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Not even any vendors on PriceGrabber.com have 9.1 for sale

So the only people in the US using Mandrake are freeloaders downloading iso's, with a fraction of those joining Mandrake Club.

If Mandrake wants to survive, they have to find a way to revive their US channel sales.

this site seems to have user reviews, althoug all the images seem to be broken for me

pc some more

Unless you live in Japan and really need the room, I don't see why anybody would want an LCD monitor.

My workstation is dual-headed being comprised of a 17" LCD and a 19" CRT (ViewSonic VX700 (425US$) and P90f(245US$) respectively).

It's astounding how much nicer the LCD is compared to the CRT. The image on the CRT is noticably brighter and crisper even to people walking by my cube.

The LCD is more bucks than the CRT but the usable screen on the 17" LCD is as large as the 19"CRT and after working for months with this setup I feel that the better image of the LCD totally justifies the extra price.

Note: this is my work computer so I haven't tried with games.

Unless you live in Japan and really need the room, I don't see why anybody would want an LCD monitor.

My workstation is dual-headed being comprised of a 17" LCD and a 19" CRT (ViewSonic VX700 (425US$) and P90f(245US$) respectively).

It's astounding how much nicer the LCD is compared to the CRT. The image on the CRT is noticably brighter and crisper even to people walking by my cube.

The LCD is more bucks than the CRT but the usable screen on the 17" LCD is as large as the 19"CRT and after working for months with this setup I feel that the better image of the LCD totally justifies the extra price.

Note: this is my work computer so I haven't tried with games.

They cost over $3000(usd), pricegrabber link

Also, Pricewatch, Pricegrabber and Froogle scour the web for prices and create search engines out of them so consumers can find the best price.

I'm not saying just because everyone else is doing it means you can too (and you might have a slightly different objective causing these examples to be weightless) but it's being done all over the place.

Hope that helps.

...all still bitter that the 64-bit processor is still close to vapor.

Answer me this, where did this whole notion that P4s are somehow faster than AMD chips come from?

You might want to check this out. Find me a single benchmark that AMD took the crown in. You will soon discover that the closest AMD got to winning a benchmark was 2nd place on the Sysmark Office 2000 test. The rest of the tests placed AMD in 4th, 5th, and sometimes even 6th place (behind the slowest P4 in the test, the 2.53GHz).

This can all be explained if you consider Intel isn't so interested in making a great processor as it is making great fabrication processes

So basically, even though Intel isn't interested in making a great processor, they still make one that is superior to what you are promoting?

The only fair comparison would be a dollar amount comparison (a $200 AMD processor vs a $200 Intel processor), and Intel still takes the crown with that. An XP 2800+ is about the same price as a Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, and the benchmarks still show Intel ahead on majority of the tests. The only thing we have to thank AMD for is the fact that we don't pay $5,000 for a superior Pentium 4 now.

Answer me this, where did this whole notion that P4s are somehow faster than AMD chips come from?

You might want to check this out. Find me a single benchmark that AMD took the crown in. You will soon discover that the closest AMD got to winning a benchmark was 2nd place on the Sysmark Office 2000 test. The rest of the tests placed AMD in 4th, 5th, and sometimes even 6th place (behind the slowest P4 in the test, the 2.53GHz).

This can all be explained if you consider Intel isn't so interested in making a great processor as it is making great fabrication processes

So basically, even though Intel isn't interested in making a great processor, they still make one that is superior to what you are promoting?

The only fair comparison would be a dollar amount comparison (a $200 AMD processor vs a $200 Intel processor), and Intel still takes the crown with that. An XP 2800+ is about the same price as a Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, and the benchmarks still show Intel ahead on majority of the tests. The only thing we have to thank AMD for is the fact that we don't pay $5,000 for a superior Pentium 4 now.

If I read the question correctly ... I think he is looking for some kind of camera / monitor setup that can be used to project / magnify on the monitor.... If that is the case I doubt he is going to find one for less than $500.00.

First you need a Camera.
Then you need an Arm. (That is IF this is the type of arm I think it is)
Finally you need a Monitor (which I could not find one that took composite inputs for cheap AND still have the resolution to display a high quality image). But you can guess that it is gonna be ~$300.00.

So if you add all that up ... you get > $500.00.

Just my >$500.00 worth (sorry, bad joke -1)

--Brian

If I read the question correctly ... I think he is looking for some kind of camera / monitor setup that can be used to project / magnify on the monitor.... If that is the case I doubt he is going to find one for less than $500.00.

