How to Find Electronics & Computer Deals Online...EVERY DAY! UPDATED!!!
Sep 01 '08 (Updated Apr 14 '09)
The Bottom Line If you want easy, reliable methods to constantly find deals on electronics, computers, and more, then this is a MUST READ!
INTRODUCTION
Everyone loves a deal. And we love to brag about it, or just secretly cavort about, surrounded by all the latest toys, or redeem coupons for free food, or half off of items. Where do all these deals come from, and what do these uber-geeks do that we don't, that constantly find them maximizing their money, while the rest of us find that we have more "month than money," usually? Read on, and discover some of the secrets and strategies I use to make my month "disappear under my money!" Skip to the WEBSITES section for immediate gratification, and Students & Teachers--scroll on!
NEWSPAPER ADS & RETAIL STORES
You might be more comfortable looking through newspapers, or just prefer it to surfing the web. In that case, you'll want to subscribe to a newspaper that has Fry's Electronics advertisements. That, and the coupons included, is practically the only reason I subscribe to the Los Angeles Times, which I got a year of weekend-plus service of, for $19 after the $20 Vons grocery store gift card (delivered and used in about 2 weeks). Fry's mixes up their ads, sometimes putting slightly different products in different newspapers, which is why you'll usually find their ads pasted across an entire wall in their retail stores. They also usually have 1-day only "supersales"-on holidays like Memorial and 4th of July-and these are usually completely different from their website specials. On more than one occasion, I've run down to Fry's in the middle of the night and scored super deals, such as a complete 2.7 Ghz Intel Celeron computer system, with Windows XP Home, for $199, several years ago (Windows XP Home SP2 ALONE is $89-240 today, w/o installation). These supersales are incredibly popular--my wife once had to drop me off over a block away recently, and the checkout line wrapped all the way around the warehouse-style store. That was on "Black Friday" of last year, and-let me tell ya-I made a killing!
If you don't have access to a newspaper, bookmark this for current Southern California Fry's ads--http://ads.ocregister.com/rop/web/ocr/subcategory.php?id=22 More Fry's specials (and more regions) are listed here--http://www.frys-electronics-ads.com
The regular Sunday ads are another good reason to at least subscribe to a weekend paper. Scrutinize the Circuit City, Best Buy, Staples, OfficeMax, Office Depot ads, and any smaller stores in your area--such as PcClub.com. They usually have extremely limited quantities of certain loss-leader items, and if you're not there by early Sunday afternoon, you might walk away empty-handed. I was in my local Staples recently, looking for a certain item, when an employee walked by and placed it on the clearance table--it sat there for approximately 0.32 seconds before I grabbed it!
Sometimes it helps to be patient, and ask the clerks about items of interest--be a little pushy, and carry the ad to show them exactly what you're talking about. I had to stand around and INSIST on a computer system I got (and was advertised) for $299 about 7 years ago (at this same Staples)--an HP Pavillion that, ironically, is sitting right beside me, waiting for an upgrade. NO ONE-not even the manager-initially knew what I was talking about. Sometimes, the company's advertising headquarters is way ahead of the store personnel, and YOU may be the customer that passes along the "memo," and benefits from the effort.
Dropping by the OfficeDepot.com in Cerritos, CA and examining their "clearance" specials has been especially kind to me. I once picked up two 19" Hanns-G LCD monitors for $119 each, and the manager agreed to let me exchange or get store credit if they had any dead pixels, and I've scored MANY other deals at this location--a volume leader in the area. It also helps to check their websites, most of which also have their print advertisements.
