Everyone likes to save a buck or two when shopping for stuff online, and generally speaking there are two types of online product discounts – coupons and specials. The difference between a coupon and a special is that a coupon usually requires the use of a promotional code under certain purchase conditions to receive the discount; the special on the other...

It is fairly established that online shopping is relatively safe in its current form. That said, there are always situations where your information can be hijacked or stolen and, subsequently, used by thieves. To combat this, some credit card issuers are offering virtual credit cards. A virtual credit card is very simple in concept. Your credit card issuer...

You’d think the only people interested in making old computer hardware useful again are older folks, but you’d be wrong because there’s a ton of teens that like to do the same thing. The reason they do it however is different from the older crowd. Older folks refresh older hardware mainly for the nostalgia factor while the younger crowd does it...

It could be argued that the second biggest shopping day of the year after Black Friday is today, Christmas Eve. All the people that forgot to buy stuff when they had plenty of time to do it figured they could quickly get in some last-minute items at the local department store or mall. You may be one of them. If you decide to venture out today for shopping...

Today is what’s known in the United States as Black Friday. It is not a holiday but rather the mark of the beginning of the holiday shopping season, and is widely believed to be the biggest shopping day of the year. The term Black Friday as it pertains to retail mania was coined in the mid-1960s; it is a reference to the absolutely choked/gridlock traffic...

I make it a practice to purposely seek out refurbished tech items because I save a ton of money doing so, and the majority of the time the whatever-it-is I buy works just as well as a new item. There are some people who believe refurbished and used mean the same thing. This is incorrect; there are several differences. Difference 1: Warranty All refurbished items...

Using NewEgg, here’s the scoop on what hard drives cost right now. Cheapest of the cheap: Hitachi Deskstar, 80GB, $32.99. And yes it is a SATA 3GB/s. Bear in mind a Western Digital flavor is just one dollar more. King of the hill (price-wise): HP 347708-B22 147GB, $499. What makes this hard drive expensive is its 15,000 RPM. If you feel inclined to buy one...

Many (and I mean many) PCMech readers buy stuff online. In fact, a fair amount of them shopped online during the “bad old days” in the pre-2005 era. Chances are that if you were shopping online pre-2005, there were at least a few purchases where you either a) didn’t get what you expected, b) had a product arrive broken or non-functional, c) ran...

We all know that when you buy some software, a gadget, a piece of hardware or anything else, it is nice to know you can return it should there be a problem and (hopefully) get your money back. However, being a smart consumer means understanding the issue from the retailer’s perspective, too. Here are some tips to help you avoid the potential headaches of...

There are those who need big honkin’ hard drives and those who don’t. Typically, those that need the big-big drives do one or more of the following:Video editing. Camcorder, DV, DVR, Tivo, DVD ripping, etc. Multitrack audio editing. The raw WAV files are quite large. Gaming. Many newer games require a significant amount of space. Photography....

Shopping for a computer case is at times a daunting task because there are so many to choose from. The video in this article will show you how to use NewEgg to review cases on your own without spending a dime. When finished you’ll know how to get to reviews and details on which case is right for...

I picked up a new USB 2.0 hub at Best Buy. And, as usual, it was packaged in that really tough plastic packaging that, I swear, was designed by Nazis.I understand that they do this to alleviate shoplifting, but come...

There was a time when all computer keyboards were basically all the same. The people who made the standard was IBM and you can still see (and purchase if you like) some of those old keyboards – the model M – at www.clickykeyboards.com. Before continuing, I know someone is going to ask “What’s the pic of the keyboard in this...

The interest in Mac is an at all time high these days. The public follies of Windows Vista, coupled with the superb marketing and positioning of the Mac by Apple, has led to an increased presence of the Mac in the eye of the computer user today. A tech bloggers like myself really enjoy covering Apple because they really are on the cutting edge of things and...

So far, if you have been following the course, you should have an idea of some of the hardware that goes into creating a network, namely:Network interface cards Switches Routers Wireless Access Points Print serversGoing to the store to pick out your equipment can be a little confusing. Usually, you’re looking at a bunch of boxes each promoted to be the...

As with all technology, it gets cheaper over time. Now you get the (currently) monster-sized 1TB hard drive you wanted for a price that’s right. Up until very recently 1TB drives had a stubborn price point but 3 have managed to bust the $200 mark. All 3 drives listed here are SATA 3.0Gb/s. Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000340ASPrice: $199.99 Western...

Is a new Mac too expensive? Not to worry, you can always go refurb (or as Apple puts it: “Apple Certified Refurbished Mac”). You can see all the current offers from Apple here. Here’s the listings that stood out to me as the best values: Refurbished iMac 20-inch 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 DuoPrice: $949 The 20-inch is a decent model, it busts the...

At first glance, some words/phrases used to describe features of a digital camera may be confusing. Here’s a list that will get you up to speed. [hidepost=1] Megapixel See next section, “Explaining the Megapixel”. SLR “Like” SLR-Like digital cameras are prosumer and not true professional, however they feel like full-size SLR because of the body....

Generally speaking there are three types of digital cameras, that being consumer, “prosumer” and professional. In layman’s terms you can think of each like this:Consumer: Basic Prosumer: Advanced (or “mid-grade”) Professional: Expert[hidepost=1] Consumer Digital Cameras With digital cameras that are specifically designed to be basic, almost all...

Generally speaking, digital cameras can be bought in any one of the following places:Internet (BHphoto.com, eBay, etc.) Electronics Store (Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.) Department Store (Your local mall, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc.) Camera Store (various)[hidepost=1] Which is the Best? Camera store. In Florida USA one of the more popular stores is called Ritz...