Cheapskate's Buying Guide, 2002

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Stores that sell Windows PCs and Macs tend to ignore the Macintosh side.)

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Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

Cheapskate's Buying Guide, 2002

Dec. 8, 2002

By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2002, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2002, The Post-Standard

   'Tis better to give than to receive, but it's also better to save money than to waste it. We've got dozens of ways you can do just that for your high-tech holiday gift-giving.
   Prices are based on discounts you can find both locally and by shopping around on the Web. To locate the best prices from Internet discounters, try Price Watch at www.pricewatch.com. When all else fails, go to the Google search engine at www.google.com, type the name of the specific item you are looking for following by the words "best price" (without quotation marks).
   Be sure to try local stores before buying from a mail-order or Web-based discounter. You might pay a little more, but you'll almost surely gain the benefit of better service and support.

   Desktop computers

    Most personal computers in use today are Windows PCs. They've given computing a bad name because of poor security against hackers and the inherent attraction that Windows has for computer viruses. (There are 60,000 or more active viruses that infect Windows PCs, and the number grows by 10,000 a year.) If you're buying a family computer, you could not do better than a computer that is safe, immune to Windows viruses and, almost as a bonus, extremely easy to set up and use.
   That computer is Apple's new Macintosh. The Mac has a new operating system and a new look. Apple gets high marks for good customer support, too. And if you use Microsoft Office (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) on a Windows PC, you'll be glad to hear that Microsoft makes a slick version of Office for the Mac, too.
   The cheapest Macs have a higher purchase price than the cheapest Windows PCs, but they cost less to maintain and last longer.
   This Cheapskate is tempted to recommend the eMac, a model that starts at about $1,100, but eMacs have had problems with bad displays -- be sure to take it back to the store immediately if you get an eMac with a buggy display -- so the Cheap One prefers the least-expensive flat-panel Macintosh instead. It's only $100 more, has an incredibly easy-to-adjust LCD screen and takes up no more space than a couple of school books. In the illustration with this story, you can see Santa peering around an iMac screen.
   The iMac looks like no other computer you can buy. The screen sits on the end of a chromium stalk that sticks out of what looks like the top half of a soccer ball. It runs cool and makes practically no noise.
   If you have a digital camcorder, consider getting an iMac with a built-in DVD burner. Video editing and DVD creation can be done on Windows PCs also, but even Windows experts agree that it's easier on a Mac. (Santa makes his DVDs on a Mac. At least THIS Santa does!)
   You can buy Macs direct from Apple (go to www.apple.com), but choose a local store if you can find one. (Syracuse-area shoppers are lucky. Look in the phone book's business listings or Yellow Pages for "Apple" under computer dealers and you'll find local stores. My advice: Choose one that sells only Apple products. Stores that sell Windows PCs and Macs tend to ignore the Macintosh side.)
   There are thousands of programs designed for modern Macs, from Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer to Apple's fabulous iTunes music software. There are even some great games. (Santa loves the latest version of Myst, engineered to run very quickly on the latest Macs.)
   But if you're looking for a computer for a serious game player, you've come across the only exception in the Cheapskate's computer recommendations. An iMac is my choice for every use except playing serious computer games. There aren't as many games for Macs as there are for Windows PCs. Period. (Mac fans will write to tell the Cheapskate that there are a lot of Mac games, and they're right. But there are a gazillion Windows games, so it's no contest.)
   So if you're shopping for a game-player's computer, you'd better choose a Windows PC. (Take the Cheapskate literally here. Get a Windows PC if it will be used primarily for game playing. For all other purposes, skip the agony, the security flaws, the bugs and the daily onslaught of computer viruses and get an iMac.)
   A cheap Windows PC for all but the most diehard gamers is the Gateway 300s. If you already have a monitor, get the model without a monitor. It's $400 after a rebate. It has a 2 GHz processor, a fair amount of memory (128 MB) and just enough drive space (40 GB).
   If you don't already have a monitor, get Gateway's 15-inch flat-panel display for an extra $300. The upgrade deal gives you free speakers, too.
   Dell, the world's largest computer maker, also has a model or two in the same price range, but Dell's customer support has fallen lately while Gateway's has improved. Stay clear of Dell for now.
   Alas, the cheap Gateway won't satisfy game players born with a joystick in their right hand. Fast Windows PCs optimized for games don't come cheap, but they don't have to be expensive. The Cheapskate likes the Alienware Gray PC, custom-built for fast game performance.
   The Alienware PC comes with a fast Athlon CPU chip, an nVidea graphics card and a lot more. It's $1,280 without a monitor. To order direct, go to www.alienware.com.

