Consumerist: Consumer Electronics

After a successful pilot program, Macy's ...

Chris Walters — Fri, 23 May 2008 11:59:26 EDT

After a successful pilot program, Macy's is putting fancy Japanese-style vending machines in 400 of its stores. They'll sell things like iPods and cameras. Looks like Macy's will have to add another list of things excluded from its not-very-valuable coupons. [Reuters]

Blockbuster has offered to buy Circuit City ...

Chris Walters — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:04:30 EDT

Blockbuster has offered to buy Circuit City for a little over $1 billion, with the goal of creating "a chain that could sell portable devices and entertainment for them, much like Apple Inc.'s stores." [Chicago Tribune] (Thanks to everyone who sent this in!)

7 Lies You'll Hear From Salesmen At Electronics Stores

Chris Walters — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 15:16:48 EST

Future Shop is a Canadian consumer electronics retail chain. Charlie used to work there, and has now passed along the 7 most common lies he heard salesmen use on unsuspecting customers. Whether you have a Future Shop in your area or not, you'll find these lies familiar. (We ran into a lot of them back when The Wiz was still in NYC, in fact.)

1) "The Service Plan covers everything" In fact, it doesn't cover most things. Don't believe any salesman who says it covers physical damage, spills, cosmetic damage, etc. Also, after you have you machine replaced (after 3 repairs), the Service Plan stops working. The salesman will act like the replacement is a benefit, really it's so FS can wash their hands of your buggy hardware.
2) "I'm going to give you a discount"
More often than not my co-workers would lie about high priced items, claiming to take off hundreds of dollars on cables or warranties to trick uninformed shoppers. Always shop around and find out how much things are worth, and watch what the items scan in at instead of taking his word.

3) "This model is a Future Shop exclusive"
Danger Will Robinson. "Exclusives" are always a repackaged retail product, usually with a slight cosmetic change, but bumped up several hundred dollars. As my manager put it: "They move the speakers from the bottom to the sides, repaint it and we mark it up". Salesmen make about triple commission on these models, so there's strong incentive to push them.

4) "Setup will avoid hours of work"
This only applies to computers, but it's good to know. Most salesmen try to push this on technophobes, saying that it's a complicated procedure involving special tools. Really, they click through the Vista install, run regedit to stop some software and burn a backup disk. Oh, and it's automated. Unless your time is worth about 30 dollars an hour do it yourself.

5) "You're saving on x"
With some products there are legitimate discounts available for bundling, and managers have the authority to offer real discounts on unbundled product. However, avoid bundles like "Pay 350 dollars for setup and get free Office and Antivirus". You end up saving about 20 dollars on Office and Antivirus, but you're paying 80 dollars for useless setup still. If you're going for a discount refuse to tack on anything you don't want, and try to push the salesman. It'll hurt his numbers to help you, but he won't want to lose a big sale.

6) "You need Monster Cables/Setup/x to make this work well"
Anyone who reads Consumerist knows Monster Cables are a scam, so avoid them like the plague. They make the salesman about 25 dollars per cable, and leave you with very expensive copper. Similarly, some salesmen say computers won't work well without setup, which less technically-inclined customers tend to believe.

7) "You have to buy x"
Legally, the store is obligated to sell you any available (nondisplay) product at the advertised price. Many stores "pre-setup" their laptops to avoid making customers wait for setup. Salesmen see this as an excuse to force the setup on you. Legally (at least in my store), if the customer didn't want setup we had to give them the laptop at the sticker price, with setup. If the salesman is too pushy ask for a manager, who will know the rules a lot better.

Survey Says: Half Of UK Men Would Give Up Sex For 50-Inch Plasma TV

Chris Walters — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:32:41 EST

A British electronics retailer asked 2,000 men and women what they'd give up in exchange for a 50" plasma TV, and according to them, "47 percent of men would give up sex for half a year." Among women, the number drops to about a third who are wiling to forgo sex. We're not going to pretend for a second that this study is in any way scientific, but still—six months? Seriously?

Proving how non-addictive tobacco is, only 25% of people were willing to give up cigarettes for a TV, and about the same number were willing to give up chocolate.

