It's as inevitable as the turkey hangover the day after Thanksgiving: There's a hot new camera, game system or MP3 player everyone wants for the holidays, and that demand causes the price to stay high. There are a few things you can do to keep your tech budget in check-and nearly all of them involve the Internet. What's a budget-minded technophile to do?
As part of our annual Gear Guide, we've rounded up some tips to help you get the most out of your gift-buying dollar this holiday season. There are two handy categories of bargain-hunting sites you can follow: deal aggregators, which collect sales notices across the Web, and deal-a-day sites, which offer one item on sale daily, so long as supplies last. Do your research Use your RSS reader to keep on top of retailers' best tech deals. Some of the most useful deal aggregators are: Ben's Bargains : This site aggregates the Web's best tech deals and allows you to track specific products and vendors. Newegg.com : This vendor has a reliably varied inventory and dramatic price reductions.
Deal News : In addition to a dedicated tech deals section, the site also offers coupons for specific tech vendors, including the Apple store. Spoofee : This site isn't purely tech-oriented, but it does a great job compiling deals from Amazon, Buy.com, GoGamer and other tech retailers. And the deal-a-day sites you'll want to follow include: Apple DOD : This site offers lots of accessories and peripherals-in other words, great stocking stuffers. Stootsi : Its Apple category offers a wide variety of new and refurbished goods. Cowboom : It offers one tech-related deal per day, but don't rule out the rest of the site's inventory. New Day New Deal : There are a lot of entertainment-related deals here, from Wii accessories to multimedia speaker systems.
Deadly Deal : The site also offers giveaways; recently, visitors scored free iPod earphones. Finally, check out the inventory on refurbishment sites. Throw yourself on the mercy of strangers Alternately, you can try your luck with Craigslist or eBay. Start with Apple-under the Special Deals section of its online store, you'll find links to their refurbished Macs and iPods, as well as clearance items. Depending on how much demand there is for the product you want, you may be able to get your gadget for a substantial discount off the retail price. First, there's no guarantee that you'll be getting what's listed, and it can be a struggle to get your money back.
There are some things to keep in mind when dealing with individual sellers. Second, it's up to you to do due diligence. If you do go the Craigslist or eBay route, don't forget to ask about packaging and documentation. If the gadget you want comes with software (for example, a digital camera or a scanner), make sure the seller provides proof that they've got installation disks and a software license number so you've got a usable gadget. Think outside the (shrinkwrapped) box Finally, keep an eye out for gadgets that pack a bang for the buck. It's a definite best-in-class bargain.
For example, the Flip Mino HD videocamera (Get best current price) is a lightweight, versatile and comparatively inexpensive portable videocamera. Visit your favorite tech products-review site and see which items are lauded by the reviewers as a great deal. While a photo printer may seem like the perfect gift for the grandparents, that $89 bargain you snapped up at Best Buy will end up costing a lot more in the long run owing to ink cartridges. Finally, don't buy a gadget just for the sake of giving someone a toy to unwrap under the tree. In the case of photo-mad relatives, it might be more economical to give the gift of a Snapfish account. [Lisa Schmeiser is a freelancer writer who also runs the Dollars & Sense personal finance blog at SFGate.com.]
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