Blog Archives for 2010

If you are among the tens of millions of people who own a DLP TV, then at some point in the near future you are going to have to replace the lamp. Are you going to pay $250 to a service technician, or are you going to spend 3 minutes watching our video to find out how you can do it yourself?

We were curious what's on tap for stores and online retailers in 2011, so we checked in with a few retail experts and found some amazing changes coming up. Imagine a world where iPad-wielding clerks can get you anything you want, whether or not the store has it. Find out what's in store at your favorite sotres!

You've put the wrapping paper in the recycling bin, you've put away the tree, now what about the gifts in the reject pile? If you've got a few there that just aren't for you, you are going to join the 68% of people who claim they've regifted, or considered regifting, a holiday present. Here's how to do it right…

The holiday is over, now the headache begins. How do you get rid of the tree, the wrapping paper and all the old gadgets you just replaced? We have the answers for how to reuse, reduce and recycle everything having to do the with holiday.

It just wouldn't be the holidays without a little Elvis spoof. So we've teamed up with Eco Elvis, the only environmentally friendly Elvis impersonator, to bring you "Green Christmas" and some responsible holiday cheer. You don't want to miss this.

With iPhones getting stolen left and right this holiday season, you might want to check your "Find My iPhone" feature to make sure it works. As our writer found out the hard way, the safety feature meant to help thwart thieves doesn't work with all combos of browsers and operating systems. Are you at risk?

Welcome to this, the last Rumor Roundup of 2010! For the most part, it looks like the Internet Rumor Engine has already gone on winter vacation, so it's slim pickin's. But, well, it's winter and traditionally a time of hardship, right? So tighten your belt and dole out small portions, because these are the last you're getting for a while! See you in 2011!

Like designer clothes but don't have time to make it to the boutiques? Top-name fashion designers are now hitting the road in any vehicles they can find &mdash from ice cream trucks to Airstream trailers. We've got the scoop on how to get them to stop at your driveway.

Oh, yes, you know you will be regifting something this year. So many people will be re-wrapping gifts that there's actually a day proclaimed as National Regifting Day. Find out how to participate in style, so you don't end up looking like a Scrooge.

Searching for that perfect holiday gift and can't find it in a big box store? You might need Etsy to the rescue. If you can't find something unique among its 7.5 million items for sale, we have the secret to ordering custom gifts!

Come in, and know these rumors better, man! For they are the rumors of The Internet Future and will teach you things about yourself! (Not really. You're perfect just as you are and we wouldn't want to change you.) Anyway! We've let these things build up for a week, so it's time to "vent the steam", as it were. Enjoy our latest Rumor Roundup. Burst.

There's Groupon, and then there's a growing, massive list of other daily deal sites of all stripes. They're easy to confuse and impossible to rate if they're worth your time on your own. Cull your browsing down to just these five that we've selected, and you'll likely end up saving time and money.

Thought holiday shopping was all about women buying gifts for the family? Think again. This year, men will spend more, and divert a lot of their cash to themselves. What do they want? We took our video camera out to the mall to find out. Watch what we found...

Below we've rounded up several discounted and buy-one-get-one gift card deals from participating merchants and restaurants. The deals:

• AMC Theatres: Get a free $10 Concession Card for every $50 you spend on gift card purchases.
• Bonefish Grill: Get a free $20 gift card when you spend $100 or more on gift cards.
• L.L. Bean: Get a free $10 gift card when you spend $50 or more on gift cards.
• Jamba Juice: Purchase a $25 gift card and receive a free 16-oz. smoothie.
• see all gift card deals, almost 30 in all

Tech products may cost less next year than they cost today, but everything else is going to go up! We've rounded up a list of 20 things that will most likely cost more in 2011. Relax, you've got three weeks to stock up in 2010.

Our new "Green Dad" columnist, Lou Carlozo, tracked down The Lazy Environmentalist, Josh Dorfman, who was just named "Dad of the Year" for his environmental concerns. Find out what this greenest dad in the world recommends you do about recycling, solar power and taking really long showers. His answers will surprise you.

With food allergies on the rise, that means big business for restaurants, web merchants and purveyors of information about food allergy safety. Those who can make sufferers happy, win a loyal following and extra revenue. Here's how...

Gift cards may sound easy, but any gift with that much fine print is actually a difficult choice. So before you pile a bunch of cards onto the check-out counter, read these five easy tips for successful gift card giving &mdash including how not to disappoint the fickle teens on your list.

How many stores have you befriended on Facebook to get special deals and coupons? We're guessing too many. You need to cull your list, and fast. We've named the top stores to pay attention to on Facebook so you don't waste another minute on unfulfilled friendship.

Even if you're an avid online shopper, there are still some items you won't buy from your computer. We took our video camera out to the streets to find out what those last remaining items are, and what retailers are doing to change your mind. Come watch!

Are you the kind of person who gets frustrated calling up a customer service line? You don't have to be anymore with our surefire tips for five ways you can complain successfully and win great customer service. There's even live people on the other end of this link (at least via video...)

Now that it's winter, why not pour yourself a steaming bowl of rumors? They'll keep you warm. Even better, take a sip of our Rumor Roundup. It's like rumors from concentrate. Enjoy!

If you don't want to be the cause of a horrid Night of the Living Dead remake when you show up at a family gathering with a video game gift for the kids, then follow our advice on how to pick out the right thing. Skip this and risk the wrath of parents everywhere!

