that's probably at least 2 years old, they might notice in the store that they could just get a brand new system for less than that.

Dell
Price $999.99

+
HP W2408H 24-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor $350 Office Depot a few months ago $298 at Circuit City when they were going out of business
$350
$1349.99

Apple 24-inch : 2.66GHz
$1499

Chips both made by intel. Dell is a quad core, Apple a dual core
Same Ram
Same HD
Video card in Dell is better (by far).

I paid $150 less. That's the best Apple can do. Let's be honest it's not really close. To get closer you would need to upgrade to 24-inch : 2.93GHz for $1799.

But let's be honest. The apple chip still isn't as good, the video card isn't either, and you have just spent another $300.

I don't care what name is on the box. I want the best deal for my money. Most people do. That's why when they look at price and compare, Apple isn't close.

Go away fanboy.

    Have you shopped at the retail stores? One cable can easily be over $20.

    Even their cable crimpers are more expensive. I've been in strange cities, and needed some cables. When I hit the retail stores, I cringe at the prices, and then start asking "Where's Home Depot?" They sell the cable by the box. They sell crimpers cheap. They sell ends cheap.

    I don't make all of my own cables. I usually do a little advanced planning, and get the cables I need cheap online (CDW or Tiger direct frequently have low prices), and then only make the cables that aren't standard sizes, or that I don't know the length before I show up. How far is it from the demark rack to the rack where I want my switch? Dunno? Make it when I get there. :)

Let's say your typical CD has about 14 tracks. That's $14 at $1.00 per track. Nearly any CD can be found for less than $14... even at places like Best Buy and let us not forget that includes the personal fulfillment of a physical copy, booklet etc...

$1.29 x 14 = $18.06.... How can $1.29/song be justified?

This is completely ass backwards. The music industry HAS to price its products lower or it risks looking completely unattractive to consumers. They can't compete with higher prices against its easily available, convenient and free "black market" competition.

Such high quality films as this.

That's funny... since 2000, MS has had two releases you'd have to pay to upgrade to... How many has Apple had? more than two...

How much do those upgrades cost? The cheapest Best Buy sells is the Microsoft Windows Vista(TM) Home Premium Upgrade with Service Pack 1 - Windows for $130, the same as an Apple upgrade. And a Leopard family pack which allows Leopard to be installed on 5 Macs costs $200. - Microsoft Windows Vista(TM) Ultimate with Service Pack 1 cost $320 at Best Buy. Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition w/SP1, with 25 clients costs more than $3000. Meanwhile Mac OS X Server v10.5.4 with a 10 client license cost $500.

So yes Apple upgrades come more frequently, and who doesn't want frequent upgrades, however they cost less than Microsoft upgrades.

Falcon

That's funny... since 2000, MS has had two releases you'd have to pay to upgrade to... How many has Apple had? more than two...

How much do those upgrades cost? The cheapest Best Buy sells is the Microsoft Windows Vista(TM) Home Premium Upgrade with Service Pack 1 - Windows for $130, the same as an Apple upgrade. And a Leopard family pack which allows Leopard to be installed on 5 Macs costs $200. - Microsoft Windows Vista(TM) Ultimate with Service Pack 1 cost $320 at Best Buy. Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition w/SP1, with 25 clients costs more than $3000. Meanwhile Mac OS X Server v10.5.4 with a 10 client license cost $500.

So yes Apple upgrades come more frequently, and who doesn't want frequent upgrades, however they cost less than Microsoft upgrades.

Falcon

Ever dub one of those vinyl records to a reel without written permission?

Yes I have, when I bought a new record the first tyme I played it I recorded it on tape then listened to the tape. This is creating a backup. But even if it isn't legal it's still not pirating. Piracy would be then selling the recording I made as though they were my own. Of course the DMCA, which became law in 1998 changed that. However seeing as I lost my tape deck years before I didn't break that law.

reel-to-reel is still used extensively at radio stations. It's not quite dead yet

I've been looking for new reel-to-reel decks but the only ones I've found are commercial quality decks. However I've found new turntables in stores, more and more are carrying them. Best Buy lists 7. It's seems half of them have USB ports so they can be plugged right into a computer. I want to hook mine, when I get one, to an amp. Maybe a preamp first depending on if a preamp is built in or not.

