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Actually 22% of Android users, 38% of Blackberry users, and 32% of users with dumbphones are expected to buy the iPhone 5.

There is much less cannibalism here than you lead on.

http://cdn1.techbargains.com/static/images/iphonepredictions/iPhone-infographic_noFooter.png

http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/302078
Core i5 sandybridge with 4GB RAM ($30 upgrade to 8), 500GB drive; all for $479.

http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/302125
Core i7 Ivy Bridge, 8GB RAM, 1TB drive. All for $799.

Please point me to a similar Mac that is less than double those prices.

http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/302078
Core i5 sandybridge with 4GB RAM ($30 upgrade to 8), 500GB drive; all for $479.

http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/302125
Core i7 Ivy Bridge, 8GB RAM, 1TB drive. All for $799.

Please point me to a similar Mac that is less than double those prices.

Ill take a $1400 cheaper laptop with a matte screen designed for actual work. Enjoy being gouged though.

Baloney.
(And in case you missed it, the HP actually has substantially better specs than the Macbook).

While the pic is a year old, I would gladly take it as a challenge to beat any Macbook someone could link, for roughly 1/2 the price on PC hardware. For instance...

http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/302125
VS
http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MD318LL/A?
Hey look, the lenovo is an Ivy bridge, while the macbook is still on Sandy bridge despite costing ~twice as much! Not to mention double the RAM, a vastly bigger drive, etc etc etc.

If you think you dont get gouged to the bank and back by using a Mac, you simply dont know how to shop for computers.

Check techbargains, they have several DDR3 sets of like 8GB for $65, and 6GB for under $45.

Those deals may have passed, but here are some under $10/GB deals:
4GB / $39.99
2GB / $18.99
8GB / $74.99
$8 /GB deals from a mere 5 days ago

Etc etc, it may fluctuate some, but its been around $8/GB for about a month now.

Check techbargains, they have several DDR3 sets of like 8GB for $65, and 6GB for under $45.

Those deals may have passed, but here are some under $10/GB deals:
4GB / $39.99
2GB / $18.99
8GB / $74.99
$8 /GB deals from a mere 5 days ago

Etc etc, it may fluctuate some, but its been around $8/GB for about a month now.

Check techbargains, they have several DDR3 sets of like 8GB for $65, and 6GB for under $45.

Those deals may have passed, but here are some under $10/GB deals:
4GB / $39.99
2GB / $18.99
8GB / $74.99
$8 /GB deals from a mere 5 days ago

Etc etc, it may fluctuate some, but its been around $8/GB for about a month now.

Check techbargains, they have several DDR3 sets of like 8GB for $65, and 6GB for under $45.

Those deals may have passed, but here are some under $10/GB deals:
4GB / $39.99
2GB / $18.99
8GB / $74.99
$8 /GB deals from a mere 5 days ago

Etc etc, it may fluctuate some, but its been around $8/GB for about a month now.

Shuttle X27D is listed at eWiz for about $170

These Apple vs. Dell competitions never account for the constant sales that Dell has on their products. They keep the list price relatively high so their salespeople can give "favorable pricing" to their corporate clients. Very frequently, though, Dell issues coupons good for huge discounts. You can get 10-25% off a new Dell laptop if you wait a few weeks. Apple hardly ever has huge sales.

Most rational consumers would wait a bit to save a few hundred dollars. I would love to see a comparison that took these Dell discounts into account.

The technology stuff:
Slashdot
ThinkGeek Clearance
ThinkGeek What's new
Was a promising Image Editor. - Pixel Image Editor
Great discount on technology and sometimes other gear.
More technology discounts.
Latest video tools.
Mac Software discounts.
discounted product sales.
More Mac Software discounts.

A few local feeds:
Durham, NC food reviews. - Carpe Durham
Durham, NC drink specials.
Raleigh, NC drink specials.
Raleigh, NC Photo blog. - Goodnight, Raleigh!
Chapel Hill, NC drink specials.

