The PC Informant » Shopping

Sites for consumer information

Vic Laurie — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 10:53:03 +0000

There are a number of Web sites with useful information for consumers. PC World has a description of some of these. Included are:

A new way to shop online

Vic Laurie — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:59:34 +0000

At All Things Digital, Wall Street Journal consumer electronics reporter Katherine Boehret writes about some new software that may help you shop better online:

This week, I shopped online with Flit.com, a free Web site owned by San Francisco-area company enterONCE LLC that encourages people to shop using the same method they use at the mall: Start inside familiar stores, not in a giant bucket of products. It’s designed so people will enter a search item once and receive multiple suggestions of places where the item might be sold. As shoppers “flit” off to those stores, Flit.com serves as a home base, remembering the original search so shoppers can flit back, choose different stores and shop from there again and again.

Here is the link for Flit.com.

Taking advantage of the average PC user

Vic Laurie — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:01:53 +0000

The average PC owner is at a great disadvantage when it comes to computer repairs and fixes. Very few have any idea of what goes on in Windows and most have to accept on faith whatever someone tells them about a misbehaving computer. To some extent this is also true of cars and household appliances but these are less mysterious than computers and are far less subject to minor problems that look like major ones. For example, there have been countless times when someone asked me about a Windows problem that had them stopped in their tracks but which took two minutes to fix. There are many common Windows hiccups that make a computer unusable to an average person but which are very easy to deal with by an experienced PC user.

Because of the complexity of Windows, malware, and cybercrime, there is a lot of hype about software and services that claim to make your computer run faster or protect it against one threat or the other. Unfortunately, there are also unscrupulous repair services that claim to fix non-existent problems or overcharge for routine services. Sadly, the major retailer Best Buy is alleged to be providing unnecessary services. The Consumerist has a piece, Best Buy Optimization Is A Big Stupid Annoying Waste Of Money:

Over the past year, a number of you have been telling us that, due to “pre-optimization” of computers, it’s difficult — sometimes impossible — to walk into a Best Buy and leave with the advertised deal (in effect, you would be paying a $39.99 surcharge over the computer’s advertised price). We decided to look into your complaints. We sent the Consumer Reports secret shoppers to 18 different Best Buys in 11 states, and one of our shoppers was denied the price advertised for a specific model because only pre-optimized computers were available. When the Consumer Reports engineers compared three “optimized” computers to ones with default factory settings, there was no performance improvement. In one case, an optimized laptop actually performed 32% worse than the factory model.

If you ever buy PCs at the big box stores, you should read the article.

The psychology of online buying

Vic Laurie — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 08:51:17 +0000

Online vendors are using brain research to help them persuade you to click away and make those purchases. The New York Times reports:

An increasing number of retailers, marketers and ad agencies are using elements of neuromarketing techniques—developed from brain research—to make those clicks more likely. They are beginning to use brain-science studies to help determine the elements of your online experience (the colors, location of objects, order of prices on the screen) to influence your feelings about their products, what you will buy and even how much you’ll spend.

Netbook and laptop buying guide

Vic Laurie — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:02:05 +0000

Thinking of buying a laptop or netbook this holiday season? You’ll find some worthwhile information at AnandTech’s Mobile Buyers’ Guide:

There are many different types of laptops right now. They run the gamut from low cost, low performance netbooks that typically deliver good to excellent battery life up through high-end desktop replacement systems that offer performance similar to what you would find in a high-end desktop from a year or two back. In between those two extremes exists a kaleidoscope of options that are roughly classified as “Entry” to “Midrange”. This mobile buyers’ guide will look at what we feel are the best options for each price range right now, and in many instances there will be several alternatives depending on what sort of laptop you’re after.

Amazon opening actual stores (?)

Vic Laurie — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:48:34 +0000

24/7 Wall St. reports:

Word comes from the Times of London that Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), the world’s largest e-commerce operation, is planning to open stores in well-to so sections of the UK. The stores will allow people to buy items on site but will also serve as locations where people can pick-up what they have bought online. Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) has had a similar program for over a year.

The UK stores could be the model for Amazon store expansion in the US. Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS) still have a large number of profitable stores. Amazon may target areas where book and consumer electronics retail outlets do well.

Added later: Amazon is said to be denying that it will open any stores. Reuters reports:

Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), the world’s largest online retailer, has no plans to open stores anywhere in the world, it said on Sunday, in response to a report it was planning to open high street shops in Britain.

A spokesman for the group said it had no plans to open physical stores after the Sunday Times reported the group was looking to cash in on the rising customer demand for so-called click and collect services, where customers buy goods online and pick them up from a shop.

Beware the 12 scams of Christmas

Vic Laurie — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:24:58 +0000

The holiday season is big business for everybody, including scammers. In an interview with CNET, security firm McAfee gives its list of the 12 scams of Christsmas. Slightly paraphrased, these are:

Charitable phishing scams
Fake invoices from delivery services
Phony social networking friend requests
Fake holiday e-cards
Fake “luxury” jewelry
Hacked or phony holiday shopping sites
Sites with Infected Christmas carol lyrics
Job search related scams
Auction site fraud
Password stealing scams
E-mail banking scams
Files for ransom

And don’t forget scareware, Nigerian scams, phony lottery winnings, fake Windows updates, etc.

Black Friday shopping

Vic Laurie — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:24:03 +0000

In America, the day after Thanksgiving is the traditional Black Friday frenzy of shopping for bargains. ZDNet offers a guide to sales specials for electronics and gadgets. It’s a substantial listing so if you feel like braving the crowds on Friday, take a look. Actually, you might not have to leave your home since there are also online offerings.

Added later: MakeUseOf lists five places to find out about available bargains.

Can you trust eBay reputations?

Vic Laurie — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:38:15 +0000

An important consideration in dealing with others on eBay is their reputation rating. These ratings are supposed to reflect the feedback from those who have had previous transactions with the person in question. But are those reputation ratings reliable? Science Daily reports a study that says there may be problems:

A new study to be published in the International Journal of Electronic Business suggests that unscrupulous vendors on the online marketplace eBay can easily buy a good reputation and so circumvent recent efforts by the company to prevent feedback fraud.

Holiday gadget review

Vic Laurie — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:37:54 +0000

Shopping for Christmas starts earlier every year. PC World already has a selection of gadgets to look at:

When it comes to gadgets and gear, smaller is better, high fashion is in vogue, and affordability will be king this holiday buying season. That’s the message from tech firms that showed off their holiday wares at back-to-back industry shows in New York last week.

Heavyweights Asus, Hewlett-Packard, Palm, and Toshiba exhibited everything from supersmart digital displays to the latest in communication devices to cutting-edge geek chic. Also here in New York were smaller firms, such as Avaak, which promoted its wireless peel-and-stick video cameras that last one year before you have to replace the battery.