Issue 32.11
Part 1
It’s that time of year again, and whether or not you are going back to school, there are some pretty great deals out there on technology. You don’t have to be a student to save if you are looking for something to upgrade or spice up your technology at home or at work.
I can’t guarantee that the deals I mention here will still be available when you read this since I have to submit it on August 7th and deals change week to week and even day to day. They are, however, indicative of the deals that are available if you look for them.
Items are available for 1 cent or even free with certain purchases, but most of these are specific to school work (things like paper, pens, assignment folders, etc.) Additionally, both Staples and OfficeMax are making good offers on office furniture and back-packs (even ones you can carry your laptop in.)
Staples has printers from $60 and up, the kindle book reader from $114 and tablet computers from $300.
OfficeMax has laptops starting at $379, printers from $50, $114 on the kindle. BestBuy is featuring netbooks (extra small laptops without the CD/DVD drive) from $229, small (14″) laptops starting at $279 and regular laptops from $349, tablet computers from $150 and digital cameras from $50. Wal-Mart has desktop computers with monitor included starting at $300, tablets starting at $130, netbooks from about $220, laptops at $300, printers from $28 and digital cameras from $34. Costco has a lot of technology at a higher price, but they don’t carry the low-end cheaper products and their price is pretty comparable for the higher quality items.
That brings up the question of quality and long-term value in your purchase. In technology, you usually get what you pay for. Usually cheap (under $100) printers will last about half as long as a quality printer (in the $150-$300 range and may cost more for the ink. The Kindle and Nook ($119 from Barnes and Noble) are both great book readers, but features like a larger screen, cellular access or color will cost you more. Computers that are exceptionally low cost may have single core processors (instead of dual or quad core) and low memory (1 Gigabyte as opposed to 2, 3, 4 or 6) or not be built as well which will likely reduce the number of years it will work well. For reference, Compaq is the cheaper version made by HP (Hewlett Packard). Acer is the mid-range version of the Gateway and E-Machines is the low-cost, low-value Gateway product. It does not mean that these inexpensive computers will not do well – they may. Your chances of problems or shorter life-cycle are higher when you invest in the budget versions.
In the tablet computers, most of them are around $300-$800 range with the I-Pad from Apple in the top range. The tablets that are less (in the $150-$200 range) usually sacrifice cellular access which means you can only get on the net or download when you are near a wireless network you can log into. For some the savings are worth the sacrifice – for others, the extra features are worth the difference. Whatever you decide, be careful, have fun, and remember to make sure you have a backup of anything important.
Shaun McCausland has been in the computer industry for 30 years (locally with Musicomp & Bits ‘N’ Bytes) and currently does in-home and on-site computer consultation, service, training