Computer Shopping Alerts
Welcome to our Computer Shopping Alerts page. The purpose
of this page is to alert you to significant events and problems that
we have encountered with vendors selling computers, computer peripherals,
and consumer electronics.
This page grew out of our Sunday Shopping Watch articles which are
featured in our Daily Computer News and
Rumors page.
If you are aware of a significant problem which you think should be
included in our Computer Shopping Alerts page, then please forward
them to our webmaster.
April 11, 2003 - Present
Buy New IDE Hard Drives with 8 MB Cache Instead
of Slower IDE Drives Without Cache.
If you've been watching store ads lately, you may have
noticed IDE hard drives from Maxtor and Western Digital boasting an
8 MB cache.
Hard drive manufacturers claim that these new drives provide a 20%
speed improvement over their regular 7200 RPM cacheless drives.
Better yet, these new buffered drives sell for as little as $1 per
GB, which is the same price as unbuffered IDE drives, so you would
be foolish not to buy the cached drives for your next hard drive upgrade.
April 11, 2003 - Present:
If You Have USB 2.0 Ports, Buy only USB 2.0
Devices.
USB 2.0 is 40 times faster than the original USB. Any
type of external disk drive (including hard disks, CD, DVD, and flash
drives) that is USB 2.0 compatible should be much faster plugged into
a USB 2.0 port.
December 05, 2002 - Present:
Online Vendors Using Unscrupulous Business
Practices to Sell Digital Cameras and Camcorders.
It has come to our attention that many online electronics
vendors are using unscrupulous business practices to sell digital
cameras and camcorders. Their trick is to advertise their products
at 2/3 of the list price, wait for the consumer to order them online,
then make the consumer call them to "confirm" their order.
When the consumer calls them they pressure the consumer to buy additional
accessories. If the consumer doesn't buy additional accessories then
they are told the camera is not in stock.
Avoiding the Scam
- If a price seems "too good to be true" then you are setting
yourself up to be ripped off. The only time you should have to ever
call an online vendor is if there is a problem with your order. If
there is a problem with your order, a legitimate vendor will call
you first.
This problem has mainly been observed with smaller vendors that advertise
in shopping search engines. To avoid being scammed, always check the
vendors rating and consumer comments. If you can't find any information
on a vendor, then choose a different vendor with a better rating.
Always use a credit card when making online purchases. Never use debit
cards or any other form of payment.
December 05, 2002 - Present:
Online Vendors Selling "Gray Market"
Digital Cameras and Camcorders.
It has come to our attention that many online electronics
vendors are selling "gray market" digital cameras and camcorders.
A "gray market" camera is typically a camera that was made
for sale in a foreign country, or it can be a used or remanufactured
camera.
Obviously, you don't want a "gray market" camera as it is
inferior to products being sold by legitimate vendors and it usually
has no warranty.
Avoiding the Scam
- These items are usually sold at deep discounts, sometimes the condition
and origin of the camera is very vague, and they usually have no warranty
or have an "international warranty" (whatever that is).
If a price seems "too good to be true" then you are setting
yourself up to be ripped off. If you don't have USA warranty cards
in a new unopened product box, then you are probably being scammed.
This problem has mainly been observed with smaller vendors that advertise
in shopping search engines and auctions. To avoid being scammed, always
check the vendor's rating and consumer comments. If you can't find
any information on a vendor, then choose a different vendor with a
better rating.
Always use a credit card when making online purchases. Immediately,
notify your credit card company in writing that you want to dispute
charges from these unscrupulous vendors. Never use debit cards or
any other form of payment for online purchases.
November 22, 2002 - Present.
Fighting
Back Against Email Spammers, Internet Hackers, and other Web Thieves.
Everything you need to know to defend your computer
from spammers and hackers: what spam is, who is hacking, antivirus
and firewall program usage, complaining to legal authorities, and
getting hackers and spammers kicked off the Internet.
Avoiding the Scam:
If you don't open spam then you can't be scammed by it. However, sometimes
everyone runs into a clever piece of spam or a hacker decides to attack
your computer. Our 10 page article tells you what you need to know
to deal with this growing problem.
October 27, 2002 - Present.
Buying 1.4
GHz (and slower) Celeron Processor Desktops.
The 1.7 GHz Celeron has replaced the 1.4 GHz and slower Celerons in
the low-end retail market. As the 1.7 GHz Celeron is socket compatible
with the Pentium 4, it is potentially upgradeable to faster Pentium
4 processors. The older 1.4 GHz and slower Celerons cannot be upgraded
without a conversion kit.
Recommended Action:
It is our opinion that you should no longer purchase older Celerons
at speeds of 1.4 GHz or slower as they are obsolete, and are usually
priced as high as 1.7 GHz and faster Celeron desktops.
October 27, 2002 - Present.
Buying Desktop Computers for less than $800.
Keep in mind when purchasing low priced desktops that these computers
typically have no AGP video expansion slot, no onboard dedicated video
RAM, no CD-RW drive, and very few empty PCI expansion slots.
As a result, these computers will be very difficult to upgrade, and
they have poorer performance than other better equipped desktops.
Recommended Action:
Research before you buy. Often by spending $200-$400 more for a better
equipped system, you can get twice the performance, more features,
and you will have an upgradeable computer that will serve you well
for another 3 years.
If you want to see current retail computer prices, read our Sunday
Shopping Watch feature which can be found in our Daily
Computer News and Rumors page.
If you choose the $600 desktop system to save a few bucks, keep in
mind that in a year or two you will probably want to replace it.
A good introductory article for the first time computer buyer is our
Computer Buying Primer.
Other helpful articles can be found in our Computer
Buying Advice index page. If you want to ask a question about
buying computers, please post it in our
Help Board.
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