How to Save Big at Best Buy

I am always surprised by how many people shop at Best Buy.  Their prices are generally higher than most online stores or even retail chains like Wal-Mart.  If you're looking to pay more Best Buy is the right place to go.

In all fairness Best Buy is getting better with their pricing in a lot of areas.  TV's, Blue Ray players, etc are competitively priced.  Here are some tips on how you can shop at Best Buy and make out like a bandit.

First don't EVER buy a cable from there.  Certainly do not let some sales man talking you into buying a "Monster" cable for your HD TV.  You'll hear things like "You just spent $1500 on a TV you want to have the best picture possible and lower priced cables may give you a poor picture." - BULLSHIT it's HD and all digital.  Which means your cable is either going to be rated to work or it wont.  Monster cables are no better than the cheap ones.  Case in point, the cheapest 6' HDMI cable I could find at Best Buy was around $25.  "Five Below" a $5 and lower store across the street sells a 6' HDMI cable for $5.  Guess what, works like a dream on my Xbox.  It's also fully rated for 3D TV.   You can also get them at a reasonable price at Amazon.com.   However my favorite place for cables is monoprice.com. They sell cables of all types dirt cheap.  Cat 5, HDMI cables you name it.  If you can wait a few days for shipping you can save a lot on all sorts of things from there.  Don't let some salesman convince you otherwise.  The same applies to optical and coaxial DVD connectors.  Digital transfers 1's and 0's.  

Best Buy does price matching just like Wal-Mart and most other retail chains.  What most people don't know is that Best Buy will match Amazon's pricing.  It's the only brick and mortar store I know that actually will match Amazon.com's prices.  I've saved, $20, $30 and even more on products by pointing out that Amazon sells it for cheaper.  Now if you have an Amazon Prime membership you can get shipping for free and get it in two days plus you dont have to pay sales tax.  That is the best savings but some things like a TV you might not want to received from UPS's fine delivery staff.  You can however go right to Best Buy and point out it's $200 cheaper on Amazon.  The only catch is you're on the hook for sales tax but hey, you can get it same day.

Another good use for Best Buy is on fixed pricing items.  These are items like a new Wii, Xbox or Playstation.  They will cost the exact same amount regardless of where you go.  That way retailers all make the same amount on the item despite which retailer you go to.  Best Buy though has a rewards program that Wal-Mart doesn't so if you do end up buying a lot of equipment you can end up getting a few perks in the way of some free cash to spend at Best Buy.  Something for free is always better than nothing.

Competition is tough these days with electronics retailers.  Information like this should give you an edge when buying new equipment.

Impossible indeed!

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Defiance - A Western in SciFi Disguise

When I first heard about Defiance coming out I was excited to see another new Scifi series coming out. I have been waiting for Falling Skies to start up and thought perhaps Defiance might give me a good scifi fix while I'm waiting for that to start.

So far it's been a mixed bag which generally is not the most reassuring.  The concept was somewhat exciting.  Rebellion of survivors the loner joins forces and helps the colony.  Felt just like Terra Nova when that came out and we know what sort of success that was.

The two hour pilot to me was a huge let down.  Here in the first interaction ever with the protaganist Jeb Nolan he manages to find amazing alien energy tech only to have to use it in a huge battle against an army of mechanized warriors sought on destroying Defiance.  Once he uses the energy device and blows away the bad guys he is offered the job as Sheriff which he accepts.

I am horrified that this could be the best episode all season.  They threw absolutely everything into the pilot.  Epic battles, incredible alien tech, intriguing love story and even a boxing match.  While I say that scifi fans are the biggest bunch of hypocrites around, this story does not hold up.  It's way overdone and over the top.

I'll continue watching it and I may end up eating crow if the show improves but I dont have my hopes up.   Rockne S. O'Bannon is the writer on the show and except for Farscape the rest of his shows have been utter failures.  The new V which while it could have been so cool, failed miserably.  Alien Nation was "ok" but seaquest DSV was just terrible.

I think the show is going to run out of gas quick.  I don't see this as anything but a cheezy western.  How cheesy?   The Sheriff's name is Jeb.  We just need now is Hoss, Little Joe, Adam and Ben and we'll have Bonanza all over again.

I can hope that this show improves but I don't think it will.  I should have known better with a video game that goes with the show this was all over hyped.  My guess is that in another year the game will be at GameStop for $3 and the show will end up getting cancelled.