Win a $500 shopping spree at Newegg.com!
In my humble opinion, this is one of the best giveaways we've ever done. Why? Well, because thanks to some intrepid work by our reps at Shopper.com, Newegg.com is generously offering up a $500 gift card, which means you get to pick your prize.
In case you don't know what Newegg.com is, it made its name selling computer gear and accessories at really low prices. But now it sells not only computer stuff but tons of electronics, so you're looking at a whole lotta selection.
As for Shopper.com, it powers CNET's price-comparison engine and it's a great site for finding the best prices on products. (See all of Shopper's deals, coupon codes, and rebates).
Normally, a Newegg.com $500 gift card would cost you $500 (duh), but you have the chance to get it gratis.
So, how do you try to win the Newegg.com gift card? Let me enumerate the basic rules. Please read them carefully; there will be a test.
- Register as a CNET user. Go to the top of this page and hit the "Join CNET" link to start the registration process. If you're already registered, there's no need to register again.
- Leave a comment below. You can leave whatever comment you want. If it's funny or insightful it won't help you win, but we're trying to have fun here, so anything entertaining is appreciated.
- Leave only one comment. You may enter this specific giveaway only once. If you enter more than one comment, you will be automatically disqualified.
- The winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive (1) $500 newegg.com gift card. Retail value is $500.
- If you are chosen, you will be notified via e-mail. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
- Entries can be submitted until Thursday, December 3, at 7 a.m. EST.
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. MUST BE LEGAL RESIDENT OF ONE OF THE 50 UNITED STATES OR D.C., 18 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER AT DATE OF ENTRY INTO SWEEPSTAKES. VOID IN PUERTO RICO, ALL U.S. TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS AND WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. Sweepstakes ends at 7 AM ET on December 3, 2009. See official rules for details.
Good luck.
Come back tomorrow for our next holiday giveaway. Tomorrow's prize will be an Altec Lansing InMotion Classic iPod speaker.
Going to a retail store for consumer electronics purchases can be both exciting and frustrating. After working at Best Buy for two years, I have a few opinions to share that you might want to consider before your next shopping trip.
1. We have no formal training in the field of consumer electronics.
Upon transferring to the computer department from home theater, I expressed concern to the manager: "Will there be time for someone to train me on laptops/desktops? What do these specifications mean?" His reply was simple: "Just do your best. A good salesperson can just read the labels and compare specs." Ouch.
Salespeople are not necessarily experts in the products sold in their departments, even if they are expert salespeople. Though many express a strong interest in the products they sell, your time spent at a retail store fishing for information about a future TV purchase could be better spent online researching the products yourself (I heard CNET has pretty great reviews).
"You need those HDMI cables, you know you do."
(Credit: Amazon) 2. We make little off the big-ticket items, so we smother you with accessories.
Remember the story "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"? Well, if you tell a salesman you're going to buy a TV, he's going to want to sell you a DVD player to go with it. Once he sells you the DVD player, he's going to want to get you to buy an HDMI cable, too.
Managers at Best Buy (and possibly all retailers) tell employees that the store profits surprisingly little from video game consoles and computers. Cables, accessories, mice, and other components, however, have a huge profit margin-- stores can make about $120 from a $150 Monster HDMI cable. Angry yet? The point is, we're going to work really hard to convince you to purchase that big item, but once you've said "OK" you've opened Pandora's Box.
Here's my advice: Grab the big item, and run. Purchase all accessories online, including memory cards, cables, traveling cases, and so on. Amazon, Monoprice, and Newegg are all reputable discount Web sites. You'll find what you need at a much lower price.
... Read more
I recently mentioned my plan to get the new Eee PC laptop from Asus in spite of a price hike just before the product was introduced. The Eee PC is basically a low-cost subnotebook intended for developing markets, like the One Laptop Per Child project's XO, which I've also written about here--but unlike the OLPC, the Eee PC will be regularly available in commercial channels.
Well, earlier this week, I found the gizmo for sale over on Newegg.com and placed my order. A mere $458.45 later, including California sales tax and two-day shipping, it was on the way, and it arrived Friday. Here are some initial impressions; I'll post again soon after I've had some time to play with it.
The model offered by Newegg for $399.99 is the high-end configuration in the Eee PC family, at least for the moment. It comes with a 4GB solid-state (flash) disk drive, 512MB of RAM, a 38 watt-hour battery, and a built-in webcam. Cheaper models offer smaller batteries, no webcam, and smaller amounts of flash and RAM for $299 or $349-- but not at NewEgg; they only have the most expensive model. (Also unavailable is a model with an 8GB disk.)
All models share a 900 MHz Intel Celeron M processor (reportedly the ULV model 353) and a 7", 800x480-pixel LCD driven by an Intel integrated-graphics chipset. The Celeron processor isn't very fast, and it consumes more power than I expected-- much more than you really want to see in a tiny machine like this; the bottom of the Eee PC gets quite hot while playing Web videos.
But I found out tonight that the Eee PC could play this one car video that gave my Mac fits every time I tried it. I won't link to the video here because it, or the page it's on, crashed both Safari and Firefox under Mac OS X as well as Internet Explorer and Firefox under Windows Vista running in a Parallels Desktop virtual machine. This was the first time I've ever seen that happen.
But I had the Eee PC within arm's reach, so I hooked it up to my home network, typed in the URL off my Mac's screen, and the video came right up. It was a little choppy, but watchable. Score one for Asus, I guess.
Anyway, please stay tuned for a more detailed review soon. CNET has published a formal review (here), so I'll be focusing on the more esoteric elements of the product.
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