WEBSITES
For those looking for shortcuts, then the easiest path is to point you to a mega-website--http://www.Motherofalldeals.com. This superb resource constantly updates and lists new deals from FOURTEEN discount/bargain websites, and that's just today! Sites like Ben's Bargains, XP Bargains, Dealsea, SecretPrices, Bargaineering, and many others are listed. There is an option to see just the last 10 deals added, overall, or to see the last few added by each of the subsites. Also, you can click on "View all deals added today" to get a list that will take you at least 10 minutes to thoroughly scrutinize. For those needing even more information, you can click on the link to each subsite, or use the search engine to find deals going back several days or weeks. Motherofalldeals.com clearly lends itself to each class of consumer, and their attendant attention spans (no pun intended). And they include restaurant coupons--such as the recent one for a free chicken sandwich with a medium drink (http://cep.mcdonalds.com/foodnews/sandwich; the sandwich costs $2.79 alone)--I redeemed that 5 times during a recent camping trip, and it was still working today. A website I stumbled upon while tracking that down titled "Mommy$avesBig," at http://printable-coupons.blogspot.com/2006/03/mcdonalds-coupons.html, has more Mickey D's printable coupons.
Motherofalldeals.com uses a staple of regular, well-known businesses, as well as some smaller, less-familiar ones. You will see Newegg.com, Sears, Fry's Electronics, and all of the major brick-and-mortar computer & business supply stores (ie. C*rcuit City and St*ples). Occasionally, you will see a link to the venerable Woot.com--a fun site that lists a single product per day, at a great discount. Just tonight, I scored a 2-pack of Kingston 2 Gigabyte micro secure digital cards, with SD adapters, for $11.59, shipped! I also got no fewer than 6 free movie tickets-just this summer-for each $3.99 dvd I bought, via "Mother..." That's about $20 for every summer month, and I could've gotten more!
Besides using Epinions reviews to see if products are worthwhile, some of these sites have great "reviews" sections, as well. In this category, NONE can surpass Newegg.com (for the technical/troubleshooting information). I have frequently and reliably looked up reviews for motherboards and cpus, only to discover dedicated shoppers' complete descriptions of the components they used with these parts, and how it was holding up. That really takes the guesswork out of things, and gives you a solid point-of-reference, and it's not uncommon to see hundreds of reviews for a single product--some older products that you may own and have questions about. And Newegg apparently lets ALL the reviews stand--whether they are negative or not. Most of the time, even when a reviewer gives a product a negative rating, they will give Newegg a lot of credit for super-quick shipping, or for a no-frills return or exchange--that's even further testimony of their level of service. Reviews at Am*zon.com, C*rcuitcity.com, st*ples.com, and even Sears.com are also greatly helpful in supplementing the Epinions reviews.
There are a few other sites worth checking daily, for their specials. One of the most helpful is PCMall.com, with retail stores in Torrance, CA (VERY friendly) and Newport Beach, CA--their other branch is MacMall.com. Both of them carry consumer electronics, such as flat-screen televisions, as well, and I scored a Memorex portable DVD player for $39, after the easy (and received rebate) there, which my toddler loves. Mwave.com is another southern California store, with many ongoing specials--they are smaller than Newegg.com, but I have used them on several occasions over the years. They have excellent deals, and have $5 will-call pickup.
For the "cowboys" out there-willing to take more risk and explore the frontier on your own-you'll want to explore the possibilities stemming from a computer & electronics search engine called Pricewatch.com. It's been around forever, and you can discover some really useful websites using this (that's how I found Mwave.com, many years ago). Just checking their homepage right now ("Techspecials" flash across the bottom), they had a link to a combination cpu/motherboard/memory for $82--a 2 Ghz AMD 3000 with a firewire-capable motherboard and 512MB of memory. Add a case & power supply, hard drive, and a couple of fans (which could be had for as little as $70-75 TODAY), and you have a whole computer for about $150. Of course, you'll have to load your own operating system, and add an optical drive and anything else you might want, that you don't have lying around. I'll vouch for the AMD right now, for general websurfing and office/homework tasks--I'm running an AMD64 3400-Plus 2.2 Ghz processor I got, years ago, as a $99 motherboard combo from Newegg, and it's still going strong--right now I have 15 tabs open in Firefox and Seamonkey browsers, am playing mp3s in Media Player, and the cpu usage is between 7-10% on this single-core processor; I also play Far Cry 2, on occasion. Also seen on this site, today, was a Gateway 42" plasma demo television (1080i/90-day warranty/free ground shipping), from www.adc-ast.com. You will have to scrutinize each website carefully--especially their return policy.