First you need a Camera.
Then you need an Arm. (That is IF this is the type of arm I think it is)
Finally you need a Monitor (which I could not find one that took composite inputs for cheap AND still have the resolution to display a high quality image). But you can guess that it is gonna be ~$300.00.

So if you add all that up ... you get > $500.00.

Just my >$500.00 worth (sorry, bad joke -1)

--Brian

Ive been looking for a remote just like the high end pronto

Color
Cheaper
Programmable by that I mean I can move everything around to my liking, not just a learning remote.
Easy for those in my household that arent to tech savvy to be able to use without being overwhelmed

The last three being the most important. ya ya i know choose 2, but there are oodles of the choose 2 variety that just dont cut it

Does anyone know of any roll yer own solutions?

I have tried the sony and it worked but it was choose 2 (cheaper, and easy to use), and I used my Ipaq 5450, but while having 3 of the 4 qualifications (programmable, easy to use and color) I found that since it is also my PDA the others in my house didnt like the fact that I had the remote with me all the time.

Any suggestions

It seems the links to the store selling the goodies is already slashdotted. The $40 a piece FC hostbus adapter page now shows $800 adapters, or a 100 pack for just over $60000. Beowulf anyone?

Redhat costs more than XP ???

Redhat Linux :
$179 Basic Edition

Windows XP Home Edition :
$172 (zipstorage.com)

Uh, I think the non-monpolist needs to lower the price a little.

Amazon has a decent browsing systems in place, but once I find something I want I use a cheap book search engine or go elsewhere to find cheap computer components or use another engine to fine cheap stuff. In the end I pay less for the product + SH than any browser purchaseing directly from amazon.

Amazon does charge different people different prices, dumb people who shop there end up paying a lot more money.

See here

The 3000+ will be a Barton chip with more cache, die shrink, etc, perhaps they rescaled the numbering again. Tom's definitely could be wrong considering how old that link you posted is (2002/08/21).

I'll buy an SMP AMD system when a decent chipset exists for it, the 760MPX is way too outdated.

And yes I will be buying a Barton 3000+ instead of an Apple but that in no way proves the rest of your statements, it just proves I am cheap.

Yes, it was a plasma. I saw it.
Here is the link. Though if you search Costco it doesn't show up, so it may not still be available. In my opinion the Daewoo is not worth US$3000, and pales in comparison to the Panasonic model with the same features, which is available for a few hundred dollars more.

-->New /. articles available here.

There are some ads in the "Related links" section, although I've disabled ALL ads (I'm a subscriber, just posting as AC). I was wondering why it displayed a link to Compare the best prices on: Software/Utilities along with all the cloning links.. I clicked the link and then it hit me: They're selling DVD X Copy (Backup, Copy & Restore your DVD Movies). Quite clever.

os vs os wars should be moded to -1 but I just saw something I thought was odd...

In the "related links" section for this topic there is a link: Compare the best prices on: Software/Operating Systems

so which has the best price, Free BSD or Linux :-)

The last time I checked, Pricewatch and PriceGrabber still found the better deals.

--

but in the past, the stuff coming of of google labs seem to have much more of a cool factor. It was really innovative what they were bringing out...

however, none of these tools seem particularly interesting or even that useful.

I'd much rather use Price Grabber then froogle. I know it's a beta and all, but heck I can't even sort by the lowest price!

I'd say back to the lab with these ones.

Like it or not folks, as e-mail becomes more important, it will be used by business to do business. Hopefully they will refrain from jamming everyone's inbox with "buy buy buy," (something I do not support), but if businesses and professionals can't introduce themselves to one another, the economy stops. Period.

What, these people have never heard of Google? Pricewatch.com? Pricegrabber.com? ResellerRatings.com?

If you think business will need to rely on blind dispatch of email to random people to grow and prosper, then business is in deep doo-doo.

Schwab

then try here for a cheap price. The Griffin Technologies iMic has both input and ouput options superior to your laptops built-in soundboard.

Dear Santa,

I've been a really good geek this year. I have studied the intricacies of the quantic string field network and built a beowulf cluster out of my old Apple II. I have also helped my school to install their own park of budget PCs and given classes to the senior citizens in our town's retirement home.

So I think I deserved that Terabyte HDD system I saw online [pricegrabber].