The average person is going to spend $145 on buying gift cards this year, whether any wants them to or not. So we've got one question for you: Why pay full price? And for your recipients, we offer three suggestions: Sell, sell, sell. Here's how to navigate the choices that are out there right now and what cash value you'll get for your cards.

You "like" them, but do you really like them? That's what stores are trying to figure out as they've rushed to Facebook and Twitter, only to find out that the huge numbers of people who sign up to get a coupon don't necessarily stay loyal. Find out what works better...

Pay for shipping? No, not you! If you are thinking of procrastinating about holiday shopping but don't want to pay for overnight delivery of your gifts, then this is the list for you. We've rounded up the 20 top retailers' shipping deadlines for standard shipping and their latest possible deadline for expedited shipping.

When it comes to holiday shopping, smartphone users are big teases. They browse, compare prices, read reviews, look for coupons, but they don't actually hit the "buy" button on their screens. We took our video camera out to the mall to see what's holding people back.

Did you score some great deals on Black Friday? Did you get all the way to the checkout for some items online and find they were out of stock, or your order didn't go through? Welcome to the fourth annual dealnews awards for the best and worst of Black Friday 2010!

You thought we settled this debate? Think again. Even though Mac has cornered the market on music players and tablets, people are still spending days like Cyber Monday sorting through hundreds of laptops deals and opting for PCs. So we have at the debate again to see who wins with today's rules.

Can something as simple as a free purple Slurpee — a mix of red for Republicans and blue for Democrats — really change the country? Or it is just a great marketing ploy to refuel thousands of shoppers who hit the malls on Black Friday. Check out what you missed on one of the busiest days of the year in our new video.

We know you Black Friday naysayers who would never brave the crowds always wonder what you're really missing at the stores on a day like today. Are people really getting great deals? Are you missing out? We've got the definitive answer on what you're missing.

We've scoured through every Black Friday ad known to man and come up with the ultimate list of great bargains and buys that you will not want to pass up. So don't spend hours sorting through all those ads and trying to cross-reference them; we've done the work for you!

We have a winner! After much fierce competition and thousands of votes, we narrowed our choices among eReaders, video game systems, HDTVs and mobile computers, to just four. Now, just one champion gadget of Black Friday 2010 stands. Come find out who won!

What's a poor stuffed pig have to do to fend off impostors? We take a look inside the battle that the hottest products have against fakes and knockoffs, and what you need to know as a consumer. Oh, and we have a little video fun imagining what our Pillow Pet pig would like to do to his competitors.

It's the battle of the mobile computers — the biggest clash of the holiday season! In this head-to-head combat, we pit the top models of laptops, netbooks and tablets against each other, and you get to vote on the winner!

We've narrowed down your choices on new HDTVs to six great models for our quarterfinal Gadget Battle. The winner you help us choose will square off against the best eReaders, game systems and mobile computers on our way to crowning the best gadget of the holiday season!

Black Friday has been around since the 1960s, but that doesn't mean you have to treat it like you're shopping for bell bottoms and cassette tapes. We've got a cutting-edge guide for tips and strategies made for Black Friday 2010. This is your chance to get ahead of the crowds!

How do your shopping habits for Black Friday and beyond stack up against the national average? We found some surprising results in our new, exclusive national survey

Good shoppers know how to find the best deals, but expert ones know how to get the best deal no matter where they are shopping thanks to price matching. Even if you think you've got the process down, you need to check in and see what's different for 2010 and find out which stores are opting out of Black Friday price matching.

Welcome to Round 2 of our Black Friday 2010 Gadget Battle! Today's match-up squares off the top video game systems. Come help us crown a winner to see which one will face off against the best eReaders, mobile computers and HDTVs to be named the best gadget of the season!

While Black Friday is suddenly everywhere, is Cyber Monday getting left in the dust? dealnews commissioned an exclusive national survey on holiday shopping attitudes, and we found some surprising results that might spell trouble for online retailers.

Some day, we'll find that Rumors are dangerous for your health and/or the environment. Until then, feel free to gorge yourself on our Rumor Roundup! Each has been certified BPA-free.

Best Buy is going a little old-fashioned in its latest customer service effort ramping up to Black Friday 2010. It wants to hear from you. Right now. Find out what's behind this new effort.

Are you ready for a showdown? We've cooked up an epic Gadget Battle for Black Friday 2010, and we're starting the quarterfinals by asking you to help us crown the best eBook reader value. Come read our eReader value breakdown — which ebook reader has the best features per dollar? — and place your vote in our poll!

Remember when malls were supposed to be entertainment destinations and stores used to have DJs spinning tunes for your shopping enjoyment? While the recession killed the trend for a while, Apple is now ushering in a new era of shopping distraction.

Today's hottest tech gifts are tomorrow's recycling trash, so beware before you put any of your holiday gift budget toward any of these 10 gadgets that are getting ready for the scrap heap.

This year, it's hard to find a hot toy that costs more than $50. What does this backlash against the $400 dinosaur of years past mean for poor Stinky the Garbage Truck? Find out in our investigation of why $50 or less is the magic price point for toys for Black Friday 2010.

With an online shopping community it says is now 650,000 strong, Sears (yes, Sears) is attempting to take its social networking strategy to a new level with a redesign of its web properties and new features that allow for customized ads, local marketplace shopping and interaction with others.

Some day, we'll find that Rumors are dangerous for your health and/or the environment. Until then, feel free to gorge yourself on our Rumor Roundup! It's CFC-free.