I bought a laptop the other week, a Dell 600m. I was hoping to scrounge for one of the new latitude 610s, but too much jack. Anyhow, I was able to score $600 off on the 600M from some of my regular “hot deal” haunts, so I thought I’d share the 411. And yes I seem to have a bad case of the lingos.
When I’m looking for good deals on tech stuff I visit these sites:
Fat Wallet. Kinda messy, but their Hot Deals forum usually has some good threads in the first few pages. Plus there’s a lot of information, and people stay on top of the deals (which coupons to use, how to order, whether a deal is “dead” AKA no longer available).
Ben’s Bargains. No, not my site. 🙂 A different Ben. I think he lives in Australia or something. Anyhow, the deals are usually tech-oriented (although he’s been spamming Dell deals a lot), and each deal has a dedicated, unmoderated, no-registration-required discussion forum where you can ask questions about the deal, vendor, product, etc. and people usually post replies quickly.
AnandTech Forums. It’s a smaller community, but its Hot Deals forum is pretty good. Also, they have a nice For Sale/Trade forum where you can pick up used stuff, sometimes for a song. Why not buy from Ebay, you ask? Well, ebay is fine, but sometimes the prices are too high. And since AnandTech is a smaller community, and they use Heatware as a feedback mechanism, I find you can trust the people a bit more. Plus the transaction can be completed quickly — a few PMs & the deal can be done.
NewEgg Refurbs. Yes, you are taking a bit of a chance with refurbs, but almost everything I’ve ordered from their refurb section was in great condition. You can get a great deal on computer cases, CPUs, motherboards, video cards, maybe some other stuff, too. I’d suggest skipping power supplies, or anything fragile (e.g. clear acrylic cases). Some of the refurbs are customer returns, but a lot are true manufacturer refurbished equipment & thus should be in top shape. YMMV, as always.
Amazon. I use Amazon mostly for product research. If I see a particular router on sale & want to know if it’s good or if it sucks, I check it out on Amazon, read the reviews, etc. Sometimes I even buy it on Amazon.
ShopLocal. I happen to work for the company behind ShopLocal, but that’s not why I’m listing it. ShopLocal is a different site in that it shows what’s on sale at brick & mortar stores, i.e. physical stores like Best Buy, Target, Circuit City, Office Depot, etc. Most of the items advertised in the Sunday newspaper circulars are there. So if there was a product on sale that you read about on Sunday but now it’s Wednesday and you forgot what it was, or if there’s a product that you’d prefer to buy in an actual store (b/c it’s heavy, or you want to save on shipping, or you want to be able to return it easily, or whatever), you can get that information on ShopLocal.
So those are the main sites I frequent when I’m in the market for tech goodies on the cheap. What are some sites that you enjoy?
Written by Ben Strackany -- March 8, 2005
Ben worked for a variety of tech startups in Chicago before moving to Portland and starting DevelopmentNow in 2005. When he's not herding cats, stirring pots, and taking names, he enjoys drinking coffee while irritating the studio audience with bad puns.