Maybe your elves can built it. I have some schematics for it. Pr0... er... pencil holder schematics are becoming really big, with the internet and all, you know, Santa?

Yours,
Geeky Geeks.

Should be able to pick up a nice 64MB GF2 fairly cheap.

See here ($50) or
here ($40 for MX400).

... why so few people have implemented this. Our website actually has one of these thingys -- we just put it up, in fact, because its absence was causing trouble with some IE releases. Wading through the P3P docs to come up with a meaningful XML privacy description document is a non-trivial undertaking. The funny thing is that, IIRC, having this little shred of XML puts us ahead of a bunch of other commercial sites that don't do it.

chek out here, http://osdn.pricegrabber.com/, you can ussually find amazing deals on here, and since its part of OSDN i'm sure the slashdot crowd would approve

I wonder if it's anything like this device. Seriously though - a pointing device that works without a surface? Possibly that old thumbpad wireless mouse (which was also used primarily (AFAICR) for powerpoint presentations? Possibly a trackball?

--

Personally, for my uses, I'm use the computer for the latter purpose and have been quite happy running Linux on a cheap Cyrix 300 MHz system. I do lot of surfing, writing, and spreadsheet analysis with StarOffice (actually, I've just upgraded to OpenOffice 1.0). However, I have built a number of systems in the past and have found these links are a must:

Pricegrabber

Pricewatch

CNET's price comparison site

Techbargains (if you are patient enough to wait for that perfect machine to be affordable)

Your time is really worth the money, and when it comes down to it, those cheap systems from Dell, Compgeeks, or Walmart are actually worth the heartache that you may encounter later when you find out that the motherboard you bought has spotty USB support in Windows 98. And if you add up how much you'd spend to make a comparable system, you'll find out that you're only saving a miniscule amount, if that. But again, if you wanted a high-end machine, then building your own will definitely be worth the time and effort to find the right parts and putting them together.

I have found that if you buy a box with what you want in it already (or something reasonably close) then you can usually save a lot of money. More so than buying each piece. So what I do is I try to find a system which is really close to what I want and then just order the other parts.

The reason is, is because it is cheaper for the computer place to put it all together than it is to sell the individual parts. Less paperwork, fewer boxes to ship, lower shipping costs, etc.... The company also makes a better profit off of the deal. So they usually pass some of those savings on to the customer. Not all of the savings - but some.

I had not heard of newegg.com before (although I WILL be definitely adding it to my list), but pricewatch, pricegrabber used to be good, and even zdnet.com can help you locate systems and parts.

later.

Here are a few recommendations:

Price Grabber. Think Price Watch without so much sleaze. Plus, they offer peer merchant reviews!

Googlegear. They have good service and many of their items have free FedEx 2nd day shipping!

TCWO. They are a good place to buy CPUs.

Hope this helps you out.

Check out arstechnica for more information on homebrew PC's. They have a lot of information regarding reviews of components of computer systems, as well as letting people on to deals on new components. Good site.

Other good sites that people mentioned in previous responses are: anandtech and toms hardware for component reviews, and pricegrabber and pricewatch for finding the best prices on things online, and newegg is just a great online company that is very reliable and inexpensive for purchasing lots of electronic/computer components.

Haven't seen anyone list this one - The Computer King.Com. They've got a good selection of stuff, but as always you gotta shop around, different places have different deals. I agree with a lot of people here by also recommending Newegg as one of the best out there.

I also find that PriceGrabber is a good site for comparison shopping, I prefer it to Pricewatch when it comes to finding reputable dealers.

Don't forget the incredible satisfaction of building your own machine, and watching that baby turn on for the first time...(and die straight away if you have my luck).

Roughly, when I built my home PC, I started here:

http://arstechnica.com/guide/system/index.html

They regularly update their 3 machine specifications: God Box, Hot Rod Box, and Budget Box, inorder or price and goodies, of course. But what they mostly include is advice on buying what parts, why to buy them, what to look for if you're not buying that exact part, and how to buy the parts you need for the best price. The last part is most important. You can buy the same piece of hardware you need at many places on the net. The key is getting it the cheapest. The price comparison places I've been using are:

http://www.pricegrabber.com/
http://www.mysimon.com/
http://www.pricescan.com/
http://www.dealtime.com/

Some other people said getting your cpu, mem, and mobo from one place. I'd like to say almost that. CPU and mobo, for sure. But I always buy my memory from

http://www.crucial.com

It's just not worth risking on something so cheap.

