IS IT REALLY THE BEST DEAL?
By Liz Gunn || Since I began writing for this website, I’ve been called a lot of things by my beloved “fans”; vapid, superficial, self-absorbed and then some. I pay no mind…if it bothered me I wouldn’t still be here. However, if there is any subject on which I may actually be able to offer you some insight – it’s shopping.
Today is Cyber Monday in the retail world; it’s always the Monday following Black Friday. I once enjoyed Black Friday shopping, years ago when it was slightly less manic than it is today. I never left my house before daylight or stood in line for hours just to save a buck, but I enjoyed a little competitive shopping as a way to burn some Thanksgiving calories and to get started on my Christmas list.
However, since 2005, Cyber Monday has taken off for on-line retailers, and for those of us unwilling to participate in the chaos of Black Friday. Last year, Cyber Monday sales set a new record at 2.29 billion dollars, up more than 20 percent from 2012. For fashion retail (clothes, shoes, jewelry) as opposed to other retail like appliances and electronics, Cyber Monday is now king, with sales surpassing that of Black Friday.
We won’t know until tomorrow if that trend holds true for 2014, but I have certainly been taking advantage of some deals this morning. Amazon has great deals today on electronics like televisions, cameras and some gadgets I’m not even familiar with. Some are up to 85 percent off, so it sure seems like a deal! They have discounts on kids toys, but most of the ones that were of interest to me were already sold out. The early bird really does get the worm…or the My Little Pony Bakeshop, sigh.
It’s not a bad time to shop for your family, either, if there is something that anyone in your household genuinely needs – not just for Christmas. Every retailer I can think of has a sale going on today. If you need any basics like pajamas, socks or undies – now would be a good time to stock up.
I, for one, hate procrastinating when it comes to Christmas shopping. I gives me great satisfaction to check things off my list. My husband, on the other hand, refuses to make a single purchase before December 24th.
While this tends to cause great anxiety for someone like myself, I have to admit – that is when you find the best deals of the season. I have joined him the past several years, in an effort to help, and I’ve seen it first hand. Some stores are practically giving things away.
If you’re looking for something specific where quantities might be limited, this is not the way to go. But if you’re looking for the best deal and don’t mind waiting until the last minute – the savings are typically greater.
After Black Friday and Cyber Monday have passed, another day to keep in mind is coming up tomorrow – Giving Tuesday. I’ll have another post this week about my favorite holiday charity event – but in the meantime, be sure to participate tomorrow by giving your time or your money, if you can. Since its inception in 2012, charitable giving on this day more than doubled last year.
Americans give thanks for all the blessings in their life, then immediately start amassing more “stuff” at generous discounts. Giving Tuesday gives us all the chance to create a little balance during this season of “giving”. You can learn more about tomorrow’s giving opportunities here and stay tuned for my post on an easy, but incredible way you can share the joy this holiday season!
LIZ GUNN is a wife, mom, travel enthusiast, food snob, daydreamer and lifelong Gamecock fan. A graduate of the University of South Carolina, she lives in Columbia, S.C. with her husband and daughter.
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60 comments
In an effort to add some educational value to this article, please enjoy the following.
pajamas (n.) 1800, pai jamahs “loose trousers tied at the waist,” worn by Muslims in India and adopted by Europeans there, especially for nightwear, from Hindi pajama, probably from Persian paejamah, literally “leg clothing,” from pae “leg” (from PIE *ped- “foot,” see foot (n.)) + jamah “clothing.” Modern spelling (U.S.) is from 1845. British spelling tends toward pyjamas.
Ooh I think I would like that, too.
Katrina Shealy files bill to abolish Nikki Haleys failed DSS.
Randwaaii gonna be mad she just appointed her crowny to kill more kids.
Outsourced to India now…
FWIW, you don’t “pay no mind.” You regularly respond in the comments section. Sometimes getting right down in the mess of it all.
I do regularly respond to questions, inaccuracies and thought provoking comments – but I do not take to heart some anonymous internet commenter’s perception of me as a person. FWIW – I really could not care less.
Game, set and match.
I think you missed my point, but that’s okay. Better luck next time, buddy.
You missed mine first.
Buddy… that’s code for douchebag.
She’s SOOOO above the fray.