   Portable computers

   The Cheapskate's favorite store to shop for laptop and notebook computers is www.usedlaptops.com.
    Santa bought his own HP Omnibook from Used Laptops at a discount even the elves couldn't believe (less than $500 for a $2,900 computer). Business has never been better at Used Laptops, and that's actually bad news for cheapskates, since the inventory is down from what it was a few months ago. But you should start your search at that site.
   (A little known bonus: "Used" doesn't necessarily mean "used by someone." It means something that was previously sold to an end purchaser. So if items are returned because of bankruptcy or oversupply, they're "used" even if the box had not been opened, as long as they were delivered to the end purchaser. This means you could order a computer from Used Laptops and get one that actually had never been used. There's no guarantee of such a thing, of course, but Santa wants you to know that "used" doesn't necessarily mean, um, "used.")
   If you're shopping for a new notebook computer -- nobody actually refers to new ones as "laptops" any more, so don't be caught out of fashion when you're at a store -- the Cheapskate's first and second choices come from the same manufacturer. They're the Apple iBook base model ($1,000) and the big-screen version of the iBook, with a DVD drive that doubles as a CD recorder ($1,600). (Go to www.apple.com for a look at the iBooks.)
   iBooks are cool-looking Macintosh computers. They're wildly popular among college students, travelers and everyday users because they work well, look great and run for hours on a battery charge.
   If Kimberly or Johnny are heading off to college and need a notebook computer, the iBook is perfect. You can even stop worrying about any college "requirement" that incoming students need Windows PCs, too. iBooks are so versatile that they can run Windows if you buy a readily available program called Virtual PC. Tablet computers
   The Cheapskate warns you to avoid buying the latest kind of notebook, called a tablet PC, until the price comes down and the manufacturers figure out why they're making something so obviously dumb. Tablet PCs let you scribble on a screen, then save the scribbling and send it to your main computer or to someone else.
   If the tablet PC can't read your handwriting -- ahem! Even Santa can't read Santa's handwriting sometimes, so how's this computer going to do it? -- it sends your scribbles as raw scribbles. (The Cheapskate sounds like he is kidding, but he is not. What a dumb idea! The first person who sends me a bunch of indecipherable scribbles gets taken off my gift list.)

   Hand-held computers

   Cheapskates who want to give a hand-held computer should get the cheap new Zire from Palm. It has everything anyone who wants to keep a schedule needs and lacks everything that anyone who wants to keep a schedule doesn't need. (The Cheapskate likes that idea. Think we can get Microsoft to go along?) Cost: $90 to $95.