Coincidentally, I submitted a similar question to Ask Slashdot before I started but it wasn't accepted so I was on my own. I just built my own PC from scratch -- I ended up using Arstechnica to help me out. The cool thing about Arstechnica is that they provide pricing (using the PriceGrabber engine), user ratings, and 3 suggested systems broken down by component.

I ended up buying most of my components from different web sites using Arstechinca's recommendations as a guide. Looking back, I might have saved some money on shipping if I would have gone with the same company even with slightly higher prices per component.

One thing I would suggest from personal experience is to buy as much as you can locally, even if it's a little more expensive, just in case something goes wrong. I had a problem with a motherboard I bought from a Canadian company. 3 weeks and $30 in shipping later I finally have a mobo that works. Even though they took the motherboard back I was still reponsible for shipping.

Another disadvantage of DIY is that you typically don't get OEM discounts on software. If you'll just be running Linux then that isn't an issue, but Windows folks generally pay a little more for a license.

All in all, even with the problems I ran into, I would still build the next machine myself. The satisfaction of doing it yourself goes a long way.

sigh... but anyways -- the answer you seek is not short, but can be summerized: it depends on what you want.

lets have a few scenarios:

1) you want the fastest, most elaborate PC there is for whatever compensatory reasons. build you self all-the-way. pricewatch, pricegrabber, gotApex Deals, techbargains, and dealwalk are all fine sites to look for deals. flamingo world have some stuff too. pricewatch and pricegrabber gets you the goods, and the rest of them get you the "deals", for example Dell is selling a 20" flat panel (very nice, i have one) for ~1600 -- yesterday you could have gotten it ~1100. just have to check those places everyday. and oh yeah -- go to overclockers.com and find some people to sell you waterblocks, you will need it.

2) average man wanting an averagely fast computer. build can get you more customization and you can "grow into it" more... for the longest time dell would lock the MB so you can't swap processors! and then you can't tweek the MB on ram settings, blah blah either. price is similar if you go and find a good deal. a P4 2GHz can be had at dell for ~600 bux -- no way you can beat that, sorry, especially if you are in CA and have to pay tax+shipping for everybody from pricewatch.

3) your mom/dad. buy one -- in fact, buy one used -- or even better, sell them one of your old, "retired" ones.

4) laptop users -- buy -- because there is no options here. but today unless you are really into water cooling and all that, a laptop gives you the same speed / blah blah anyway. i have a UXGA on my laptop -- sure i have to squint when i look at things, but whatever. p.s. get a good vid.card if you buy a laptop: they are not upgradeable -- however if you are REALLY desperate you can get processors for laptops (micro-PGA) from ebay.

in the end -- for what we want to do (fast system, blah blah) building does not save money. but it's like hotrodding. i have gotten out of the gig a while back (o/c, etc etc) and wont turn back. it's just too much trouble. my laptop has 64M vid.mem and can run most of the games i need it to (and if it really runs bad, it's just a productivity killer anyway). i hope the sites listed in (1) helps -- they are the better ones i can come up with. and have fun -- and last thing. save the reciepts! if you build yourself you WILL, by laws of probabbility, have crap happen and you will know good and well what's an RMA *real* fast.

lastly -- to make everything work out by building -- you will be continously upgrading your hardware. which means
1) you need to recompile the kernel a lot / reinstall windows a lot
2) know ebay like the back of your hand. this is probabbly the only way you have a system that mostly works, does not cost you TOO bad, and you won't have tons of spare parts lying around.

so is it worth it?... well? what is "having a customized PC" worth to ya?

So sure, you can like the other folks have already mentioned, use pricewatch, pricegrabber, even mysimon to find good prices on QUALITY components. But don't buy cheapie stuff--the best part of building your own system is that you can use quality parts and get it done for the same price as a system manufacturer might with cheap stuff!

But then you go to a store with a good reputation, such as Dell, NewEgg, Buy.com, etc. to buy all the stuff at a higher price. The best part is when you whip out the Amex Gold card to pay for it. Then you call American Express up and tell them that you found all these items for cheaper at other websites (referencing your searches above). They kindly cut you a check for the difference.

This way, you get the best price and the best service. Ahh how wonderful.

Details on doing Amex pricematching are here which is a link on www.xpbargains.com. XPBargains is a very cool site by the way.

