Features Archives for January 2013

Online retailers are expected to accurately represent the products they sell, and failure to do so is detrimental to the consumer and to the reputation of the merchant. To help avoid this pitfall, we've outlined three practices by which online retailers should abide, as well as some advice for consumers who find themselves at a loss for vital product information.

BlackBerry just announced a new operating system and two new touchscreen phones. Will they be enough to bolster this hard-luck company's status? Or are these devices just flowers on a grave?

The dealnews Podcast Episode 244 asks the age-old question: Do you want to listen to a podcast? If so, tune in to hear our panel talk about snack cakes, J.J. Abrams, Super Bowl streaming, Dungeons & Dragons, chicken wings, the 128GB iPad, and more!

Last year, JCPenney made the decision to nix sales in favor of "everyday low prices," leaving many shoppers scratching their heads as to the logic behind the change. As it turns out, it's a sales strategy that may go down in history as the retail equivalent of New Coke, for JCP has decided to reinstate sales and discounts.

Ready to use your phone to save time, energy, and money? Several retailer apps have integrated novel features that help you shop more efficiently, like simulated home renovation and grocery lists categorized by store aisle. Start streamlining your life with our favorite, most useful retailer apps.

As the most romantic holiday approaches, many lovers will be looking into their wallets and wondering just how they can minimize the damage that a Valentine's Day bouquet of red roses will wreak on their budget. Always here to help, we've outlined your Valentine's Day floral options.

For the last nine years, Animal Planet has been counter-programming the biggest football game of the year with the cutest football game of the year: The Puppy Bowl! And half the fun of a football party is the tailgating experience. You know, the food, the fun, the zaniness? But how, exactly, does one tailgate for the Puppy Bowl?

February may be our shortest month of the year, but it's certainly not lacking when it comes to savings. This month you'll find deals on several necessities like winter coats, home goods, and more. Here's a list of the best and worst things to buy in February.

Changes are afoot at Buy.com, from its new name (Rakuten.com Shopping) to its focus on exclusively marketplace sellers. We spoke to the Rakuten CEO about how the marketplace will differ from heavyweights like Amazon, and what this all means for an electronics deal seeker.

We love to pick the brains of our favorite tech writers, to see what electronics they simply can't live without. This week, we spoke to MacRumors Editor, Marianne Schultz, about her five favorite gadgets — and despite her Apple allegiances, only one iDevice made the list!

Are you tired of reading rumors about the latest technology? Sick of hearing insane rumors about Apple, Google, Jim Carrey, and more? Well, neither are we! Hooray! That's why we put all the latest biz-buzz from the internet into one place, the Rumor Roundup!

Microsoft's Surface Pro tablets are slated to arrive February 9, priced starting at $899. But these are these souped-up tablets worth their hefty price tag? Consider these ultraportable and tablet alternatives before you buy.

Right now, there's a small army of marketers who are pinpointing the exact words and phrases that make beers, breakfast cereals, and iPads absolutely positively unlivewithoutable to consumers. The most common PR buzzwords often sound like they signify something important, but in reality they're little more than hollow focus-grouped gabbida gook.

Last year's live streaming online of the Super Bowl was a huge success, so they're making a sequel! This year, CBS will be offering the game online and they've made some upgrades to how it's done. Check out all the ways this year's Super Bowl experience will be better than last.

When big business make a mistake, is it OK for customers to exploit it to their advantage? This week, Best Buy messed up and some savvy consumers wound up making lots of money. On what side of this moral dilemma do you fall?

The dealnews Podcast Episode 243 is spreading the podcast love. Love our love? Why not give us a review! This week, the panel talks about leveraging a Yelp review for free food and services; health inspection ratings; getting sued for a Yelp review; the Best Buy coupon debacle, and more.

If you're a savvy shopper who wants to find the perfect V-Day gift for your sweetie, you've got just three weeks to make it happen. Start shopping now and you can even do it on a dime! Here's an idea of what kind of discounts on Valentine's Day gifts you can expect in the coming weeks.