I don't know if the effort for the Wikipedia link was necessary ;-) I'm not quite that young.

I didn't know how old you are or if you knew about reel-to-reels. There are people over 40 who don't know what they are, I wouldn't be surprised if people over 50 don't know about them. I do because my dad had one he got in Japan when he was stationed there while in the US Air Force. I got mine when I was stationed in Germany. Way back when, it seems longer than it really is, 8 track tapes are what were popular.

Falcon

You can already buy eee PC 900A laptops for $200 at BestBuy.

Can you provide a link to that? I can't seem to find it. The cheapest one on BestBuy.com is $329.99.

I can't find a link for his eee 900, but I was shown one last week by someone who paid 99 EUR. That's about $200 USD today ;)

You can already buy eee PC 900A laptops for $200 at BestBuy.

Can you provide a link to that? I can't seem to find it. The cheapest one on BestBuy.com is $329.99.

Yep. Or you could just look at Best Buys's site. The affiliate sign-up link is at the bottom.

My Best Buy is horrible. Every time I want something I go there, walk around, then go home and buy what I want on Newegg because it's twice as expensive at Best Buy. I'm not sure about everything, but here's some examples:

2 Gb of memory: Best Buy - Cheapest is $39 (note "Regular price: $144), Newegg - Cheapest is $16.
Not a fair fight you say? How about if we compare to Newegg's Kingston and PNY brands (the only kind my local Best Buy carries): Cheapest Kingston is $18. The only PNY is $20.
Best Buy's prices aren't even close. If this isn't enough for you, how about how Newegg will sell you 4 Gb of "Corsair Dominator" memory for $15 less than Best Buy will sell you 2 Gb? And don't even get me started on their video cards..

My Best Buy is horrible. Every time I want something I go there, walk around, then go home and buy what I want on Newegg because it's twice as expensive at Best Buy. I'm not sure about everything, but here's some examples:

2 Gb of memory: Best Buy - Cheapest is $39 (note "Regular price: $144), Newegg - Cheapest is $16.
Not a fair fight you say? How about if we compare to Newegg's Kingston and PNY brands (the only kind my local Best Buy carries): Cheapest Kingston is $18. The only PNY is $20.
Best Buy's prices aren't even close. If this isn't enough for you, how about how Newegg will sell you 4 Gb of "Corsair Dominator" memory for $15 less than Best Buy will sell you 2 Gb? And don't even get me started on their video cards..

I also read good things about the mentioned Samsung products. If it's not redundant, you might try a DVD recorder with a tuner. Here's a Philips on that same site.

RCA apparently made one but from what I can see, it's been discontinued.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=2216232

And at $388 you can buy a small ATSC 1080i/720p set for less than that.

Here's a samsung one at Best Buy, in store and HDMI only, though you can get an HDMI to DVI cable.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8102796&type=product&id=1161734592183

That's what's responsible for these bad boys. Well... low margins AND human stupidity.

Yeah, well tough shit.

This boxed set includes a Ubuntu CD, Quick Start Guide, and 60 days of professional support from Ubuntu.

$20 for a CD, a printed guide, a pretty box and 60 days of professional support is not so bad really.

Yeah, well tough shit.

I think it's more likely that he gave the cashier his Reward Zone card and is neglecting to remember that piece of information.

umm seriously? have you been living under a fucking rock these past few years? retail: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcat17080&type=page&qp=crootcategoryid%23%23-1%23%23-1~~q70726f63657373696e6774696d653a3e313930302d30312d3031~~cabcat0500000%23%230%23%2311a~~cabcat0504000%23%230%23%233y~~cabcat0504001%23%230%23%232d~~nf35||353030474220616e64205570&list=y&nrp=15&sc=abComputerSP&sp=%2Bbrand+skuid&usc=abcat0500000 online: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010150014%20103530090&name=800GB%20and%20higher

A flood of discounted merchandise from liquidating Circuit City stores could hurt Best Buy during this holiday shopping season

I hardly think a company that sells a cable for $129.99 when a functionally equivalent cable is available for $5.43 is concerned about the availability of discounted merchandise.