In order:

Yahoo! News: Top Stories
Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things http://www.boingboing.net/ - Links of cool stuff / interesting political stuff on the web
Slashdot.org (some nerd website)
Penny Arcade http://www.penny-arcade.com/ - Best webcomic evar
Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com/ - Gaming news
BensBargains.net http://www.bensbargains.net/ - Website that lists awesome deals on all sorts of stuff
FOUND Magazine http://www.foundmagazine.com/ - Website where people submit random interesting/hilarious/beautiful/sad/etc things that they find (letters, pictures, notes, signs, etc.)
SlickDeals.net http://www.slickdeals.net/ - Same as above
Techbargains.com http://www.techbargains.com/ - Ditto.

Or you can shop around a bit and get a Dell with a 1.6 GHz Celeron 420, a 80 GB SATA HD, a gig of DDR2 a CDRW-DVD-ROM, Windows XP AND a 19" TFT monitor for $350 delivered. Perfectly fine for most office tasks and web stuff, plus you can easily slap PCI peripherals and internal drives in the box. Not quite as small or quiet as a Mac Mini, but if you hawk the monitor for $150 you can buy a PC for about a third as much as a low end Mac. Macs never really go on sale, it sticks in my craw.

As to the OS, I'd probably just end up installing Linux on either of them, especially if I were after eye candy. Compiz Fusion runs like a champ on the 855GM Integrated Graphics Device I'm typing this on running Sidux Linux and blows away anything I've seen in that department from MacRosoft.

Daily:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ I like to start every day with the Astronomy Picture of the Day
http://www.woot.com/ and the daily Woot.
http://www.slashdot.org/ Then I'll visit Slashdot about 30 times each day,
http://www.techbargains.com/ and I'm surprised more people didn't list Techbargains. I can't stay off this site.
http://www.ytmnd.com/ Finally, I'll spend countless hours each day viewing stupid YTMNDs.

Few times a week:
http://www.apple.com/trailers Movie trailers, keeps you up to date on what's coming out.
http://www.thepbf.com/ The Perry Bible Fellowship = best.
http://www.theonion.com/ The Onion
http://www.thinkgeek.com/ and Thinkgeek, of course.

Mix in the usual bbc, npr, cnn, espn, newegg, email, etc, and that's my rotation. Really, I'm surprised I didn't see more techbargains in these replies. That should be a staple in every rotation.

Here yah go

PS3 for $599.99

ATM no one seems to have the Wii instock (a few places had them as late as yesterday, but only game bundles).

If you are tryign to track down systems then:
buy wii, from techbargains
buy PS3, from techbargains
Wii Tracker
PS3 Finder (same people as wii tracker)

enjoy.

Here yah go

PS3 for $599.99

ATM no one seems to have the Wii instock (a few places had them as late as yesterday, but only game bundles).

If you are tryign to track down systems then:
buy wii, from techbargains
buy PS3, from techbargains
Wii Tracker
PS3 Finder (same people as wii tracker)

enjoy.

I tell everyone I know to check out techbargains.com. A quick search there revealed:

Samsung Black-and-White Laser Printer for $60, not a bad deal, but I don't have any experience with Samsung laser printers, so who knows how good it is.

Here's another by Konica.

I tell everyone I know to check out techbargains.com. A quick search there revealed:

Samsung Black-and-White Laser Printer for $60, not a bad deal, but I don't have any experience with Samsung laser printers, so who knows how good it is.

Here's another by Konica.

I'm not even going to get into fatwallet.com...

It's too bad fatwallet is full of bastards who would sell their mother out for a quarter.

Use some other, less-evil sites instead:

http://www.dealmein.net/
http://www.slickdeals.net/
http://www.techbargains.com/
http://www.bensbargains.net/

Go here: http://www.techbargains.com/index.cfm

Type "Fry's" into the search box on the left.

See a list of all the local papers that have Fry's ads in high-res online glory 7-days a week.

Includes the following: SF Bay Area, Orange County, LA, Renton, Houston, Dallas, and Chicago

Specifically, I wanted the camera body without the lens. The best prices listed were roughly $460 or so. I actually placed my order at a couple of the sites - the order was accepted and everything looks normal. Then I invariably got an email from the sites asking me to confirm the order by calling them.

Then the crap begings.

Apparently this item is just a camera body without anything else in the box. No batteries, no manual, etc. Canon does not even sell the camera this way, so I am not sure what they are claiming to sell.

