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Saving Money On Textbooks
Books | Aug 29, 05
With classes starting shortly at most colleges and universities, it makes sense to remind everyone that a few clicks on PriceSCAN.com can produce very significant savings on textbooks, especially when compared to what one might pay at school bookstores and other retail venues.
Consider one quite typical example: Olivier Blanchard's introductory text Macroeconomics with Active Graphs, 3rd edition (includes CD), used to teach Principles of Macroeconomics at MIT this past spring. While it's available from Prentice-Hall (the publisher) for $129, you can find it for nicely under $100 from well-known vendors by searching on our site. Using this method, a student could save hundreds if not thousands on the required tomes of a given degree program. You can check book prices anytime through our book search feature.
Posted by jeffrey.trester at 3:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Are Falling Handheld Prices A Sign Of PDA Obsolescence?
Computers | Aug 24, 05
There's been a lot of talk about the PocketPC and Palm PDA market getting squeezed out of existence. These handhelds are under pressure from Blackberries and multi-function cell phones on the one hand, and low-cost notebook computers on the other. Now if this is the case, one might expect to see significant and rapid price cuts in the PDAs, and in fact there is some evidence of this effect.
Consider the most popular PocketPC on PriceSCAN.com, HP iPAQ HX4705. This WiFi and Bluetooth enabled model has seen its lowest offered price on this site fall by about $100 since January, a decline of nearly 20%.
Time Period: 1/17/2005 through 8/22/2005
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price
Interestingly, the HP iPAQ H6315 Pocket PC - Phone Edition saw an initial price drop last year but has displayed some price stability of late, so perhaps cell capability offers some hope to this line.
Time Period: 8/9/2004 through 8/22/2005
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price
Meanwhile, on the Palm side, we're also seeing some price slippage – see the graphs of the palmOne Tungsten E2 and Zire 31 below.
Time Period: 4/18/2005 through 8/22/2005
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price
Time Period: 5/3/2004 through 8/22/2005
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price
Of course much of this could simply be yet another aspect of generalized tech deflation. But even if old-style PDA functionality will truly be subsumed by other technologies, for those looking for a handheld today, the bargains are multiplying.
Posted by jeffrey.trester at 4:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
A Huge Plasma Television With True 1080p HDTV
Electronics | Aug 15, 05
While there are LCD, LCoS and other types of televisions capable of displaying 1080p, the highest resolution HDTV standard, plasma sets generally operate at the 720p level. But now there is at least one exception to this rule, and, at 72 inches, it's a pretty big exception.
LG Electronics is rolling out its MW-71PY10, with 1920 x 1080 native resolution and 1200:1 contrast ratio. And, oh yes, it carries a price tag to match it size: just under $50,000. Vendors are taking pre-orders now, so if you want plasma, size and resolution you can now have it all, assuming of course you're willing to part with fifty grand to make your video dreams come true.
Posted by jeffrey.trester at 4:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Are Rear-Projection LCoS Televisions The Affordable Alternative To Giant Plasmas?
Electronics | Aug 11, 05
If you're in the market for a large, state of the art TV, you face a dilemma: Right now, the largest flat-screen LCD set is a 46-inch model from Samsung; there are also a handful of 45-inch models. You can get a lot bigger with plasma; up to 84-inches in the case of Akira’s PK-8401, for example, but that extra size is going to cost both money and resolution, the later because these televisions only display HDTV at the 720p level, as opposed to 1080p on the LCD sets. So what's a big-screen junkie on a budget to do?
One alternative to consider would be a liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) rear-projection television. Thinner and lighter then traditional CRT-based rear-projection models, this advanced technology offers big size, and, in some cases, 1080p resolution at a significant discount to plasma. For example, the Sony KDS-R60XBR1 60 inch SXRD Rear Projection TV (SXRD is Sony's "refined version" of LCoS) is available for under $5,000, while the Sony KDE-61XBR950 61 inch Plasma WEGA runs for well over twice as much. That's a lot of money for an extra inch of diagonal, and you trade the 1080p resolution of the SXRD model for the 720p of the plasma.
To be sure, LCoS/SXRD technology does not solve another key size problem, as these sets are considerably thicker and heavier than comparable plasmas and thus not generally wall-mountable. However, if you can live with your set "off the wall", you might find higher resolution and lower cost with LCoS.
Posted by jeffrey.trester at 7:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
1080p HDTV LCD Televisions Begin To Drop In Price
Electronics | Aug 4, 05
There are a handful of LCD televisions that feature the maximum high-definition digital resolution, that being the 1080p standard. It's therefore fascinating to discover that even these truly state of the art models are falling in price.
For example, consider Sharp's 45GD6U AQUOS, a 45-inch set with 1920x1080 resolution and a 16:9 aspect ratio. It feature's Sharp's Super ViewBlack TFT Panel, providing an 800:1 contrast ratio and 170° H x 170° V viewing angles. It would have cost you at least $5,800 back in December of last year, but right now vendors on PriceSCAN.com are offering it for under $4,000.
Time Period: 12/13/2004 through 8/1/2005
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price
If that's still a bit rich for you, you might take a look at the Westinghouse LVM-37w1, with a 37-inch diagonal, 1920x1080 resolution and 600:1 contrast ratio. It's available for under $1,900.
You can check out the rest of the maximum HD LCD sets here, and see for yourself how the best of breed is already getting cheaper.
Posted by jeffrey.trester at 5:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
