New Gadgets

I'm a gadget freak, but a frugal and reasonable gadget freak. I wouldn't just rush out and buy the newest toy, I wait it out and see if the bugs are worked out. I do plenty of research, and I also consider the financial impact of such a purchase very carefully.

A couple of weeks ago I sold several gadgets and other extra stuff on craigslist, including my 5 year old Sony Vaio laptop, a 5 year old Dell Axim PocketPC PDA, and my 37" Olevia LCD TV. Wait a minute, isn't that LCD TV less than a year old? Yes it is, but I saw an opportunity at Costco that I couldn't pass up - a 42" 1080p Westinghouse LCD TV for $699. I was attracted to the Westinghouse because of three things: 1. 42" is a much better size for our living room; 2. The 1080p resolution and 4 HDMI inputs; and 3. The Costco 90 day return policy and 3 year warranty for peace of mind. The warranty on the Olevia was nearly expiring and since I purchased that TV at a deep discount last Black Friday, I figured I can get nearly the same amount that I originally paid for it. I was right - I sold the TV for the same exact amount as I purchased it for. So, the upgrade to the Westinghouse ended up costing less than $200, and I get 3% back as an Executive Costco member.

Of course, with a new TV purchase that featured 1080p I felt compelled to take advantage of the new resolution. Lediya and I like to watch movies at home because we can't really go to the movies anymore (plus it is cheaper). We had a Sony 1080p upconverting DVD player that we used to watch dollar movies from redbox. But, with the new TV, I wanted to upgrade to a Blu-Ray player to take advantage of the full HD resolution. So what's the best Blu-Ray player out there for the best price? The PlayStation 3! With funds from the old DVD player and from other miscellaneous items sold on craigslist and eBay (old DVDs, videogames, clothing, etc), I picked up a PS3 from Amazon.com. Why not Costco? Well, the Costco bundle was expensive and included sales tax. Through Amazon.com, you don't pay sales tax. So now I've got the PS3 hooked to the TV and enjoying 1080p Blu-Ray movies, which we rent from the local video store for $2 a day. Oh, and I also plan to use the PS3 as a video game machine when the right game comes out. As an aside, I picked up a used PlayStation Portable via an old cell phone trade, and the PSP links to the PS3.

Finally, we were down to only 1 computer in the house and we missed having a second computer. The old Sony Vaio, while still working, outlived its usefulness as a laptop because it had to be constantly plugged in. Not to mention that it was getting painfully slow, despite frequent clean installs and such. It was also heavy and bulky, weighing 7 pounds. We wanted a laptop that can be easily carted off from room to room, and be portable and light enough to take on our short trips and vacations while still having the features we want. What's the solution? A netbook! A netbook is essentially a portable sub-laptop (screen size less than 10.1" and weight less than 4 lbs.). Previously, these sub-laptops cost $1500+ because it cost a lot to cram everything in such a small space. Well, not anymore. The netbook that I studied is the Asus eeePC 1000h. It sports an overclockable 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor, 1 GB DDR2 memory, 160GB HDD, WiFi-a/g/n, 1.3MP webcam, 3 USB ports, VGA port, ethernet port, and Windows XP SP3. All for $479. It has a 10.1" WVGA screen and weighs only 3.2 lbs. The best part is that the battery lasts an average of 5 hours on a single charge. So it met all our criteria and then some. I ordered it from Costco.com, even though I could've saved some money from other online retailers, again Costco gives me peace of mind due to the 90 day return period and 3 year warranty (unheard of on computers). The upgrade from the Sony Vaio/Dell Axim to the Asus ended up being less than $300.

Tip when purchasing electronics: always, always use an American Express card. American Express doubles the existing manufacturer's warranty up to 1 year. They also have you covered just in case your stuff gets stolen or damaged. The card we use is the American Express Costco True Earnings card, which doubles as our membership card. It gives 3% cash back on dining out purchases, 2% on travel, and 1% on everything else, including Costco. Combine this with the 2% executive member reward, and you're all set!