Verizon Wireless realizing people like phones?

The Big Red is stepping up its phone game.

It’s no secret that when it comes to US cell phone carriers, Verizon wireless is king. Not having Verizon is to be out of the loop. What?! You have AT&T? How am I supposed to tell if you got my texts, there’s no check mark!?

However when it comes to its actual phone lineup the king isn’t really the king.

Verizon has consistently lost exclusivity deals on shiny new phones to competitor carriers. The most obvious being the Iphone and AT&T. It doesn’t stop with Apple’s baby though. The Palm Pre is exclusive to Sprint for the time being; even T-mobile and the G1 scored the first Android phone before Verizon. RIM and their Blackberry(s) are Verizon’s only real heavy hitters in the Smartphone market. Even so their flagship phone on Verizon, the Storm, did not impress.

Verizon’s focus over the years has consistently been on its network as opposed to its actual phones, and recently the Basking Ridge NJ based company has pretty much admitted that the network is their priority.

Oh how things can change quickly.

The Palm Pre is widely regarded as one of the only Iphone competitors and it’s coming to Verizon early next year.

Verizon and Google have partnered to bring Android devices to the carrier, starting with the Motorola Sholes and HTC’s Hero.

The new Blackberry Storm 2 is releasing this holiday on Verizon and has been met with much more favorable reviews than its predecessor.

Even the Iphone won’t be exclusive to AT&T forever, and now Verizon customers finally have some phones to be excited about in the coming months.

Read Full Post »

Shop for your tech online

Where do college students typically go to buy things for their technological needs?

Best buy?

Walmart?

Circuit City?

Radioshack? (or “The Shack” because its hip)

Most likely you will find what you’re looking for at any of these places, but just because these Brick and Mortar stores tout things like “price match guarantees” doesn’t mean they are giving you the best price’s on electronics. Place’s like Best Buy will not match the price of an online-only retailer where more often than not, you can get big savings.

Certainly there are things where the MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price) is fairly even across the board even with online-only retailers. However when it comes to things like accessories and cables the mark up at Brick and Mortar stores is several times what you can get things online for.

For example, this 8′ HDMI cable at Best Buy is $79.99, but the same quality/same length HDMI cable at an online retailer is $9.60; with shipping from online the total would come to around $15, whereas with tax the cable at Best Buy would be $85.59 thats a difference of over $70 just for a simple audio/video cable.

And its not just cables either.

Accessories for your Ipod? This Ipod FM Transmitter is  $85.59 with tax at Best Buy vs $70.84 with shipping and tax from Amazon.

Looking for a new Cellphone? A Blackberry Perhaps? Best Buy and Verizon want $149.99 for a Blackberry Tour 9630 with a new account. Go online to Newegg and get it for $29.99.

Shop around, the web doesn’t always have the best price’s but more often than not you can find a deal online from a reputable retailer.

Some online retail sites:

Newegg – A great retailer, competitive prices great service and fast shipping (one of their warehouses is in Edison, NJ so ground shipping regularly gets me my order in 2-3 days.)

Tigerdirect – another good online retailer with competitive prices and good service, never had a bad experience.

Amazon – an obvious one but Amazon constantly prices their products competitively and has great service.

Crutchfield – is a great site, they specialize in audio/video for cars but sell other electronics as well. They offer tons of information to help shoppers decide what product they need and has competitive pricing.

These are just a few sites I use, things like Nexttag are great resources to comparison shop with before you actually head to the store to and spend more money than you have too.

Read Full Post »