Maybe the men who answered six months were counting on loopholes—there's a lot of non-"sex" you can enjoy with a 50" plasma TV and some hi-def porn.

"Half of UK men would swap sex for 50 inch TV" [Reuters]
(Photo: Getty)

Great Idea: Website To Let You Share The Cost Of Fad Gadgets

Chris Walters — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 19:50:47 EST

David Pogue thinks the Pleo dinosaur is meh. He's seen it all before with Aibo, and despite all the "it's so lifelike!" ad and editorial copy devoted to it, the charm wears off pretty much the same day you buy it: "My surprise, though, was my kids' reaction. They thought it was really, really cool—for the first half-hour." He's proposed a new website idea where you'd sign up for the latest Hot New Thing coming out of CES, Toy Fair, Macworld, etc., then pay an ever-shrinking percentage of the original sales price to own it when your turn came in line.

You'd list an object that you want to own—but for only a short time. Other people sign up, too, so that a chain of purchasing is set up in advance.
You buy the thing at full price. When you're finished with it, maybe a couple of weeks later, the next guy buys it from you for 85 percent of the original price. Then he sells it to the third guy for 85 percent of that. And so on, until the last guy gets the hand-me-down Pleo for, say, $25. Everybody's happy, and there's not a bunch of closeted Pleos all over America.

Think eBay without the uncertainty; the chain of ownership is pre-established, and your little group feels the bond of kinship and shared experience, like a book club.

"Pleo, the (Yawn) Dino-Robot. Next!" [New York Times]

In MP3 Showdown, Winners Are iPod Touch And Sansa View

Chris Walters — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 14:02:23 EST

Okay, so it's not like there aren't 15,000 MP3-player reviews already on the web, but SmartMoney decided to jump on the bandwagon and rate five 8-gigabyte MP3 players. Instead of hard stats and lab tests, they handed the devices to an NYU music instructor and audiophile and asked him to walk around the city playing with them. The Apple iPod Touch—at $300, the most expensive of the lot—came out on top, which probably doesn't surprise anyone, but the SanDisk Sansa View performed well too.

Microsoft's Zune actually came in second place, but when you compare price and battery life, the Sansa View is the better value.

Apple iPod Touch - great sound and interface
Microsoft Zune - great sound, great UI but hypersensitive
SanDisk Sansa View - half the price of the Touch, navigation mimics traditional iPods, great sound
Creative Zen - large screen but requires too much button mashing
Samsung P2 - touchscreen is "finicky", sound is "flat"

"Closing In on the iPod?" [SmartMoney]
(Photo: Getty)

New Service Lets You Resell Your Old Gadgets At A Fixed Price—For A Fee

Chris Walters — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 15:16:41 EST

TechForward, a new company in Los Angeles, provides fixed buyback prices on used electronics like cell phones and iPods. The catch is you pay up front—it's an added fee when you first buy the device—for the right to resell your gadget to them a year or two down the line, and the amounts they're offering are usually dramatically lower than what you can get if you sell it yourself on Ebay.

It's a cool concept, but the current execution is only appealing if you don't want to deal with Ebay or Craigslist, or if you don't care as much about maximum resell value as you care about getting it out of your home with minimal work on your part. As part of TechForward's fee, they pay for packaging and shipping, and although they won't pay you for a broken device they'll still accept it.

NEW Corp., the company "that runs the extended warranty programs for Best Buy Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.," is launching a similar program called econoNEW. It won't charge up front for the service, and will negotiate a buyback price at the time you bring in the gadget. Additionally, instead of cash ecoNEW will offer store credit. NEW hasn't named which retailers will be participating yet.

"A New "Guaranteed Buyback" Program Gives Consumer's Cash Back Upon Trade-In of Used Gadgets - Good Deal or Not?" [InventorSpot]
"Companies Launch Gadget Buyback Services" [Associated Press]

RELATED
www.techforward.com
(Photo: Getty)

Are The New Apple Products Worth Buying?

Chris Walters — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 14:52:36 EST

The dirty-sounding finance blog "Make Your Nut" works through the pros and cons of the latest Apple products, so that you can "make sure you enter into your purchases with eyes wide open." Up first is the revamped AppleTV, which has a few limitations that weren't mentioned in yesterday's announcement.