As is Pricegrabber; they seem to be more complete then Pricewatch.

Pricegrabber lists it as low as $101.53! Too bad that is lunch for a month!

It's like this:

If you look you can probably find systems (not THE latest systems but good high powered systems) for around $600.00. Forget Dell, Gateway, and the like. You are paying for the name more than anything else. Look for those hard to find small companies looking to make some money because they are getting squeeze by the larger companies. Their products are just as good and you can take out everything you do not need before purchasing the base system.

Example: When 850mhz systems were costing $1,000.00 to $1,300.00 I bought two stripped down systems for $450.00 each. I used all of my old equipment but bought new CD-RWs. Now we have some very nice systems which work quite well.

The problem you will have now is that the big name players have taken over in many respects those sites which used to find you great deals on various items. PriceGrabber is one such site. It used to feature many small companies selling computers but now all you get is IBM, Apple, Dell, Gateway, and the like. So now you have to hunt. Try Google and use phrases like "+500.00 +pc +desktop" to help eliminate clutter. (The plus means to use AND instead of OR when querying Google.)

If anyone else knows of a good site to look for cheaply priced computers - they should list them here.

Later!

The worst part of this all is that the "new" price of $399 is horrible. They are also trying to shirk with a $30 coupon. Link below.

Here are a few links to show you how to find a deal on this card, Vision Tek part number 30001522 :

Pricewatch Search for 30001522

Tip on searching Pricewatch (my favorite); the url format is: [http://brook.pricewatch.com/search/search.asp?cri teria=item_criteria_here]

Streetprices Search for 30001522

Pricegrabber Search, I don't like Price-grabber, but its here to show that even a crappy Shylock engine is better than Worst Buy ©(TM)®.

BEST BUY charged with FRAUD:
Best Buy & HRS Credit Insurance Fraud to their customers. Big Ripoff Scam!

Story also covered here:
http://www.theinquirer.net/10020202.htm

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/24005.html

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/19176/

http://courses.wcupa.edu/jredingt/BestBuy.htm

http://www.hardocp.com/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/archive/24041 . tml Worst Buy Highway Robbery Inc. Trying to give only $30 bucks for mistake.

http://hypothermia.gamershardware.com/

http://hypothermia.gamershardware.com/articles/bes tbuy_gf4deal.html

http://hypothermia.gamershardware.com/articles/bb_ arrest.html

http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/4/24/11357/3033 .

I have had horrible experience with them as well. I won't even go into it, but they tried to do something fraudulent and were obstinate about owning up to it.

I had a similar Problem with Buy.COM and there was a class action lawsuit and 3 years later I got a $60 coupon for my troubles. I would have liked to have gotten a $50 Hitachi monitor for th $163 dollars they promised it for.

It has been committed in history FORVER, here:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&frame=right& th=5c9f98e92d07422b&seekm=36C0A7EF.7AF4%40uclink4. berkeley.edu#link1

I have had horrible experience with them as well. I won't even go into it, but they tried to do something fraudulent and were obstinate about owning up to it.

The worst part of this all is that the "new" price of $399 is horrible.

Here are a few links to show you how to find a deal on this card, Vision Tek part number 30001522 :

Pricewatch Search for 30001522

Tip on searching Pricewatch (my favorite); the url format is: [http://brook.pricewatch.com/search/search.asp?cri teria=item_criteria_here]

Streetprices Search for 30001522

Pricegrabber Search, I don't like Price-grabber, but its here to show that even a crappy Shylock engine is better than Worst Buy ©(TM)®.

BEST BUY charged with FRAUD:
Best Buy & HRS Credit Insurance Fraud to their customers. Big Ripoff Scam!

Story also covered here:
http://www.theinquirer.net/10020202.htm

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/24005.html

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/19176/

http://courses.wcupa.edu/jredingt/BestBuy.htm

http://www.hardocp.com/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/archive/24041 . tml Worst Buy Highway Robbery Inc. Trying to give only $30 bucks for mistake.

http://hypothermia.gamershardware.com/

http://hypothermia.gamershardware.com/articles/bes tbuy_gf4deal.html

http://hypothermia.gamershardware.com/articles/bb_ arrest.html

http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/4/24/11357/3033 .

I have had horrible experience with them as well. I won't even go into it, but they tried to do something fraudulent and were obstinate about owning up to it.

The worst part of this all is that the "new" price of $399 is horrible.