Pedestrian, at best.
Give me a recommendation on all in one computer deals today. I can use some informed assistance.
Well it really depends on what you will be doing with your computer. (Word processing? Just surfing the web? Graphic design?) Best Buy has great deals today and unlike Amazon has a good way to compare several at one time.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/promo/cm-computing-131059
Thanks. Pay no heed to the basement dwellers. Hang in there.
thanks, I appreciate that!
Operating System:
Windows 7 Ultimate (x64) Service Pack 1 (build 7601)
Software:
Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013
Visual Studio 2013
Microsoft Team Foundation Server 2013
IAR Arm compiler and linker v6.5 – Jtag
SQL Server 2012
Acronis True Image Backup
Zone Alarm Extreme Security Firewall and Anti-Virus
Internet
33 Mb/s connection down
5 Mb/s connection up
Wireless
300 Mb/s
Processor
4.56 GHz Intel Core i7-2600K
256 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
8192 kilobyte tertiary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (4 total)
Hyper-threaded (8 total)
7129.30 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
3811.74 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
6GB/s SATA Controllers
HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH08LS20 ATA Device [Blue Ray Optical drive]
Hitachi HDS722020ALA330 [Hard drive] (2000.40 GB)
M4-CT128M4SSD2 [Hard drive] (128.04 GB)
MAXTOR STM3500630AS [Hard drive] (500.11 GB)
Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex USB 3.0 [Portable Hard drive] (1000.20 GB)
ST3000DM001-1CH166 [Hard drive] (3000.59 GB)
WDC WD5000AACS-00ZUB0 [Hard drive] (500.11 GB)
Memory
24544 Megabytes Usable Installed
1600 MHZ DDR3
USB 3.0
3 24-inch Video Monitors
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I use my computer for software development, desktop publishing, audio and video editing, and as a multimedia entertainment system.
Give me a recommendation on computer peripheral deals today. I can use some informed assistance.
Is this going to turn into some sort of geeky dick swinging contest?
Why do you have a bunch of mismatched hard drives?
I’m one of those guys that loves electronic stuff.. stereos, tvs, computers and all the gadgets that goes with them.. it’s like a candy store when I go to Fry’s. So, when they have a drive on sale… a “come-on” thing to get people to buy their other worthless shit – I buy it. Over the years, I’ve saved a shit-load of money on drives.
I use hard drives to store stuff on. I have several Terrabytes of Movies, Music, chess books and training materials. Maxtor, WD, Hitachi, Seagate.. they’re all good drives.. for speed, I use the solid state drive.
I don’t play games.
I’ve looked at RAID… I’ve run RAID 0.. that was a mistake! .. and it seems to me that it’s too expensive for the protection RAID 5 provides… buying 4 of the same drive is crazy! Just put the important stuff on two different drives. Then if you lose one, you still have one. It’s cheaper than putting the data on DVD, and with the duplication, it lasts longer too – and won’t scratch!
Matching drives is like consistency – the hobgoblin of little minds.
Maybe you missed this….but you can RAID 5 (3) drives. You don’t need 4.
But really, why not just mirror your drives? Performance on todays buses lose nothing on read/write performance for a home PC. Unless your have hundreds of people accessing your Oracle or SQL backend, you won’t know the difference, even in video playback.
You won’t lose anything when one drive dies, and you won’t have to fuddle with your Acronis (lulz) restore.
And just because your SSD’s have a higher MTBF than those old slow spinning disks, don’t think you won’t be wearing out your consumer class MLC SSD drives. Sometimes, they just “stop”.
Why not just mirror your drives?
Wasted space.
I highly doubt you’d see any performance differences on anything I stated.
If the app you’re writing needs that kind of performance over drive redundancy, you need to look at slimming down your code.
Expect poorer than usual write performance with Raid 5, 3 Disk solution… which is bad. And you’re wasting a drive on parity.
how do you slim down a third-party compiler?
Dumb solutions only work for dumb people.
And you’ve got $5k of software on 6 non redundant disks that you bought at Fry’s.
Way to save a “shit-load of money”.
And with this logic, I’m shaking my head, and walking off.
see ya.. wouldn’t want to be ya. :)
Same here sport, same here.