   Software

   Substitutes for Microsoft Office: Psst! Want to get Microsoft Office for free legally? Actually, I can't promise you Microsoft Office, but I can come pretty close. You can get nearly all the functionality of Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Excel in either OpenOffice or StarOffice.
    OpenOffice is free, with no strings attached, and StarOffice is $50 to $60. They're basically the same software, but StarOffice comes with a nice manual and support from Sun Microsystems. Get the free version as a download from www.openoffice.org. Get StarOffice from any good software store or order it from Amazon.com. (You can also buy it as a download from www.sun.com.)
   The REAL Microsoft Office, in a modern Mac version: This is a great gift for someone who uses a modern Mac with the OS X operating system. In some ways this version of Office, called Office X, is ahead of the current Windows version.
   Hold onto your cheapskate hat while I explain the price. It's $370 to $450 depending on the discount. But students and teachers usually qualify for a huge price break, so check into it if you can qualify.
   The best image editor this side of Photoshop: Any Windows or Mac user who owns a digital camera will love you forever if you give Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 this year.
    Santa uses it for his own digital pictures, and even a pro would appreciate the features in Photoshop Elements 2.0. Don't worry about whether your lucky recipient uses Windows or a Mac (or might switch to a Mac soon, like so many others), because this program has both versions in the same box -- on the same CD, even. It costs about $80.
   The best do-it-all-for-you mail program and personal organizer: Give a gift of Microsoft Outlook to the downtrodden Outlook Express user on your Windows list.
   It's easy to use, superbly suited for tracking appointments and important dates, stores anything you want (not just mail) in its own easy-to-search database, costs only about $100 and gets a lot of free support from sites such as www.slipstick.com.
   Santa can hear the elves chiming, "But isn't Outlook dangerous and full of security holes, Santa?" -- and the answer is Yes. But so is Outlook, the free mail software installed on 100 percent of Windows PCs. (Oh, sorry, Santa used Iraqi election math for that calculation. Make that 98 percent.)
   But Outlook is too good to stop using just because of security problems and viruses, so a real Cheapskate spends the requisite amount for good software and then gets the patches and fixes for free. Microsoft has security patches -- click "Office on the Web" item in the Outlook Help menu -- and every Outlook user, elfin or not, needs script and virus protection. Get the free Script Sentry program from www.jasonstoolbox.com and the equally free AVG antivirus from www.grisoft.com.
   (Is Santa leaving out users of modern Macs? Ho-ho-ho in your bowl full of jelly! Office X for the Mac comes with a new version of Outlook called Entourage. It's as good as Outlook in most ways, and MUCH better in others because it repays the gift year 'round by refusing to fall prey to script attacks and viruses. (Script-based viruses and other Windows viruses have no effect on Macs.)
   Cheap as cheap gets for a no-frills word processor: As you might have suspected, Cheapskate Santa uses both Windows computers and Macs in his North Pole home and workshop. (Getting reliable power that far north is a problem, but the Jolly Old Elf stocks up on uninterruptible power supplies every year.)
   When Santa wants to write a note to Mrs. Claus, he despairs of using a mighty word processor to do a trivial task. So he always types out his missives on one of his favorite free word-processing programs. They're both downloadable files, so why not download them and put the installation file on a CD if you have a CD burner. Or sneak onto the recipient's computer during the night and download it yourself, then give a card announcing that the program is waiting to be installed.
   For Windows, the Cheapskate likes the free NoteTab Light word processor. Get it from www.notetab.com. For Mac OS X computers, the Original El Cheapo prefers Speak It, a word processor that talks to you and tells you what you are typing. (Santa can't get the elves to go back to work once they start playing with this program!) It's from outofworksoftware.homeip.net.
   A gift that burns: Santa makes a lot of CDs. That's how he stores all the letters he gets from kids all around the world. And Santa hates a slow burn. So he put the elves to work building a fast CD burner. Unfortunately, elves aren't what they used to be, so the Jolly One resorted to discounters down in the warmer part of the world.
   Santa's pick for a cheap but very fast CD burner for Windows is the CenDyne 52x/24x/52x drive. The numbers tell the story: It records a CD at 52 times standard speed, so a disk that would have taken 52 minutes would take only 1 minute. The elves were beside themselves when Santa burned their latest MP3 collection -- of strictly legal copies of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer," of course -- faster than you could hitch up a sleigh. The CenDyne discounts for about $95.
   Modern Mac cheapskates might be able to use the same drive. Santa put his ears to the snow -- er, ground -- and heard that the CenDyne CD-RW drive often works as a simple replacement for the built-in CD-RW drive in current Macs. If that seems too much disassembly work for a geekless recipient, a good choice might be an external FireWire CD burner. The lucky Mac owner just plugs it in and that's that.
   LaCie has a highly regarded external FireWire CD burner for $200. It's rated at 48X. Go to www.lacie.com for more information.
   CD burners need good software, and the best the Cheapskate Santa can find are Nero for Windows and Toast Titanium for the Mac. Both make everything easy without making you feel like the elves borrowed your brains, and both let you make video CDs easily, too.
   Nero costs about $60 and Toast Titanium runs about $70 at typical discounts. Improving your image:El Cheapo programs are sometimes El Profundo when you add up the features. How about good programs to edit and fix digital photos for $40? (Santa wonders if the other companies are simply charging too much!)
   A good image: The Cheap One chooses an all-around favorite image editor, PhotoBrush (www.mediachance.com), and a newcomer, Photolightning (www.photolightning.com), at the $40 point for Windows users. PhotoBrush is ideal for savvy users and those who want to learn how to be savvy.
    Photolightning is for those who don't have the time to learn anything new but want good results. (Santa likes PhotoBrush more, but his elves are partial to Photolightning. Sometimes you can't educate an elf no matter how hard you try.)
   On the Macintosh side, a cheap way to make digital photography more fun on a modern Apple computer is Portraits & Prints, a $20 program for fancy printing of images and documents from www.econtechnologies.com. Portraits & Prints lets Mac OS X users print multiple images per page and much more. (Don't give it to someone with an old Mac that's running the discontinued Macintosh operating system. It's for OS X, the current one. Ask if you're not sure, but, as Santa always says, be coy.)