Fundamentally they refused to sell me the camera listed at the price advertised. "Surely you want the kit with lens?", "The kit without the lens?", "The extended warranty?", and a "How about the warranty in the US?" (even though the web site claimed it had the US warranty).

I felt like this was a scene from Monty Python's "Cheese Shop".

I replied "no" to all of these and asked them to just sell me the camera body as advertised. They basically refused - saying they don't have it on hand - and that it would take 8 to 10 weeks to get one (well after the holidays). Then they essentially cancelled my order and hung up without providing me an opportunity to actually order the camera at the price advertised.

I believe we have laws in our state (New York) about offering rain checks for advertised items that our out of stock. How come so many of these sleeze bag camera shops - which are also based in New York - are exempt from such rules and regulations? Do Interstate commerce rules trump NY rules?

Anyway - the whole experience was incredibly annoying. I wound up using http://www.techbargains.com/ to find electronic discount coupons from Dell - which was actually a better final price than any of the other camera shops I tried.

Techbargains has it down to $331 from dell.

http://www.techbargains.com/

http://www.techbargains.com/ is where I go first before I buy anything. They have deals sectioned by coupons and other things. If I remember correctly they even have a special section just for hidden Dell promotions.

Techbargains.com has their finger on the pulse of tech deals everywhere, including your local B&M compu-store.

Hardcore shoppers will take advantage of the various coupon/deal sites, and forums, such as:
100 Big Coupons
SlickDeals
Headlinedeals
Tech Bargains
Hot Deals
Of Course Fat Wallet Hot-Deals Forum can't be forgotten

Just keep in mind that these sites do have affiliate agreements with companies, and so are making a buck off the purchases you click-through from their sites. Some of their recommendations may be skewed based on their affiliate agreements.

These are the sites where you'll find out about last minute clearances, specials, % off coupons, and pricing errors. Often you're being the 'evil consumer', but you're getting a heck of a deal.

Check techbargains.comperiodically, the 2001FP makes frequent appearances there for a little over $700.

I don't know about any of you, but "Froogle" hasn't impressed me yet. I am a frequent user of pricewatch and techbargains, and Froogle hasn't even come close to matching these. Call me old fashioned, but I sincerely hope that google stays away from the portal business.

I wrote a little thing about putting together a WiFi+modem setup nearly two years ago -- the prices have dropped since then; if you follow a site like techbargains.com, you can probably find a suitable WiFi/DHCP server/3- or 4-port router for something between free and $50 (after rebate), and a 56K hardware modem that would work fine for about $30 -- so I think you can say it's no more expensive than a linksys home router's regular price, anyhow. Hard to believe how much I paid for the same stuff a few years ago, but it's all H2O under the bridge now.

I'm surprised there aren't yet integrated modem+switch+WiFi boxes as I predict in that writeup that by now there would be.

timothy

J and R has the Apple iPod 10GB for a low $283.99, $4.95 shipping. Tax in NY only. Search for M8976LL

J and R has the Apple iPod 10GB for a low $283.99, $4.95 shipping. Tax in NY only. Search for M8976LL

If you're stingy and patient, there may be a 10% sale after Christmas, as there was after Thanksgiving.

Keep an eye out for Dell's stackable coupons... they often have $35 off $350 and $45 off $450 pretty regularly. Many times, they will have these in addition to a blanket %10 off all peripherals. As of a few months ago, they were not excluding the iPod although they will occasionally exclude some items. Keep an eye on this site, as they usually report any Dell deals on a regular basis.

Your best bet may be Dell. They occasionally have coupons for accessories and peripherals (which might include the iPod). That's how I got a 40 GB iPod from them a few months ago for $430. Check Bensbargains and Techbargains for the coupons.

Um, I know Dell sells them. There was a 802.11b MiniPCI card from Dell on sale for $29 the other week. Check Techbargains for it. Also, if you're desperate, you can generally rip apart a consumer AP or "router" and yank out it's MiniPCI card, too.

http://bestbookbuys.com (compares prices for books accross most online bookstores)
http://consumerreports.com (untainted consumer information, subscription required)
http://edmunds.com (a good read before you buy a car)
http://insweb.com (cheap online insurance agency with a number of insurance providers)
http://www.ftc.gov (to learn your rights as a consumer or as a business)
http://forums.ebay.com/db1/forum.jsp?forum=107 (scams performed on Ebay -- good read for Ebay newcomers)
http://resellerratings.com (to check the track record of electronics resellers, some of the cheapest electronics resellers are one-fly-night operations that take your money one day, go bankrupt the next, and restart the day after under a new name)
http://pricewatch.com or http://pricescan.com (compares prices on pc hardware and electronics)
http://techbargains.com
http://bottomdollar.com

According to Tech Bargains You can get a DELL 400SC 2GHz server without an OS for $299. (3.2GHz just $622)

Not too hard to imagine a cluster of these.

