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Electronics, Stereos, and Cell Phones |
Tweeter is a large retailer of audio and video equipment for the home and auto. They specialize in top end equipment for the audiophile andthe video connoisseur. Tweeter also  owns the chains Hifi Buys, Sound Advice, and Showcase Home Entertainment. Unable to compete with the larger chains like Best Buy and Circuit City (see below) they areremaking themselves to a high-end retailer, dropping out of the low-endflat TV market. The Tweeter website is also high-end, well designed and uncluttered and has sections with expert   advice and research topics, excellent for the person who does not know the difference between 1080i and 1080p or HD-ready vs HD-integrated. Besides home theaters and audio systems, Tweeter also carries personal electronics like iPod and other MP3 players, although for most small electronics, merchants like Tiger Direct and NewEgg (see below) are generally cheaper. Tweeter does offer free shipping on a large number of items, including big-screen TVs, so it is worthwhile to price them with this in mind. Tweeter has retail outlets in about 20 states, so charges sales tax in them |
MetroPCS is a premier cell phone company and highly recommended. They offer unlimited local, long distance, and text messaging plans in certain metro areas aroung the US. Be sure to check to ensure your  area is covered. Plans are less expensive than most. However, one who travels a great deal will be annoyed that roaming charges are paid when outside a metro area Metro PCS covers. MetroPCS is one of the few mobile calling companies that does not require a contract - payment is month by month, so unlike most other cellular services, they strive hard to keep your business with excellent service. Service can be purchased in different levels, from basic which includes a limited number of minutes, all the way to plans which feature unlimited minutes, local and long distance, and unlimited text messaging, often for the same less than a 1000 or 1500 minute per month plan from other cellular companies. |
Best
Buy, like Circuit City below, is another large national retailer of
computers, software electronics, home theater, audio systems, TVs, cameras, appliances, music and
videos, and office products. The best things
about Best Buy are the prices and selection, often  among the best in a number of product categories, but
they are not known for their customer service.
However, it is a very popular merchant and Best Buy's
pricing usually overcomes the fear of getting poor
customer service if it's needed. Best Buy is now associated with Geek Squad, a home computer service, and some promotions offer a free visit. Near the top
left of the Best Buy homepage is a button titled
"Weekly Ad " which details sales, free
shipping promotions, and other weekly specials. Further down on the page is a bar which further details sales events, free shipping events, Wednesday sales, and the Best Buy outlet store. Other features of the website design are excellent, including large thumbnails for some product display pages, and smaller ones if more on a page are desired to display. Sales
tax is charged in the 32 states in which Best Buy has
a retail store. |
The
Sharper Image is known as the premier gadget
store.Their
online catalog offers a wide product selection from  their exclusive Ionic Breeze air cleaners to massage
chairs, spy cameras, compact stereos, electronic toys,
personal care items, and much more. Their Roomba
robotic vacuum cleaner made by iRobot is a big seller (plus check out
 the lower priced eVac), as is their
selection of Dyson vacuums. Pricing is at or
near list for most items, with frequent sales which
areworthwhile to find as well as an Outlet Store (look on the right side top menu bar). Shipping is fast
and reasonable in price and service is usually good. Website design is well organized with most of the product categories available in the top menu pulldowns. Note the top menu bar that has a category titled Special Offers for some of the best sales. Sharper Image has a newsletter that provides information on exclusive discounts and sneak previews of new products they are about to stock, too. Sales tax is charged in the 40 states have retail outlets. |
Circuit
City is the very large national retailer of
consumer electronic products with over 600 stores and
40,000 employees, and is one of the oldest chains in
this genre, started in 1949 in Richmond, VA as a
television store. Although they still carry TVs (over 100 models in all  price ranges) they
are also known for their excellent selection of audio
and home theater components, computers, cameras,
office products, and auto electronics all at great
prices. They feature customer reviews and
ratings of many of their products (always an excellent
feature!) with a graphical display to summarize the
ratings. There are usually free shipping
promotions with a small order (as little as $25) and
free in-store pickup for larger items if there is a
retail outlet nearby. However, tax is charged in
the states in which they have a retail presence, and
this is most of them. |
Cambridge
Soundworks specializes in audio electronics such as MP3 players, PC and home theater sound systems,  speakers, and compact stereos. They are a Creative company, the leader in PC audio and MP3 products. Their biggest sellers are probably the Creative Zen line of MP3, AVI, and multi-media players. The Zen Vision multimedia players come in either M  style, with a small 2.5" screen, and the W style, with a 4.3" widescreen with a choice of hard drive sizes, such as 30GB or 60GB, and are what many audio/video afficianados prefer instead of the iPods which are more popular with the dumb masses. Cambridge Soundworks also features the Soundworks HD radios which are similar to the Bose Wave line and for a fraction of the cost.  Creative is well known for its PC sound cards and speaker systems, and these are also available on the Cambridge site. They offer a good number of video components, too, including a selection of LCD and plasma TVs and monitors from Toshiba, Sony, Samsung, BenQ, and Hitachi. Another popular product line from Cambridge is the Newton series speakers, some of which are flat and can be hung on a wall, some are mounted in a wall, and some are standard "fat" speaker. Cambridge offers free UPS ground shipping with a minimum order. Note that Cambridge return policy states that MP3 players cannot be returned for a refund but for defective exchange only (and within 45 days). |
Abt
Electronics is a huge (29 acre) Chicago-based store that has been in business since 1936. Abt sells video and audio components as
well  as a wide selection of other consumer electronics
including digital cameras, appliances (small and large),
mobile electronics, and much more. When visiting
the website, click on the "Shop by Category"
button to get an idea of the extensive range of
products Abt offers. They stock most fine
quality brands - for example in audio equipment they
carry Denon, Onkyo, Kenwood, Pioneer, Sony, Bose, and
Yamaha. They carry a large number of TVs at very
good prices, and often offer free 
 shipping on big
screen TVs as well as for most electronic components
under 50 lbs. Shipping is reasonable otherwise.