Don’t worry, you’re too big of a dick to be excluded.
” I can use some informed assistance.”
You guys went over my head about 30 minutes ago, but I enjoy seeing you have your fun…
I’d recommend finding a good build online (unless you know enough to attempt your own custom one) and just buying the parts and putting it together. You can guarantee higher quality parts are in your computer for roughly similar prices. IMO a well-built PC will last longer than a pre-built machine you got at a bargain price from some retail chain/site.
And on top of it all, if something happens it won’t be under warranty, rebuilding it means looking all over the web for drivers, and it’ll be a tower case instead a neat custom small CPU. On top of it all, it may last longer but will be as obsolete as fast as the store bought one.
And on top of it all, if something happens it won’t be under warranty, rebuilding it means looking all over the web for drivers, and it’ll be a tower case instead a neat custom small CPU. On top of it all, it may last longer but will be as obsolete as fast as the store bought one.
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our resident luddite – has no idea what he’s talking about, but can’t wait to say it.
Perhaps, but he has a point. At one point or another I’ve been certified on most major OS and most networking/OS, firewalls, and some security appliances. I’ve been around big servers and PC’s for a long time.
He’s right.
No he’s not, and neither are you! :)
The only reason to build your own PC any more is because you want to brag to others that you did so.
Well, there’s that too… but not the “only reason.” It’s cheaper to get maximum performance, and the flexibility to adjust to new technology without replacing your whole system.
I agree… building one is best… that way you don’t get stuck with some crap that either is made for profit with cheap crap, or overbuilt for gaming that you aren’t interested in.
If you build it yourself, you won’t skimp on things that need to be durable, and you won’t buy performance you won’t need.
It’s drop-dead easy to build a computer these days. It used to be that buying computer stuff yourself meant you had to tweak it to get it to work at all. Now, it’s easier than putting together a bookshelf.
Its always been drop dead easy to build one.That parts haven;t really changed aside from a few dip switches. You must have just gotten smarter.
Would I do it anymore? Why bother? You can get one with a legit licensed OS that will do 100% of what most people need it to do–email and surf the internet–for hundreds less (if not more) than what you’ll spend in higher quality parts. Both systems will be irrelevant in 5 years regardless.
I was building them when really big drives (100 MB) were too expensive… so you’d buy the ones with problems with sector 0, and fiddle around with it to remap the sector so the OS could boot on it… and I also bought huge color monitors that weren’t made for use on PCs, and there weren’t any cards that fit the PC bus that would drive them, and fiddled around until I got the right signals to the right pins, set up all the jumpers for the right retrace frequency… futzed around with floppy disks with little laser holes in them, writing assembly language code to handle the error during copying and patching the driver so that the copy will work like the original.. replacing crystals to make the processor run faster.. using the undocumented instructions to load the protected mode segment registers in “Real Mode” to get access to more memory.. hacking dongles.. spoofing MAC addresses… writing TSRs to patch the bios to avoid writing to the screen memory while the retrace was in progress..
It used to be a puzzle to put together an affordable pc.
It hasn’t been a “puzzle” since about 1980.
I mean I guess you could build your own radio, too..if you really wanted..but why?
I was talking about the 80’s.
I have little patience with people whose fetish has to do with a Mustang GT, but I understand the desire to create something that you use, and make it do what you want, the way you want it.
Mustang GT? I have no idea what you are talking about.
I have a truck.
It was a generic muse.
If all you’re going to do is watch porn, pirated movies and surf the internet, buy a 500 dollar piece of shit – or a kindle fire… Computers as a hobby for a shit shoveller or grease monkey just doesn’t make sense – but if performance and flexibility is important to you… it’s more like a custom muscle car.
If you want fast, and aren’t a “shit shoveler”, then quit fucking around and get a populated Cisco 5108 blade chassis.
8 B230 M3’s will give you access to about 8 Tb Ram, 288 cores of 2.2 Ghz Xeon procs (with 45m of cache each), and whatever enterprise class array you want to attach it to through 80 Gb (per blade) FC connections. And on the 5596’s you attach the storage to you, they’ll support LACP, as well as do any routing you want to do. The newest code will support BGP; you can add as much internet pipe as your wallet can bring in.