Anybody who buys into your 'conspiracy theory' has had their brain fried by the cheaper is obviously better reality distortion ray gun. Here are a couple reasons why the company I work for has never, and probably will never, consider Dells:
cost
Check gotapex? or techbargains and you'll see Dell P4s for $400-500 bucks. Seriously, what computer worth a shit costs that little?
Remember friend that not everybody cares spending a little bit more for quality.
software
Video Editing? Post-production? (Adobe Premiere doesn't count. Get real.)
Looks like it all depends on what profession you're in doesn't it?.

Those inane commercials with the intern dolts don't help either. I want a box to do its job and not complain about it, not to save me a couple hundred dollars up front.

Anyone who buys into this 'conspiracy theory' has had their brain fried by the Apple reality distortion ray gun. Here are a couple reasons why the company I work for has never, and probably will never, consider Macs:
cost
Check gotapex? or techbargains and you'll see Dell P4's for $400-500 bucks. Seriously, what Mac can compare?
software
AutoCAD? GIS apps? Engineering apps? (Canvas doesn't count. Get real.)

Those hip, trendy commercials don't help either. I want a box to crunch numbers, not to make a fashion statement.

Sorry, my bad. Not $100 - $171.99 after $40 mail in rebate. Huge difference. Oh and on ebay they've gone for $150 or less.

I used TurboTax for the first (and, likely, last) time last year. I have the press, including Slashdot, to thank for steering me clear of this year's defective edition.

BTW, today's Techbargains, a popular deal and coupons site, has a blurb on this very topic: "Tax season is coming. Staples has Taxcut with lots of free software. Turbotax has Macrovision copy protection that most users would prefer to avoid."

With no karma bonus because of how offtopic we are.

Here's the product link without a ref

Here's the product link with a ref

If you roll over the links, you can see the difference.
I don't think people make a whole lot of money off of them. Some sites, like Techbargains probably do.

To register for Amazon's program, go to associates.amazon.com for their "associate" program. That's what they actually call it.

I got a refurb Sony 19" HMDA400/L/RF from sonystyle.com for only 200 bucks and 1 penny to ship. It's awesome.

Of course, you can find great deals like this simply by going to techbargains.com

like techbargains and fatwallet

i bought a 17" dell 1702fp (samsung/dvi+analog) for $500 with no tax and free shipping about a year ago

recently the dell 2000fp (1600x1200 native 20" dvi/analog/svideo lcd), highly reviewed here, was going for $800 including shipping.

Network Starter Kit, Oct 11

Computers4Sure has the NETGEAR SB104 10BASE-T Ethernet Network Starter Kit $25.95. Includes 2 10/100 Ethernet cards, cables, and a 4 port 10T Hub. (source, http://www.techbargains.com/ ... currently the 11th item down the list)

Network Starter Kit, Oct 11

Computers4Sure has the NETGEAR SB104 10BASE-T Ethernet Network Starter Kit $25.95. Includes 2 10/100 Ethernet cards, cables, and a 4 port 10T Hub. (source, http://www.techbargains.com/ ... currently the 11th item down the list)

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.

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?

Here in Cambridge, MA, PCs for Everyone is considered one of the best small companies. They sell parts, will build a custom pc, and offer a few pre-built pcs.

Advice 3: watch bargain web sites, especially http://www.techbargains.com/ and Anandtech Hot Deals forum.

My advice for various retailers:

• http://www.directron.com/ (great source for cases, and various mechanocal necessities and cables)
• Dell Peripherals, if you manage to catch the needed part (drives/etc...) during a good sale.
• Someone already mentioned http://www.newegg.com
• Another site i have found to have great price and service in the past is Z-Buy.com

Hope this helps,
DVK