The marketplace is an expensive place to get confused. Get more for your money when you buy laptops, air travel, eyeglasses, or other purchases with our roundup of thrifty buyers' guides for common purchases.
Photo by Unhindered by Talent.
10. Affordable mattress
They really, truly don't make it easy to buy a mattress these days. The same exact product gets re-branded under multiple names, sometimes for multiple brands, and salesmen can pitch so much shop talk, you'll feel like you're buying a BMW. A Slate writer in need of better sleep, however, wrote the book on mattress quality, delving into the basics of coils, padding, "tricking," and revealing the core value. If it supports "the normal curve of your spine" lying down as when you're standing, for example, then it's probably a good fit.
9. Eyeglasses (online)
Eyeglasses are a pretty personal thing, being that they sit on some people's faces all day, every day. But for 95% off the price of a $300 pair that look just like the ones you're wearing, maybe it's worth considering the steep online discount. Our weekend editor Jason did, and came out with two seriously cheap eyeglass sets and rules for saving bundles by buying them online. The keys to the big-savings kingdom lie in knowing your prescription (which you're legally entitled to), measuring your pupillary distance, and knowing how thick your frames should be. After that, it's up to you how picky you want to get, but you'll still spend less than waiting for your lenses to grind down at the mall.
8. Domain names and web hosts
Securing the rights to your personal or small business web name and renting some basic web space isn't all that expensive these days. But finding a reliable, accessible, and easy-to-handle domain registrar and host isn't just a matter of picking the lowest price. After more than 200 comment threads on the topic, our readers wiki-compiled a list of reliable and affordable web hosts. The Essential Keystrokes blog makes switching from one host to another an easy six-step process. And if you're shocked—absolutely shocked!—that johnsmith.com is already bought up (and parked with "Free classified ads!"), head over to Bust A Name and find another name that works for what you're selling/promoting/posting.
7. Apple products
They don't tell you what's coming in the next version of anything—desktops, laptops, iPods, phones—and when it drops, it costs the same as the old generation you just bought and you feel like a sucker, right? Doesn't have to be that way. The folks at iLounge, whose jobs depend on watching and anticipating Apple release cycles, provide the skinny on what to expect from Apple. The short version: If an Apple product's just been released, and it's not the first version of it, and you're happy with th features compared to the competition, buy it and enjoy it. Otherwise, discount all the rumors you hear about what's coming, and look for the six-month change-up cycle.
6. Netbooks
They're all over the news, they easily fit in a backpack or briefcase, and everybody and their brother think they're the future of personal computing. They're netbooks, and, well, a lot of them seem the same. How to pick? Our own Gina Trapani compiled the pros and cons of popular models at her Smarterware site. GigaOM details the brand differences, and NotebookReview.com has a seriously comprehensive guide for anyone who's obsessing over, say, the five different Asus models out there.
5. Any car, new or used
We've featured this clip in a few other features and Top 10s, and for good reason—it's chock-full of little bits of advice, and most people could learn at least a few of them. Whether you're buying new or used, take Rob Gruhl's advice: Don't trade in to the dealer, don't get options installed at buying time, and don't be pressured into buying anything by fake deadlines or closed-door office tactics. Hit the play button for the full 101 course.
4. Used laptops
Manufacturer-certified refurbished laptops can be a great value, but if you're not an Apple buyer, it can be hard to track them down. So when you're looking into the Craigslist/eBay/store-sold markets, it's important to have an eye for quality. The Sustainablog gives us a 10-step guide to buying a used laptop, including a salient point on testing all the ports:
Many of these are attached to the motherboard, which is costly to replace. If one USB port is broken and you can live with the other three, then do it. If the headphone jack is broken but you have Bluetooth headphones anyway, then rejoice.
3. HDTVs
HDTVs are everywhere, and every one of them has about 15 numbers, statistics, and Ultra/Enhanced/Super features they'd like you to consider. Walk right past the big yellow stickers and get the setup you actually want with Gizmodo's guide to buying an HDTV like a pro. It jumps right past all the confusing contrast "ratios" and the like and tells you how to use your eyes, and a pair of cupped hands, to figure out if the set on the showroom floor will actually work in your living room. Speaking of living rooms, you'll need an ideal size for your setup based on eye distance, not vanity—CNET's HDTV setup chart and some measuring tape should get you there.
2. Plane tickets
Some flights can cost as much as some of the other items that need their own buying guides, but you don't get to bring them home with you. Save more money for when you get to where you're going by buying on a Wednesday, and finding your tickets between two and eight weeks in advance. For the hard dollars and cents of saving, try using one of our readers' favorite non-airline-sponsored deal finders and ticket predictors: Kayak, Yapta, or Live Search Farecast (okay, that last one is owned by Microsoft, which also books through Expedia, but, still, it's not exactly an airline price pusher). For a bit of surprising logic, also try booking with a hotel to, oddly enough, pay less.
1. Digital cameras, amateur and pro
It's harder to say exactly what kind of camera any one person needs, so we lack for an easy, cover-it-all buying guide link here. One site, however, does try to figure out what kind of camera you want, and then the camera that fits those needs according to outspoken camera geeks: BestInClass. Another place that's full up of picky, if not necessarily thrifty, photography nuts is, of course, Flickr, and the site gathers the EXIF data from millions of photos to compile the Flickr Camera Guide. If you know there's more to a good photo rig than just megapixels, you're right—head over to Wired's wiki for buying a digital camera to get the lowdown on what you should be looking for in sensors, lenses, zoom numbers, and much more.
We're no Consumer Reports, but our posts—and our readers—have a lot of sage advice on how not to get fleeced at checkout time. Found a great deal lately using some advice on the web? Looking for a guide on something you've been meaning to pick up? Share the link, or field your request, in the comments.