Who knows what new & improved discount websites you may find on your own? They seem to always be popping up. Just Google "deals, free, coupon, or special," with the item you're looking for, and also use Google's own "Shopping" feature, which you may have to click the drop-down menu-"Even More"-to find. Am*zon.com, Tigerdirect.com, and many other large websites also list price comparisons, which should be explored. And I've saved a bundle on "used" books ordered through Amazon's "Marketplace," that were just a few dollars, and "like new;" Amazon guarantees the transaction.
"OEM" SOFTWARE
It is often possible to get software versions in simple packaging-without paper user manuals and many unnecessary items-in a bare-bones, often plainly-packaged, version that refers to "manufacturers' original equipment." It isn't rare to save $100 or more, and just use the user's manual included on the disc, or access a website (free), or pay extra for phone support (just ask a friend or a message board). Pricewatch.com often caters to sites that have these, and I was able to purchase multiple copies of the excellent Wordperfect Office 12 for less than $4 each!
FOR STUDENTS & TEACHERS
Often, employees of educational institutions and students have access to exclusive deals. Microsoft, and many other companies, often offer special versions, with tailored features, or those not including more business-oriented ones, for a substantial savings. Usually, they can be bought at university student stores, but it doesn't hurt to ask any store if they offer these deals. A year ago, I was able to secure Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade Edition for $72, shipped, and Legally install it as the FULL version. I was also able to use the disc to install a trial Vista installation up to 120 days at a time. The website I used was http://www.academicsuperstore.com, but many others offer these versions, and it was the full package, with the documentation, holographic DVD, bulletproof case, and user manual. Today, Fry's Electronics has Microsoft Office Home & Student Edition for $84.99--a $65 savings.
OTHER WEBSITES (FOR THE HARDCORE)
If you're the type that stays up all night, and doesn't mind trading sleep for breaking news on incredible deals, and not just on electronics, then spend all your extra time scrutinizing the following websites. Froomb.com is a supersite that includes daily deals, coupon specials, an "outlet mall," free stuff, a blog to talk about deals, and price drops; they also list Am*zon.com specials, whose daily, lightning, and "Gold Box" specials aren't a bad place to look, either. Crazycooldeals.com is a shorter list, for those bordering on information overload, and I've scored a 2-for-1 box of hobby/craft materials for my wife (almost a thousand pieces each, for scrapbooking and the like) for less than $20, shipped. These typically contain links to daily specials of other sites.
BUYING A NEW DESKTOP OR LAPTOP?
Prices are falling precipitously. You can easily find a basic, brand-name laptop-even with a DVD player and CD burner-for as little as $399, and sometimes less (newspaper and online ads). Desktops sell for even less, flirting with the $199 mark. Dell.com frequently has specials that include a desktop and 19" LCD monitor for as little as $299, and you could use credit card rewards for a Dell.com certificate (I use American Express Gold Card Rewards). And you can often upgrade to a larger monitor, more memory, or faster processor, for very little. Dell includes a generous 1-year warranty, free, and they carry computer parts and other electronics, such as TVs (be sure to read the certificate restrictions)! Right now, they have a 20" widescreen LCD monitor-highly-rated right here on Epinions-for $199, dropping to $149 with a $50 certificate (5,000 points). That includes a 3-year warranty with "advanced exchange," with an extra year's coverage for $29.
