Looking for a way to make customizable greeting cards that also plays your message? Gadget.brando.com is selling blank cards that can record up to 10 seconds of your own personalized message. The card runs for $12, but a picture’s worth a thousand words, so it’s probably worth the 12 bucks. It has a 6×4-inch photo slot, and you can also draw on the card itself to personalize it even more.
I know—a juicy sale price on a gadget is hard to resist. But the extras associated with these items are the real killers. It’s time to look beyond the tag in search of values.
Game Consoles
Xbox 360: Let’s say you scored an Xbox 360 Pro bundle this holiday for $240. Not bad—that’s a 20% savings. But you still might need/want an extra wireless controller, an HDMI cable, a wireless adapter and two play-and-charge battery kits. All of a sudden, the price jumps up to $440—nearly double the initial cost.
While you may be stuck with Microsoft wireless controllers, there are workarounds for the other components that can help bring costs down. Going with trusted 3rd party manufacturers like Nyko on peripherals is one way to do this. Their version of the play-and-charge battery kit for your controllers will save you $10 right off the bat. As for the wireless adapter, you can set up a DIY version fairly easily using a cheap router, a few feet of Cat 5 cable and open source DD-WRT firmware—saving you as much as $70. You can even use your laptop as the wireless adapter and save the entire $100.
By using your own HDMI, you can save as much as $45. And if you want to send digital audio separately, there’s a simple hack to your included AV cable. All in all, the total cost of of your Xbox 360 hardware can be reduced from $440 to as little as $325.
Nintendo Wii: As far as essential add ons are concerned, Nintendo and Sony are not nearly as extreme as Microsoft. However, there are still some deals to be found on accessories if you know where to look. For example, Nyko will be offering wired versions of their Wing (classic controller) and Kama (nunchuk) for $15 apiece starting in January. A $5 savings over the official version isn’t much, but it starts to add up if you are buying several controllers for party games.
Another area that you can save with the Wii involves storage. Buying the officially licensed 2GB SD card will set you back around $25—but other than the Nintendo seal there is no difference between that and a standard $10 card.
Playstation 3: Even if you managed to score a deal on the PS3 this holiday, you are still going to shell out additional cash for an HDMI cable. By now, the world has realized that a cheap HDMI cable works just as well (in most cases) as an expensive version. Therefore, it doesn’t make much sense to shell out $50-$60 for an official PS3 HDMI cable when you can get a version that is perfectly fine for as little as $5 shipped.
Computers
Hardware: Like game consoles, picking up a new computer isn’t always as straightforward as paying the sticker price. MacBooks are a good example of this. If you just picked up your first MacBook, chances are you are going to need two things right away: an upgrade to Wireless-N and an external hard drive that takes advantage of Leopard’s Time Machine functionality. One option would be to drop $300 on a 500GB version—or $500 on a 1TB version—of Apple’s Time Capsule wireless hard drive/base station. Granted, this is an ideal solution to both problems, but MacBooks tend to put a hurtin’ on finances so there may not be much money left over to go this route.
On the lower end you could go with Apple’s AirPort Express and your own external hard drive. The AirPort is actually a decent value at $99—but you can still save a little extra cash by making a sacrifice or two and going outside of Apple. For example, you can get a decent 802.11n router for as little as $70. You can also score a 500GB hard drive that can do the job via USB for $90 and under. The throughput on the router may not be as high and you may have to deal with USB cables on the hard drive, but you are still getting fully functioning hardware at a sizable discount.
Software: It’s almost never a good idea to purchase additional software from the manufacturer of your computer as an add on. If, for some reason, you decided to get the Microsoft Office Home and Student 2008 suite from Apple they would charge you $135 extra when it can be easily had elsewhere for around $110. Dell goes even further by charging $149 for Office Home and Student 2007 when a version licensed for 3 PCs can be had for $75.