Having a portable generator is a great investment for dialing up the quality of your tailgate party with video and audio on a sumptuous widescreen TV, or just being prepared for winter power outages. But generators come in many shapes, sizes, and (most importantly) price points. Thus, we've created a helpful guide to picking the portable generator.

As we close in on the iPad mini's 3-month anniversary, consumers are beginning to wonder when the first iPad mini refurbs will arrive and what kind of discount they'll offer. To predict their potential price, we turned to our deal archives and looked at refurb discounts that previous iPads have received.

Catching the Super Bowl live is an expense that many of us unfortunately can't begin to afford. However, an appropriate in-home viewing experience via a big-screen HDTV may be financially within reach since 50" and 60" HDTVs are no longer priced just to accommodate the 1%. Here's what you need to know when buying a new big-screen HDTV.

Football is big, big business these days, and Super Bowl Sunday specifically will generate eye-popping revenue, ad sales, chicken wing guzzling, and commerce of all kinds. In fact, we spend $55 million on food alone, and it's the biggest non-holiday eating day of the year. Inside, we recount some fascinating numbers about just what the Super Bowl costs us.

It's common knowledge that Apple products aren't cheap, but how exactly does the brand keep such a strong hold on pricing? Inside, we detail Apple's sales methodology, which even explains the few deals that are offered, as well as the atypical fire sales we've seen recently on the iPhone 5.

Are you tired of reading rumors about the latest technology? Sick of hearing insane rumors about Apple, Fallout, Dell, and more? Well, neither are we! Hooray! That's why we put all the latest biz-buzz from the internet into one place, the Rumor Roundup!

It's always better to stock up on the necessities when a deal comes around, rather than paying more when you replenish at the last minute. So before you spend too much on toilet paper, dog food, or batteries because you suddenly ran out, read our list of the 12 items you should buy when you don't actually need them.

CES is known for showing the best of the best. It's also notorious for showing the worst of the worst! Inside, we've taken it upon ourselves to roundup this year's worst CES gadgets, including a mount that places your precious iPad just inches away from a toilet bowl used by your children. You're welcome!

The dealnews Podcast Episode 243 is here to entertain and delight you. This week, the panel talks about the "big" Facebook news, Amazon AutoRip, HDTV upgrades, some of the best and worst of CES, and more.

Think back to a few years ago to when collaborations between big designers and powerful retailers were still the rage with shoppers. Now, check out the store shelves at your local Target — where even an astounding clearance sale can't flush out Neiman Marcus-themed merchandise fast enough — and the question arises: Is the collaboration craze over?

Cozy, sheepskin-lined boots from UGG Australia have been a much-coveted item for several years now. However, if you've had your heart set on a pair of UGGs and have been deterred by their hefty price tag, then take heed: now just so happens to be the best time ever to buy a pair of UGG boots. Here's what to expect from UGG sales, including why we're now seeing discounts, when to buy, and how much savings to expect.

Now is a great time to begin an exercise regime, which should involve cardio: walking, jogging, or running. However, given the harsh conditions of winter, a treadmill is a wise way to go about achieving your fitness goals from the comfort of your own home. Plus, fitness deals abound this season! Here's what you need to know about buying a new treadmill.

Gadgets from the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show will soon start popping up in a store near you. And you may be wondering if any of them are worth the first-run, retail price tag. Here's some advice on whether you should spring for the latest and greatest tech, or instead opt for the previous-generation, "old tech" counterpart, which will surely be seeing new discounts in the coming weeks.

Look all over cyberspace and you'd be hard pressed to find a writer with as much biting wit and journalistic daring as Chicago's own Fruzsina Eordogh. She calls herself "a weird luddite" even though she writes about technology, which makes her top five gadgets an unusual list.

Are you tired of reading rumors about the latest technology? Sick of hearing insane rumors about Apple, Fallout, Blizzard, and more? Well, neither are we! Hooray! That's why we put all the latest biz-buzz from the internet into one place, the Rumor Roundup!

