Consumerist
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weird bonuses
Buy Some Batteries, Get a Razor (Or Is It The Other Way Around?)
Salman spotted this bizarre battery giveaway when he was shopping at his Chicago CVS: More » -
batteries
When Are Alkalines Better Than Rechargeables?
The big benefit of rechargeable batteries, aside from possibly being more ecological, is they're supposed to save you money in the long run. However, blogger Len Penzo argues that for some devices, you'll spend more money if you go the rechargeable route. More » -
followups
Energizer Responds To Weak Rechargeable Battery Claims
Energizer responded to Are Energizer Rechargeable "D" Batteries "AAs" In Disguise? by explaining why D size rechargeable batteries are made the way they are: More » -
cars
Share Your Car Battery Disasters With Consumer Reports
Our recent Zipcar electrical failure trilogy reminded us of a request from Consumer Reports Cars last week. For the November issue, they're looking for your stories of car battery failure, epic and otherwise. Do you have one to share? More » -
above and beyond
Apple CSR Ignores Company's Warranty To Recharge Customer's Love
Sometimes the way to get sweet consumer justice is a series of pushy calls on the phone with CSRs or even the EECB route. But other times, probably more often, a sugary sweet touch and some good luck will get you farther faster. More » -
crippled
Watch Out For Panasonic's Proprietary Battery Cameras
Many of Panasonic's cameras will only work with official Panasonic batteries—the newest models require "an embedded security ID chip," while older models have been issued a firmware upgrade that locks out third-party vendors. This is already pretty obnoxious, but what makes it even worse is Panasonic can't keep up with demand, so the batteries they insist you buy for your camera aren't available. More » -
repairs
Need Your Apple Product Fixed? Try TechRestore Or iFixIt
I've always relied on TechRestore for cheap upgrades or repairs on any Apple products I've owned, but if you prefer DIY repairs, try thenewiFixit website, which will sell you the parts and then provide detailed guides on what to do with them. More » -
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cellphones
Details On U.S. Cellular's Battery Swap Program
We asked U.S. Cellular to provide us more details of how their battery swap program works. Basically, it's not meant to provide a one-off swap of an old battery for a new one; instead, the program is designed so that you can use it repeatedly to refresh your phone's power if you're caught away from an outlet and running low on juice. More » -
cellphones
US Cellular Offering Free Battery Replacements To Customers
If you bought your cellphone from US Cellular in the past 18 months, as of this week you can get your phone's battery replaced for free. We've contacted US Cellular to ask them to answer a couple of questions, namely whether the replacement battery is brand new and whether a customer can swap more than once. If they get back to us, we'll post an update. In the meantime, if you're a customer of theirs and your phone's battery is dying, just stop by any US Cellular store to make the exchange.
"U.S. Cellular Launches Free Battery Swap Program" [Cellular-News]
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recalls
HP And Compaq Laptop Computer Batteries Recalled Due To Fire Hazard
HP announced today that laptop computer batteries have been recalled as a fire hazard due to risk of overheating. Affected models are HP Pavilion, Compaq Presario, HP, and HP Compaq computers sold from about August 2007 to March 2008. Find out if your computer is affected and get a replacement battery at HP's site.
HP Recalls Notebook Computer Batteries Due to Fire Hazard [CPSC] (Thanks to The Fake Geek for the heads-up)
HP Notebook PC Battery Pack Replacement Program(Photos: Markusram and CPSC)
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geek squad
Best Buy Might Replace Your Lemon Of A Laptop If It Breaks A Sixth Time. Probably Not.
Please don't pull the cord on Howard's laptop or it will die. Best Buy's Geek Squad has failed five times to coax his laptop's ailing battery into holding a charge, replacing both the battery and the hard drive, and shipping Howard the same incorrect replacement battery three times. Howard now wants Best Buy to honor their lemon policy by giving him a new laptop, but it seems like every Geek Squad agent has a different copy of the replacement policy, and none of them apply to Howard. It's almost like he's asking for a price match! Let's read his story, inside... More » -
daylight savings time
Daylight Savings Can Save You Money
Congress will sneak into your bedroom tonight and steal a precious hour of sleep, but you don't need to take the theft lying down. Get up tomorrow and use a few tips from Consumer Reports to steal back some hard-earned cash. More » -
Silicon Solar
Is Silicon Solar Ripping Off Its Customers, Or Is It Just Incompetent?
Update: company co-founder Matt addresses some of the accusations in a comment below. Why are there so many complaints online about Silicon Solar? One customer, Dennis, told us how he was lied to by a salesman, then strung along by a woman in customer support until the 14-day return period had expired. A quick Google search turns up dozens of similar stories about being treated badly by customer service, receiving products that don't work as advertised, and never being given the RMAs necessary to send items back. Writes one reviewer on DavesGarden.com, "I can't express the anger and frustration I felt when dealing with this company." More » -
recalls
Batteries From Dell, Toshiba, and HP Laptops Recalled
35,000 laptop batteries from laptops sold from 2004-2006 have been recalled for fire and burn hazards. There have been 17 fires and 2 burns associated with these batteries, so if you've got one, make sure you take care of this issue. More » -
batteries
Morning Deals
Highlights From Dealnews
- Lenovo ThinkPad | ThinkCentre: Lenovo ThinkPad R500 Core 2 Duo 2.26GHz 15" Widescreen Laptop for $636 + $20 s&h
- OldNavy: Old Navy men's and women's jeans from $8 + $7 s&h
- Amazon.com: How to buy 360 AA batteries for $22 after rebate + free shipping
- TiVo.com: $120 off Refurb Model or Free 3 Months Service with New TiVo HD DVRs
- Sierra Trading Post: Free Shipping on top of Deep Discounts
- Buy.com: Genius G-Pen F610 6x10-inch Graphics Tablet $69 Shipped
- Aeropostale: Back to School Sale - Up to 50% off + 20% off w/ coupon code 20BTS
- NewEgg: OCZ Platinum Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Desktop Memory for $46.99 after $30 rebate w/ Free shipping
- Walgreens: printable coupon for $10 Off Friday and Saturday Only
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commercials
Duracell's New Ad: 'Oh No Your Kid Just Got Stolen!'
MSNBC's Ads of the Weird blog is a little creeped out by Duracell's new kidnapping commercial, and so are we. Making people feel bad about something is advertising's job, we get that, but trying to scare parents into thinking their kid will be stolen from the playground by the classic man-in-a-van is going a little overboard. (Watch the commercial below.) More » -
stupid shipping gang
This Battery Shipment From Dell Was Packed Efficiently
Our inbox is overflowing with links to the above photograph from the Daily WTF. More »
batteries
New York, 5:40 AM
Mon Nov 9
6 posts in the last 24 hours
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