For one thing, high definition movies, for now, are not being made available on iTunes and can only be rented through the AppleTV. Rented HD movies cannot be synced back to iTunes or otherwise exported to your iPod or iPhone. So, if you think your $5 rental cost is going to get you a high definition movie that you can take with you as well as a copy that you can view at home, think again.
High definition content on the Apple TV will only be available in 720p resolution, if those things matter to you. Surround sound will be on some, but not all, HD movies. This situation will probably improve over time. At present, none of the television content is offered in high definition.

About the iPod Touch: if you pay $20 for the new software (current Touch owners only), and buy non-included accessories like a dock and a power adaptor, then congrats! You've basically paid for an iPhone that doesn't have any phone capabilities!

It's harder to reason out what the Air is worth, but Make Your Nut points out that for $200 more you can buy a not-much-larger MacBook Pro with lots more features. (Or buy a tiny and light Eee for $400 and save yourself a lot of money and room in your laptop bag—I'm just sayin'.)

"Your Personal Finance Guide to the Macworld Product Reveals" [Make Your Nut]
(Gold in photo: Getty)

Buyers Beware: Current Blu-ray Players Won't Correctly Play Future Discs

Chris Walters — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 22:11:56 EST

After the past week, it seems more and more likely that Blu-ray will be the movie disc format of the future. But with the exception of the Playstation 3, current Blu-ray disc players were built without future-compatibility capabilities, so come this October owners won't be able to take advantage of features like Internet connectivity or enhanced interactivity (whatever that means—details are sketchy). "One key Blu-ray developer told BetaNews that although he builds discs for studios including Fox and Lionsgate, he did not buy a Blu-ray player for personal use." Regarding current Blu-ray player owners, Blu-ray developers told BetaNews, "They knew what they were getting into."

Representatives at the Blu-ray booth at CES told BetaNews that the PlayStation 3 is currently the only player they would recommend, due to upcoming changes to the platform. But Pioneer, Samsung, Panasonic and Sony have all been selling standalone Blu-ray players to customers.

So here's how it's going to work: current players are Profile 1.0, and can play future hi-def discs but no bonus stuff. Profile 1.1 dics will include additional bonus material that won't play on 1.0 players—these discs will have a "Bonus View" sticker. Come October, Profile 2 capability will come to the market, which includes Internet activity, but only on Profile 2.0 players—these discs will have a "BD Live" sticker.

When asked why current players were released to the market when in such a primitive state, manufacturers blamed the release of HD DVD and said it forced them to come to market too soon. "We should have waited another year to introduce Blu-ray to the public, but the format war changed the situation." Okay, well how about we just don't buy any Blu-ray players for a while (not counting the PS3) until you guys decide to get your act together?

"Blu-ray: Early adopters knew what they were getting into" [BetaNews]

Creative Sends Out Crazy Support Email/Sales Pitch

Chris Walters — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 10:05:11 EST

A reader sent in this funny and bizarre customer support email from Creative—it's a weird combination of broken English, pre-written paragraphs from macros (which, oddly, still have grammatical errors), Byzantine instructions for resetting and reformatting the broken device, and then five attempts to sell other products and services at the end.

Dear Stacy,
Thank you for writing in to Creative Technical Support Services, we appreciate the opportunity to assist you.

From the description you had provided, I can see that your ZEN Player has stopped working abruptly. You mentioned on your mail that your player boot up up to Creative Logo and then it froze and it just the back lit black. You mentioned that you had tried recovery tool but it seems like your player won't recognized by your PC. I can imagine this is a frustrating experience. I apologize that you are having issue with this product and it is causing you to not enjoy it as intended.

Initially, you were provided with some basic suggestions on how to troubleshoot the issue that you have identified. These tips have
resolved majority of the issues with your product. You may find that some of the information in this message is repetitive, but it is still helpful/beneficial in troubleshooting the issue.