I’m running specific software – compilers… once the hard drive latency is eliminated with the SSD, it’s all CPU.. and I’m running 4 cores at 4.56.. the blade wouldn’t help me – it’s slower.
heh..ok. Keep thinking that.You’ll get faster (sub 1ms response time) through a FC connection to your SSDs that you will your SATA 3 bus. And you compiler isn’t multi threaded? That blade has 18 cores per proc to use.
unfortunately the compiler is not multi threaded. :(
…and it’s a SATA 6 bus
” or overbuilt for gaming that you aren’t interested in”
Max, you are ex-act-ly cor-rect…!!
Yay for cheap Chinese crap… like totally fer sure!!!!
Since I began writing for this website, I’ve been called a lot of things by my beloved “fans”; vapid, superficial, self-absorbed and then some. I pay no mind
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be frugal where resources are scarce, I always say.
I’ve gotten some great deals on electronics from Amazon on Cyber Monday,mostly stereo equipment.Don’t be afraid to buy their ‘warehouse deals’ ,you’ll find in ‘used’.They’re returns. I’ve never been disappointed.Bought a new pair of Sennheiser headphones,today,over 50% off.If you’re old fashioned,like me,and still prefer physical media,goHastings is a good place to shop,and if you’re really into music,the best place on the internet is discogs. You need to create an account and have paypal,but the place is a godsend for music lovers…
great tip – I’m getting a new turntable for Christmas!
Mmmm … My favorite charity is the Salvation Army … Putting a cork in demon rum bottles and pulling the needles out of the next generations’ collective arms.
I also support a “non-g’ment-education-system” church in Denver, which tries to fill the gap in younger street peoples’ life style. They also pull needles out of collective arms … with music!
I also love the Salvation Army – the only problem is they make you listen to them while you eat… but considering the value of food, that’s a nit.
Thought you might enjoy this from Harry Belafonte’s album (excellent calypso tune) –JUMP UP CALYPSO
———————–
We are going down, Jordan
We are going down, Jordan
We are going down, Jordan
Let’s walk the heavenly road
I was livin’ me life as an Anglican
Let me tell you how I changed to a Baptist man
I was livin’ me life as an Anglican
Let me tell you how I changed to a Baptist man
One night I was walking down Fred’rick street
Poor and hungry, no shoes on me feet
I passed a door that said “Down with sin”
It was the smell of food that pull me in
We are going down, Jordan
We are going down, Jordan
We are going down, Jordan
Let’s walk the heavenly road
Well, the leader walked up and he shook my hand
Said “I want you to be a holy man”
Right away I made a big decision
Me stomach was a growling for this new religion
I started over to get some food
When some sisters approached me in a mystic mood
They dunked me in the water ’bout four, five times
I couldn’t see a thing ’cause I was almost blind
Singing I’ve got a sword in my hand
I’m going to use it well
I was drenched to me skin and I was feeling cold
But the sight of the food made me take a hold
The sisters started to break away
They said “Kneel, believers, kneel and pray”
I prayed and I prayed in a new-found style
In the meantime me taste buds was running wild
I was about to fall clear out of me seat
When a man jumped up and said “Before you eat
You got to mourn, children, mourn
You got to mourn, children, mourn
And if you want to go to Heaven when you die,
You got to mourn, children, mourn
Well, before I baptized I had plenty pain,
Now I find myself a free man again
Well, before I baptized I had plenty pain,
Now I find myself a free man again
Don’t talk
After several visits to various SA facilities in the Bay Area, I have yet to get the preaching or evangelical treatment …
Yes, the way to a (drunk) man’s heart is through his stomach.
I have a large family (well, there’s about 9 of us left now). We decided a few years ago 1) Christmas is really for children, and 2) that trying to “outdo” one another buying Christmas presents (when at least one of them is on a fixed income, and may or may not be a hoarder) is counter-intelligent. We quit buying presents for each other, get together around the holidays, and just go out to eat. Then we all go on our respective ways.
Do you know how liberating and stress relieving THAT was?
I’ve found that if I really want something, its probably too expensive for someone else to buy it for me, so I’l just buy it myself. In the end, Its better that way.
I’d suggest anyone try this. How much crap do you really need?
My family does this too – for the exact same reasons. It’s a huge stress relief.