IF YOU'RE BUILDING A COMPUTER
When shopping for a cpu and motherboard, consider the following. "BOX" cpu's include the manufacturer's heatsink/fan combination, saving you $20-35. This is often sufficient to keep the cpu cool, but not recommended for overclocking--read Newegg.com reviews for information on specific models, and try to get a low-power, cooler-running processor. Try to get a motherboard that includes onboard graphics, sound, and any other features you may want (like firewire ports). Most at least have soundcards (and some, up to 7.1-spec, 8-channel)--an audiophile soundcard can cost $50-80 or more. A good onboard graphics card can save you another $75-100 or more (GeForce and ATi are available)--onboard PCi-E (you want the "x16" specification) ports allow future expansion, should you want higher resolutions, multiple monitors, etc. It wasn't so long ago that all of these were costly extras, but modern motherboards "pack 'em in," allowing you to inexpensively build an uncomplicated, powerful system that runs cooler (due to fewer components) and on less power (usually).
HOW DO I ORGANIZE ALL THIS STUFF?
You may find that you have visited a really useful website, only to have completely forgotten the name (usually at a time you really needed it). Using the Firefox web browsers (and some others), you can open each site in a tab (just right-click the tab and select "new tab")--again, I have 15 tab sites open, simultaneously. When you have them all open, you can then right-click any tab, and click "Bookmark all tabs," or the equivalent. You can create a category folder under your bookmarks, and then cut-and-paste all of the associated bookmarks into tidy little "boxes." Later, you can go to your bookmark folder, move to the little arrow (drop-down menu), and select "Open in All Tabs." Voila! All of your money-saving sites will open simultaneously. If you don't have enough memory or bandwidth, then you could always check fewer, or one at a time. You could also check your history of visited websites, which is accessed via "View-->Sidebar-->History" in Firefox, and is searchable via the top field. If you haven't noticed by now, Firefox is a great browser--easy to use, expandable via many free plugins, and safer than M* Internet *xplorer. I can stay logged in to my work website all day, whereas other browsers kick me out.
SUMMARY
Those are my general strategies for identifying deals. If you follow them at least every other day, you'll save loads of money, gas, and time-finding packages waiting for you after a hard days' work-instead of running all over town to deal with hokey salesmen, only to discover you were the "last to know," and "too late." I'll update and add to this site if I find any other "secrets," so stay tuned!
UPDATES
You can cut and paste http://apps.mcdonalds.com/subscribe/subscribe.jsp and be the first to know about their coupons and promotions, even via text messages to your cell phone--that's another general way to learn about specials, and one I use with Walmart.com, Newegg, Sears, and many smaller websites, such as OneSaleADay.com.
Many Walmart discounts are available at http://www.flamingoworld.com/coupons/Walmart.com
MAJOR UPDATE II!!!
If you don't like plain text lists, then you REALLY need to check out this website, which contains colorful pictures of EVERYTHING, as well as news related to deals, such as the recent announcement that CIRCUIT CITY is closing ALL 567 of its remaining stores, and liquidating its inventory. http://dealnews.com/?ref=woot-flash-09-DN
SPECIAL NOTE--As of April 2009, Motherofalldeals.com seems to have been nonoperational for a few weeks. Many of their deals can be directly found at the websites they farmed from, such as XPBargains.com. Also check out the great deals at www.GOTAPEX.com!
SPECIAL NOTE II--Motherofalldeals.com seems to be back online! They may've been having an intermittent problem...
To see what I'm doing when I'm not looking for deals, click HERE!
Here are a few of my fave reviews--
Tom Muzila's new book-Mental Karate
2002 Buick Regal LS
Microsoft Vista Home Premium
Ahead Nero Ultra v.6 CD/DVD-burning software
Rubbermaid Soap-dispensing Dish Wand
Tomtom One 3rd ed. GPS
Whistler XTR-330 Radar Detector
Kenwood KDC-MP435U CD/MP3 Car Stereo
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Epinions.com ID:
kengland4
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Member: Kevin England
Location: Signal Hill, CA USA
Reviews written: 98
Trusted by: 40 members
About Me:
HAPPY B'DAY TO ME!BLACK FRIDAY!In lieu of a gift, read & rate a review--comments!
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