To assist you further, here are some suggestions that you can try:

1. Reset the player with the little pin hole twice while connected to the computer and then 3 times while not connected to the computer.
2. After you reset it the last time, you will need to get to the recovery mode by pressing and holding the play/pause button on the player and then turning it on again without letting go of the play/pause button until you see recovery mode on the screen.
3. Then, let go of the button and perform cleanup 3 times and format twice.
4. ThenI want you to reload the firmware twice and on the second time I want you to go ahead and install the latest firmware for the player while it is connected to the computer. You can get the latest firmware for free from our web page at

http://us.creative.com/support/downloads/

- select your product MP3 Players > Zen > Zen 4GB/8GB/16GB > click NEXT
- choose a language: English > operating system: Windows XP > file type: All > click GO

Please DO NOT CHOOSE AUTO UPDATE this time.

I'm confident that the suggested resolutions will resolve your issue. However, if you're still experiencing the complications, please don't hesitate to reply to this thread with the history intact so that we can continue working with you.

Meanwhile, to enhance your listening experience with your Zen, you may want to consider buying our Creative Zen Aurvana. This is an
acoustically and ergonomically designed in-ear earphones that deliver superb audio quality, noise isolation, and comfort. For more details on this product, please refer to the link below:

http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?

If you still require assistance, please reply to this email with any previous correspondence to ensure the quickest and most accurate service.

Best Regards,

Rafael
Technical Support
Creative Labs Americas

- - -

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SAVE UP TO 80% NOW — Visit Creative's Savings Center for sale items and big deals on clearance and refurbished products.! http://us.creative.com/redirect.asp?id=5631

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(Thanks to Stacy!)
(Photo: Getty)

Cutting Back On Features When Gadget Shopping

Chris Walters — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:26:58 EST

The next time you go shopping for a camera, cell phone, video recorder, or other gadget, you can save money by deciding what features you really need, and moving down the model line instead of up to the most feature-packed gizmo, writes SmartMoney. For example, "Only 31% of cellphone owners actually use their phone to take pictures, while only 15% browse the Internet, and less than 10% listen to music, download games or watch videos."

For cellphones:

As for features, you'll have a tough time finding a basic phone that doesn't have at least a color screen and a camera. If you're determined to keep it simple, don't buy a phone that is pared down beyond that point, warns Gartenberg. Manufacturers and carriers both know that added features pay the bills, so they don't invest much money in the design or quality of their most basic phones.

For video cameras:

If you want to record your baby's first steps with a brand new digital camcorder, don't waste your money on high-definition versions, advises Brian Cooley, editor at large for electronics review site CNET. "The prices are high. They tend to struggle more to get a good image. Plus, the video is dicey to edit," he says. It doesn't help that most HD camcorders are compatible with either Blu-ray or HD DVD standards, but not both. That could make for a pricey — and quickly obsolete — investment should you buy the standard that goes the way of Betamax.

For digital cameras, something in the 5 to 7 MP range should suffice for most people, and you should skip the fancy-schmancy features like "face recognition" and focus on a retractable zoom lens and fast processor, then "consider using the cash you'll save for a how-to photography book instead of trading up a model."

"High-Tech Features You Can Do Without" [SmartMoney]

Don't Buy Warranties For Your Gizmos, Says Consumer Reports

Chris Walters — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 18:41:45 EST

The executive editor of Consumer Reports spoke to Newsday about warranties and service plans for consumer electronics, and how it's pretty much always an unnecessary add-on that you should avoid. The stories that make it to the Consumerist are usually the exception; in reality, it's rare that consumer devices break before you replace them anyhow.

When asked whether or not it's important to buy a warranty simply for "peace of mind," he replies:

To the peace-of-mind argument, you can buy insurance on all sorts of things. We would urge people, for true peace of mind, to make sure they're insured for big things in life. It's better to have life insurance before they insure appliances.

Because the profit margins are so high, sales people will continue to push warranties and service plans aggressively. If you're a sucker for the hard sell, read this post for ways to protect yourself on the sales floor, or buy online: "We know in particular that people who buy online are less likely to buy extended warranties because they don't have a salesperson in their face."