Abt is an authorized online dealer for
most of the brands they sell, has excellent customer
service, and has very good prices including a price match
policy for up to 30 days after the sale. One
annoying thing about the Abt website is that some
products are "Authorized", which means they
cannot be ordered via the shopping cart, but only by
calling their toll-free number. |
Tiger Direct is the next best place to buy computer components, upgrades, software, and peripherals online, similar to NewEgg. They offer prebuilt personal computers, or for the technophiles, all the components necessary to build them oneself. Like NewEgg, they offer MP3 and iPodplayers, DVD players, LCD monitors, home theater equipment, and other consumer electronics, with excellent selection and pricing. Note  that many of their best-priced items require rebates, a definite minus, but common among electronics retailers. Website design is a bit cluttered on the homepage. The major difference which stands Tiger Direct apart from NewEgg in online shopping is that Tiger Direct charges way too much for shipping, and it's usually slow (3 to 7 day) ground shipping. Shipping costs are based on total cost of the order so if you buy a high end motherboard and an expensive iPod, which might weigh 4 lbs total, it could cost $30 or more shipping, although it might only cost an extra couple dollars for a 2 day air upgrade. Compare this to NewEgg where the shipping would cost about $12 to as little as free if there were free shipping promos on the items at the time. Tax is levied on Tiger Direct orders to Florida, Illinois, and North Carolina. |
NewEgg is one of the the most popular and least expensive online merchants to buy computer components, upgrades, software, and peripherals. They also offer prebuilt personal computers, or for the technophiles, all the components necessary to build them oneself. In addition, NewEgg is also one of the best places to buy MP3, AVI, and iPod players, DVD players, LCD monitors, home theater equipment, and other consumer electronics  online. Their selection, pricing, and customer service are excellent. Shipping is very fast since they offer Priority Mail shipping for smaller items and ship same day in most cases, plus they usually offer shipping discounts where shipping is very inexpensive or even better, offer free shipping promos on many of their products. An excellent website feature is that they state the shipping cost in the product descriptions, as well as allow a large number of products, up to 100, to be shown in category and search displays. Another feature is the huge Customer Review forum, with customer feedback of products. Overall website design is clean and uncluttered. NewEgg was formerly known as Egghead Software, a computer and software store which once operated a large number of brick-and-mortar stores throughout the US, but now has mostly an online presence. |
WebPhone is a VOIP (voice-over IP) service that allows one to make a call over
a broadband connection, and in some cases via
dialup. Instead of monthly rates for either
unlimited or in some cases a limited number of minutes
per month as with Net2Phone (see below), WebPhone charges by the
minute. However, the cost is very inexpensive,
with calls to the US at around 2  cents per minute and
most of Europe for 4 cents per minute (up to 31 cents per
min in Arab countries and even more in remote
countries). WebPhone is unique in that while other VOIP services provide hardware which allows regular phones to be used in this mode, WebPhone only works on a computer, providing a phone-like windows interface. They recommend using a good
headset, which is attached to the computer soundcard. Calling time is purchased
beforehand and the phone window shows the balance
updated in realtime as calls are made. |
Net2Phone offers the service of having your phone connected to
your broadband internet service so the local phone
company can be dumped. Their most popular plan
features unlimited calls to US and Canada for $30 per
month. All monthly calling plans include
voice mail, call waiting, caller ID, 3-way calling, and
call forwarding at no extra charge. There are  also plans which allow unlimited calls to Europe ($40)
as well as plans for Asia, Israel, and India, but
these last three have limited minutes (up to
500). Net2Phone sells a few phones that work
like regular phones, but still must be connected to a
PC (USB connection). A feature that appeals to some people is
to be able to choose the area code (almost anywhere in
the US) in which their number is based so that people
who call you from that area code are not subject to
long distance charges (but then again, people who live
nearby will have to pay long distance charges!)
Net2Phone also offers calling cards with an excellent
rate per minute (even overseas) as well as a PC to
phone service, using a microphone and speakers on your
PC to converse. |
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