You may have noticed from your holiday entertaining that no matter where you want your guests to congregate, they always wind up in the kitchen. And it's that kind of attention that requires a well-stocked cupboard. Today's kitchen deals are varied and include nearly everything but the kitchen sink!

Walmart continues to promote its Apple iPhone 5 deal, cutting the price on the 16GB model to $127. However, it's available in-store only, and we've read numerous accounts from customers about difficulty finding the phone in stock at their local brick-and-mortar Walmart. So, we want to know: have you been able to find this epic iPhone 5 deal? Click through to take our poll!

The Consumer Electronics Show may be coming to a close, but for us, the deal season is just beginning. We combed through our archives of 2012 CES product deals to see how long consumers must wait before 2013's CES electronics go on sale.

Time is not kind to tech. What was once the hot new announcement at CES is today's punchline. So feel free to laugh at these amazing old consumer electronics that were once the belles of the ball!

The dealnews Podcast Episode 241 sees our panel return from a 2-week holiday. They are refreshed, rested, and ready to tackle CES. (Oh, not by going there! No, they'll leave that to the 1 million other reporters who want to put up with that mess.) This week's stories include: 4K TVs, NVIDIA's portable gaming console, Walmart's VUDU movie plan, reusable Starbucks cups, and more.

Have you ever spent a few moments trying to decipher the gibberish stamped into the sidewalls of tires? While most of us have a vague idea about what some of those numbers and letters represent, there is a world of additional information that you can glean from a careful examination. We've broken down the foreign language of tire-buying to help those with flats and worn out treads find the best tires for the money.

To the uninitiated, few things in computing are as daunting as buying a new video card. Fortunately, most of the mind-boggling specifications only matter to hardcore computer geeks. Our video card buying guide keeps things simple, and focuses on what you actually need to look for, and what prices you can expect when shopping for a video card.

A recent report indicates that the two weeks that include Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday accounted for 46% of all holiday electronics sales last year, as shoppers were largely motivated by deals. However, thrifty gadget fans needn't be glum waiting until the next Black Friday, since a new round of price cuts are on the way.

The North Face is a highly desirable brand that unfortunately doesn't often see significant discounts. But today, we found a plethora of styles on sale. And since comfort and warmth are two things that never go out of style, it's a good time to stock up on deals from The North Face.

We all love a great deal, but it's important to remember that when venturing into the world of third-party retailers — the kinds that sell through Amazon, Buy.com, or eBay — the bargain hunting gets a bit riskier; while you might find a lower price, you might also face myriad headaches, including fuzzy buyer protection and shoddy customer service. Here are seven questions to consider before you buy from a marketplace merchant that will help spare you from unnecessary grief.

Several retailers and businesses are in a race to develop same-day delivery services, and Amazon is fittingly leading the charge. While most are still testing these services in limited markets, the goal for many is to deliver online orders in as little as an hour. Here's how you can expect to see your shipping options change in the coming year.

Oh, to have the eyes of a hawk, able to spot a mouse a half-mile away! Of course, being more clever than hawks, ever-adapting human beings invented the binoculars, which give us even better long-distance sight. Whether your passion is watching birds, hunting, boating, or even studying the stars, here's some advice and deals to guide your hunt for the perfect pair of binoculars.

This past fall, Starbucks debuted the Verismo line, its first series of automatic coffee and espresso makers that purportedly allow you to make drinks just like the international coffeehouse. Since the dealnews staff has its fair share of Starbucks coffee drinkers, we figured we were well suited to see how well the Verismo actually works.

If we told you that proper care of your clothes would make them last for 15 years instead of just three, would you pay more attention to how you hang your suits or wash your shirts? If you're good to your clothes, they'll last longer, and that'll save you money in the long run. So here are some ways to improve the longevity of your clothes, which will in turn keep your wardrobe budget more manageable.

To help ring in the new year on a positive note, we've highlighted 11 items that will be cheaper in 2013. From streaming video services to mobile shopping, inside are our predictions on what will cost less in the coming year.