"Q&A: Shopping for high tech" [Newsday]
(Photo: natecull)

The Best And Worst Tech Gadgets Of The Year

Chris Walters — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 18:15:12 EST

It begins—the year end "best of" lists! If you're gearing up for the gift buying frenzy that will begin on Friday, here's a quick slideshow of some of the most inspiring and least impressive electronics in the marketplace right now.

Like any "best of" list, we take issues with some of the selections (iPhone is best smartphone? orly?) but the list at least provides a "big picture" overview of where you can find the quality electronics.

"Slide Show: The Biggest Bang for Your Holiday Buck" [BusinessWeek]
(Photo: Nokia N95)

"Planned Obsolescence" Is A Waste: Where To Repair Your Electronics

Chris Walters — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 19:42:12 EDT

The consumer electronics industry doesn't want us to know this (especially Apple, considering how frequently they update their iPod product line), but with care and a little maintenance, you can make your recent electronics purchases last longer than a couple of years. We should know: in the past five years, we've had large scale malfunctions (all out of warranty) with an iPod, a Tivo, a laptop hard drive, and an Xbox. Here is a short list of some places that can help you get your product back in working condition, so that you don't just toss it out and buy a new one unnecessarily.

For broken iPods and laptops, we've had great success with TechRestore, a California-based company that offers overnight repair service (which is really more like 3 to 4 days when you count the overnight shipping in both directions) and doesn't gouge you on prices. Thanks to them, we have a first-generation iPod that still functions fine, now that it has a new logic board and battery. We've noticed that they've recently expanded their services to offer repair services for PC laptops and Playstation Portables as well. Another popular iPod repair service is iResQ.com.

If your previous-generation Xbox or PS2 goes out, you might want to try Llamma.com or Xboxrepairguide.com (which also offers parts for Nintendo handhelds and the Gamecube). You can buy replacement parts, how-to guides, or arrange to send in your broken device to be repaired or bought for spare parts.

When our Tivo stopped working, we did some quick troubleshooting with the help of the WeaKnees website and realized we needed to replace the power supply. A new one arrived in a week, and it was easy to swap out with the blown one.

If you're afraid of damaging your own equipment, think of it this way: it's already broken, so why not give yourself a chance to try a new challenge? And sometimes electronics are more resilient than you might imagine: we managed to pour diet coke into our Tivo while we were repairing it (don't ask), but after letting it dry completely, it still functioned without problems.

The technologically literate might scoff at these services and just suggest you find your own spare parts on Ebay. But if you're like us (eager to do-it-yourself but not sure how to pronounce "solder") or even less technologically savvy, one of these places can save you hundreds of dollars or more without making you pull your hair out.

Resources:
www.techrestore
www.iresq.com
www.llamma.com
www.xboxrepairguide.com
www.weaknees.com

(Photo: Getty)

Don't Buy Blog-Hyped Gadgets

Ben Popken — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 18:15:23 EST

Former Consumerist Editor Joel Johnson takes to task so-called "bleeding edge" consumer electronic mavens, and the bloggers that feed them tripe. In a recent screed, he advises waiting for the early adopters to make the pricey mistakes for you, "before taking a modest plunge."

Stop buying this crap. Just stop it. You don't need it. Wait a year until the reviews come out and the other suckers too addicted to having the very latest and greatest buy it, put up a review, and have moved on to something else. Stop buying broken products and then shrugging your shoulders when it doesn't do what it is supposed to. Stop buying products that serve any other master than you. Use older stuff that works. Make it yourself. Only buy new stuff from companies that have proven themselves good servants of their customers in the past. Complaining online about this stuff helps, but really, just stop buying it.

Are most gadget blogs just closet flogs? — BEN POPKEN

Joel Johnson Returns...to Spank Us All for Supporting Crap [Gizmodo]

Returned Products Aren't Broken, Just Too Hard to Use

popkin — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 09:39:28 EST

Complexity causes 50% of product returns, a new report finds.

A scientist reported Monday that half of all products returned are fully operational but people can't figure out how to work them.

She gave new products to a group of managers from Philips and asked them to use them over the weekend. The managers came back frustrated because they were unable to get the devices to work properly.

Multi-featured consumer electronics aren't phat, they're just big-boned.

[via Reuters]