Home Theaters
Cables: Whenever you purchase home theater equipment there are a seemingly endless variety of hidden costs that can end up nickle-and-diming you to death. Again, cabling is a big part of this equation. As I mentioned earlier, in most cases shelling out big bucks for fancy HDMI cable isn’t much different that flushing your cash down the toilet. However, at cable distances greater than 6 feet or so this may not always be the case. As we learned in our Truth About Monster Series, as a general rule, it is better to purchase your cables from a discount retailer like Monoprice and give them a shot before spending wads of money on products like Monster with enormous markups.
Installation: Wall mounting televisions and installing surround sound speakers can be expensive and/or labor intensive. Of course, there are alternatives that can help you avoid these pitfalls. Even if you have your heart set on a wall mount, there are stands out there like the Synchro Furniture Mate that are designed to achieve the wall-mounted look without the hassle of tearing up your walls. As noted in our post on tips for buying an HDTV, if you decide to do it yourself to save a little extra cash, make sure you plan things out in advance. I would also suggest pricing your mount across the internet before purchasing at retail because the markups are likely to be astronomical. Case in point: Best Buy is offering a Sanus tilting wall mount for $145 when a quick visit to Pricegrabber revealed that the same mount is selling on Amazon for $78.
As for setting up surround speakers, it definitely pays to do it yourself. The old-fashioned method can be problematic, but there are solutions as simple as picking up some 4-strand flat speaker cable and running it along your baseboard. It costs under $60 from start to finish, it’s simple and it looks great. Again, plan ahead and price your mounts online before heading off to your local electronics store.
These are but a few examples of how add ons and extras can kill a budget, but the point is clear—it pays to look at the big picture. Before you jump at a sale price, do a little research and think about the total cost of ownership. If you look hard enough, you can find deals that will help you save in the long term.
Prof. Dealzmodo is a regular section dedicated to helping budget-minded consumers learn how to shop smarter and get the best deals on their favorite gadgets. If you have any topics you would like to see covered, send your idea to tips@gizmodo.com, with “Professor Dealzmodo” in the subject line.
Ever since Sony’s XEL-1 hit the market, pundits have pointed to the (comparatively) short-lived blue OLED material as its biggest hamstring. Researchers have been toiling around the clock in order to bring the blue lifepsan in line with its green and red siblings, and now it seems like a team of Gators are that much closer to the promise land. Reportedly, a gaggle of whiz-kids from the University of Florida have “achieved a new record in efficiency of blue organic light-emitting diodes, and because blue is essential to white light, the advance helps overcome a hurdle to lighting that is much more efficient than compact fluorescents.” Franky So (pictured) and his diligent crew were able to reach a peak blue OLED efficiency of 50 lumens per watt, which is halfway to his goal of at least 100 lumens per watt. Hurry it up, folks — CES is just around the corner.
[Via Physorg]
Researchers achieve new efficiency record of blue OLEDs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Not wanting to let a lucrative market opportunity get away from them, Verizon Wireless has expanded its prepaid offerings by letting customers pay a per-day access fee, according to FierceWireless.
The new plans break down as follows: the “Core” plan costs 99 cents per day, and offers unlimited in-network calling and 10-cents-per-minute calls everywhere else. The “Plus” plan, meanwhile, costs $1.99 per day but bundles in free night calling. Finally, the “Power” plan (cue explosive sound effect) costs $2.99 per day and also includes free weekend calling.
For all three plans, text messages cost 10 cents each, MMS messages are a quarter a pop, and out-of-network calls are 10 cents per minute. The report said that prepaid users can also sign up for Verizon’s various media-related services, including VZ Navigator and V CAST.
Any geek living in California and Arizona knows Fry’s Electronics: everything electronics-related you could ever hope to buy, abysmal to decent customer service, and the bag checkers at the door.
It’s the last bit that makes this story so ironic: according to the Associated Press, a Fry’s Electronics vice president was arrested by the IRS on charges that he embezzled more than $65 million from the retailer to fuel his lavish lifestyle and pay off debts, most of them to the owners of the Venetian casino in Las Vegas. It’s worth noting that the VP has yet to be formally charged in the case, although the IRS says they will do so.