   Digital cameras

   Santa is a super-cheapskater when he shops for digital cameras. But not even Donder and Blitzen could help Santa aim his sleigh of goodies to a camera both really cheap AND truly good, so the bearded one is offering three choices for the best buys among digital cameras.
   Sony DSC F-717: Because the Claus seldom takes a pause from using his own Sony DSF-707 camera, which can take 30-inch by 20-inch photos (at more than 5 megapixels in resolution) that rival the best from pro photo labs, Santa picks the successor model as his top choice. It's the DSC-F717, works looks like the previous model and acts like it in almost every way. (It's tweaked a bit for even better color rendition.)
   Santa's eyesight isn't as good as it was in 1897 when Virginia O'Hanlon asked if he existed, so the Sony's superb autofocus helps keep those busy elves from getting fuzzy in the finder. And the Sony camera even knows how to focus in the dark. And Santa has more: The DSC F-717 even takes pictures in total darkness.
   It takes movies, too. And has what might be the best lens among consumer-level cameras. And here's even better news to everyone born to be cheap: Sony is still selling the DSC-F707, and the price has been cut to about $700. Santa's even seen it for less. (He has a way of peeking into price lists with a sly wink of the eye.)
   But a cheapskate wouldn't be cheap without hoping for a bargain closer to earth, so to speak. Santa has two in mind.
   Kodak Easyshare LS443: The first down-from-the-stratosphere camera is so cool it would turn your brown eyes blue. It's the Kodak Easyshare LS443. It comes with great software and has an amazing camera base that someone obviously put some thought into. (You set the camera down and it recharges AND sends its pictures to your computer, all on its own.) It has enough resolution (at 4 megapixels) to get every elf in the picture and not miss a whisker. Look for the LS433 at a discount price of $450.
   Nikon Coolpix 2500: The second affordable-but-good camera is Nikon's Coolpix 2500, selling at discount for about $300. You can get cheaper cameras but you can't get one any cheaper that's as good as the Coolpix 2500.
   Santa puts a Coolpix 2500 in the pocket of his big red coat when he joins the carolers in his neighborhood. It looks like a million reindeer -- er, dollars -- and takes better pictures than its 2-megapixel rating might suggest. Best of all, when all his elfin in-laws arrive from Maine for the New Year's lobster fest (for what Santa calls his "Claws for Clause" party), the Ho-Ho Guy has enough capacity on one memory card for as many as 600 pictures.

   Peripherals

   Logitech Wheel Mouse Optical: Santa hates dustballs. They clog the runners of his sleigh and give his mouse fits. The elves can clean the runners, but Santa got rid of his herky-jerky mouse by switchingto an optical critter. A light beam shines the way, and there's nothing on the bottom of the mouse to collect elf detritus. Santa tried many models but settled on the optical version of Logitech's Wheel Mouse. It works on Windows PCs and modern Macs. (Both the wheel and the right button work on current Macs. Just plug it in.)
   Lexmark Z series printers: Someday Santa will tell you the story of the day his Lexmark printer ran out of ink and he bought a new printer just to get the free ink cartridge that came with it. Was the Jolly One a daffy elfmeister? Not by the hair on his chinny-chin-chin. The ink cartridge sold for $32. The new printer (a slightly newer model, to boot) cost $29 after a rebate.
   So Santa advises all cheap chaps and chapettes to watch for rebates on Lexmark's printers. Lexmark was hurt by the slump in PC and peripheral sales over the last few years and has been all but giving its printers away via rebates. Santa's favorites: The Lexmark Z23 and Z53.
   Altec Lansing XA3051 speakers: Santa loves good sound -- the tinkle of sleigh bells and chimes of the bells on his favorite Internet radio broadcast. Santa can't help turning up the vibes on his Altec Lansing XA3051 powered speakers. He hides the big subwoofer out of the way, takes hold of the full-function remote control, sits back and lets the front, center and rear speakers have their say. Best of all, the five satellite speakers sport the cool look of the old RCA microphones from the'50s. Cheapskates can get these for $150 or less.

   Books

   Santa keeps his workshop stocked with the best computer books money and charm can buy.
    He loves the "Missing Manual" series from O'Reilly, and haslearned how to make DVDs of the little Clauses after reading "iMovie: The Missing Manual" by David Pogue. Santa also likes Pogue's "Mac OS X: TheMissing Manual" and O'Reilly's "Windows XP In a Nutshell" by Tim O'Reilly and two other writers. Look for them at your favorite local bookstore or online.

   Stocking stuffers

   Santa has big boots and that means he has big stockings, so he always looks forward to the treasure hunt for trinkets hidden in his wooly red socks.
    Here are Santa's suggestions for great stocking stuffers in your household:
   Cheap -- or even free -- blank CDs: Many companies that make CDs didn't check with Santa's workshop before churning out millions of blank CDs, so there's an oversupply. That means stores have to clear their stocks through rebates, and sometimes that even means you'll get blank CDs free.
   Cheap blank DVDs: Many computer users have DVD burners (or will have over the holidays!) and stores hope to capitalize on this trend by selling a lot of blank DVDs. Give some as gifts to make a trip to the store unnecessary. Beware of high prices, however. Santa gets his blank DVDs over the Internet, from www.meritline.com. They're about 60 cents that way when Santa buys in bulk. (Compare that price to the $4 or more per blank disk in some stores.)
   Photo paper: Santa takes a lot of pictures and prints them using photo-quality paper. He prefers Kodak glossy photo paper. But Kodak's best paper is single-sided, not double sided. Avoid the Kodak double-sided paper (it's thin and doesn't hold ink well) and look for sales.