Here are a few links to show you how to find a deal on this card, Vision Tek part number 30001522 :

Pricewatch Search for 30001522

Tip on searching Pricewatch (my favorite); the url format is: [http://brook.pricewatch.com/search/search.asp?cri teria=item_criteria_here]

Streetprices Search for 30001522

Pricegrabber Search, I don't like Price-grabber, but its here to show that even a crappy Shylock engine is better than Worst Buy ©(TM)®.

BEST BUY charged with FRAUD:
Best Buy & HRS Credit Insurance Fraud to their customers. Big Ripoff Scam!

Story also covered here:
http://www.theinquirer.net/10020202.htm

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/24005.html

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/19176/

http://courses.wcupa.edu/jredingt/BestBuy.htm

http://www.hardocp.com/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/archive/24041 . tml Worst Buy Highway Robbery Inc. Trying to give only $30 bucks for mistake.

http://hypothermia.gamershardware.com/

http://hypothermia.gamershardware.com/articles/bes tbuy_gf4deal.html

http://hypothermia.gamershardware.com/articles/bb_ arrest.html

http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/4/24/11357/3033 .

For what it's worth, you can still buy those old IBM clicky-keyboards (but I'll take my Kinesis instead any day).

( I hope I get the html right)

http://www.pricegrabber.com

Home > Computers > Notebooks & Accessories > Batteries & Adapters

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_attrib.php/page _id=32

DONE, as a bonus, you get the cheepest price :)

Disclaimer
I work at pricegrabber
/Disclaimer

( I hope I get the html right)

http://www.pricegrabber.com

Home > Computers > Notebooks & Accessories > Batteries & Adapters

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_attrib.php/page _id=32

DONE, as a bonus, you get the cheepest price :)

Disclaimer
I work at pricegrabber
/Disclaimer

Try and pick any electronics in your local CompUSA or Fry then go to PriceGrabber or my favorite Pricewatch and you will see there is plenty of good deals on the net.
Often you have to go thru a special Netpage or input a comment for getting the PriceWatch price. I find it a bit annoying but understand the reasoning.

Because unlike TV, radio, newspaper, billboards, and the rest, we are NOT a captive audience anymore. It's a two-way communication medium, like the telephone, that doesn't respond well to constant in-your-face sales pitches; and with software, those of us who have a particularly strong aversion to annoying influence peddlers (aka: advertisers), can simply opt-out of the noise, saving the site wasted ad bandwidth ($), and us wasted aggravation (!).

Not that I like ads, but I understand sites need to have a way to survive.

Thanks for volunteering your mind for product branding! As long as there's enough people like you (and there are) who don't mind being pawns in a massive mental engineering game, there's still hope! Into your willing consumer brains will be planted DESIRE; that desire will thusly translate into an eventual SALE; that sale -- which includes covering the hidden cost of your own manipulation -- will thusly keep the affiliate site, WWW.THE-NET-WAS-SUPPOSED-TO-BE-A-GOLDMINE.COM, afloat with a cut of the profit (simplified 10X). :-)

Me on the the hand...If I want something, I'll go looking for it, and not the other way around. Ads are a relatively recent invention anyway, and they just aren't for everyone. So should I be kicked off the net because I'm a "bad consumer?" and who are these Jones' I'm supposed to keep up with? :)

Oh, I also make extensive use of an "un-american" tool called pricegrabber to shave off even more of those high reseller profit margins.

--

Well, even with all the great price/feature-comparison killer-apps out there (pricegrabber & pricewatch -- the rest suck: dealtime, mysimon, pricescan.com, killerapp.com, ...), and unbiased product reviews, and fly-by-night merchant ratings (gomez, bizrate, resellerratings), etc., most people still don't use this information. Most people are blissfully happy to led by the nose into overpaying for crap with pretty packaging; and by overpaying, the CrapCompany(tm) then reinvests this profit into capturing more lemmings with more shiny object advertising. It's a vicious cycle of LCD crap. :-)

So much for that information killer-app living up to its namesake eh?

If a good "bullshit detector" were ever to go mainstream (i.e. integrated with the desktop) it would kill a LOT of business' that depend on ignorance for their high profit margins. In fact, in defense, more companies would probably start using the "EBay strategy" of calling their listed pricing information "private property," in order to kill off the pro-consumer clearinghouses......(unless said clearinghouse could be a distributed untouchable.)