The VP allegedly charged suppliers more than the products were worth, then set up a shell company to accept kickbacks. Seventy wire transfers totaling $65.6 million came from five Fry’s suppliers, the AP reported. Those suppliers were not named.
Guess they should have asked for his receipt.
Six months and 150,000 signups later, boxee is preparing to move from alpha to beta status, ready to drop any unsent invites on all interested parties by the 25th ahead of the open alpha period starting January 8, 2009. While OS X / Apple TV / Ubuntu have been the required attire so far, Windows users won’t be out in the cold much longer, as CEO Avner Ronen revealed in comments on the boxee blog that the Windows alpha program will start “early 2009” with thousands of invites sent out every week. That enough to pique your interest in this media streaming set-top box software?
[Via A VC]
Filed under: Home Entertainment
boxee alpha opens up on Mac, Ubuntu January 8; Windows invites to follow originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Former PC Magazine Editor-In-Chief Michael Miller posted about a neat new digital camera that’s great for capturing action shots and sporting-event photos. Casio’s Exilim EX-FH20 is a good choice for amateur photographers. From his post:
What makes the camera special are two particular shooting modes. In the first, it takes 40 7-megapixel frames per second when you hold down the shutter button. This is great if you’re looking for the perfect moment, and you can sense when it is about to happen, such as capturing the precise moment when your child kicks or catches a ball.
Read the entire story on Miller’s blog, Forward Thinking.
Just in time to snag some of that cash you’re sure to have showing up right about now via greeting cards from around the world, Verismo Networks is officially launching its diminutive VuNow PoD. We’ve seen the device evolve quite a bit since June, but with a smorgasbord of competitors already grabbing market share left and right, we’re left to wonder if this one won’t be sitting on the outside looking in. The internet TV streamer hooks directly to one’s TV and internet connection in order to deliver web content (YouTube, of note) to the tele. While specifics are conveniently omitted, we’re told that users will have access to “a broad choice of online video content — from movies, global Live TV channels, to user-generated content and viral videos.” It’s available now for $99, but can you stand yet another set-top-box beneath your flat-panel?
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Verismo officially launches $99 VuNow PoD with YouTube support originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The colleague: one of the more difficult people in your life to buy a present for come holiday season. You might not know them as well as your family, but you likely spend an inordinate amount of time with them. Luckily that means you’re more familiar with their work habits than most, so you’re in a unique position to nab them a gift that not only expresses how you feel about your friendship, but is also something they can actually use. And that — of course — is where we come in. The Engadget Holiday Gift Guide is here to quell your fears of office discomfort, and lead you to the promised land of co-worker gift satisfaction. Read on for the full rundown, and don’t forget to check out our other guides right here!
Continue reading Engadget’s Holiday Gift Guide: for colleague
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Engadget’s Holiday Gift Guide: for colleague originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Along with eggnog, ugly red sweaters and disco mirror balls, it is also time for another year-end staple: the best-sellers list.
While gadget enthusiasts were chasing the Flip HD and Blu-ray players, millions getting their gadget fix from Amazon.com went for the basics: GPS navigators, headsets and cameras.
Amazon.com’s list of the most popular electronics sold through the site, till date, surprises only in how GPS still dominates the charts in terms of popular electronics bought this year.
Garmin’s personal navigation GPS device topped Amazon.com’s top ten best-selling devices of the year chart and its different models dominated the list. Apple’s iPod nano (4GB 3rd generation Silver) came in fourth.
And who knew millions wanted a digital photo keychain more than a camera or a music player? The Coby 1.5-inch digital photo keychain in white ranked second on the charts.
Here’s the complete list of the best-selling electronics products ordered from Amazon.com all year:
Photo: (Irish Typepad/Flickr)
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