The guys over at Dealnews have published a rather nonsensical list that will probably help you discern what exactly is a good buy and what’s not on Black Friday.

1. Know the Price History for the Item
2. Consider Other Colors
3. Compare to Prices on Similar Items
4. Consider Bundle Offers
5. Look for Coupons That Apply to Your Selection
6. Look for a Coupon for Competing Stores
7. Does Shipping Kill the Deal?
8. Don’t Forget Sales Tax

Sounds like common sense, sounds like something we all should already know, but let’s be honest. If you have 16 screaming, kung-fu grip mommies around you grabbing everything around you and you get caught up in the fever of purchasing a $79 dollar point-and-click camera made by a name brand that’s only sold in certain stores and perhaps isn’t the best name brand out there I’m not talking from experience… I’m really not… damn cheap friggin’ camera…

So yes. Head over to Dealnews.com and read the whole article. Who knows, you might be able to save some money on some rather useless camera gadget and buy more bang for the buck.

[ Links: Dealnews - 8 Tips to Get the Best Deals on Black Friday ]

If it were not for my two younger nieces and Rite Aid, I would not have known about these “Pocket Change” products that basically change the look and feel of your pants pocket.

There’s an exclusive $5 off Pocket Change coupon available now on Facebook.com/riteaid on the “Rite Aid” tab. Pocket Change accessories are exclusive to Rite Aid and offer an affordable way to add glitz and glam to your pockets. These coupons are available for a limited time, so print yours now.

So for the young one, or for yourself, hit up Rite Aid’s Facebook page and print out a $5 off coupon on the Pocket Change product.

Of note, it’s pretty wise to go ahead and bookmark or become a fan of the Rite-Aid Facebook site. They often have exclusive coupons that can help you further save money.

[ Links: Rite Aid Facebook Page ]

After reading that a lot of my friends had hit up stores, waiting in line until 4am for $300 televisions or $180 laptops or some other madness, I decided to go the other way. I slept in – still suffering from the Thanksgiving food induced coma – and still got some killer deals via online purchases. But even that might pale in comparison to the upcoming Cyber Monday.

Where to go? Here’s a quick list:

Overstock.com – They have sales that have started on Black Friday and will continue through Cyber Monday.
Dealnews.com – Pretty much one of the deal sites that I go to almost daily.
Cyber Monday 2010 – Part of Bradsdeals.com that’s updated quite frequently.
Dealighted.com – A frequently updated list that scours Fatwallet, Slickdeals and other sites.
Top Hot Deal – A collection of heavily discounted Amazon offerings – I found Mad Men Seasons 1-3 on Blu-Ray for $9.99 here.

I’ll add more when I’m able to overcome my tryptophan overdose.

[ Links: Overstock.com, Top Hot Deal, Dealighted.com, Cyber Monday 2010 ]

I’ll have to admit that this is the first Christmas shopping season where I’ve yet to complete my shopping – been way too busy and there’s been way too many gadgets that I’ve wanted for myself. With that said, it looks like BradsDeals.com and Yahoo! Shopping are trying to find a way to make the next 60 (or so) days of this shopping season and beyond that much easier for all of us online shoppers.

BradsDeals.com, the leading website for shopping deals and advice, and Yahoo! Shopping, the #1 comparison shopping site are expanding their commitment to providing consumers with the best deals this holiday season. This year they are building upon their successful partnership on with “60 Days of Deals!” where each day through January 5, 2011, Yahoo! Shopping, Yahoo! Deals and BradsDeals.com will showcase one exclusive offer from a major retailer.

“Our editorial team (at BradsDeal.com) is tracking sales and coupons for the season’s must-have items at nearly 1500 retailers. A ‘BradsDeal’ is what happens when we match one of those valuable coupons with a deeply-discounted sale item.”

With Yahoo! Shopping involved, over 20 million people have access to these 1500+ deals. Take the hint, don’t be lazy and check it all out. I know that I will.

[ Links: BradsDeals.com, Yahoo! Shopping ]

I love gadgets almost as much as I like saving money and finding deals. Got word about Bradsdeals launching Black Friday 2010, a website dedicated to bring together all of the upcoming November 26th Black Friday Deals.

Brad Wilson, Founder of BradsDeals.com is proud to announce the launch of BlackFriday2010.com, the leading website devoted to researching, planning and executing a fun and successful Black Friday shopping strategy.

BlackFriday2010.com is the source for pre-released Black Friday ads for major stores. Visitors will find the latest holiday shopping news and tips, plus printable coupons and Brad’s handpicked deals, many of which are provided on an exclusive basis by retailers to BlackFriday2010.com.

“Black Friday is more than great deals and it is more than shopping,” said Wilson. “It’s a social event. Mothers and daughters, cousins, friends – they all research for weeks, scouring through our leaked Black Friday Ads, planning the timing and tactics they need to get the best deals.”

Last year, more than 10 Million shoppers saved money using the Black Friday site. The average consumer saved nearly 25% on their purchase.

In order to make shopping as simple as possible, Wilson will provide a free Black Friday iPhone app that allows shoppers to take all the store ads and information on the go.

So the site combined with the free Apple iPhone app makes for a killer way to save a lot of money this Black Friday. Oh… and Brad’s Deals isn’t just a one or two trick pony. Immediately after Black Friday, Brad’s Deals will unveil CyberMonday2010.com to help you save even more online.

Be smart, use BradsDeals.com and BlackFriday2010.com and don’t miss out on the savings this year.

[ Links: Brads Deals, Black Friday 2010, Cyber Monday 2010 ]

Chevrolet finally announced the pricing for the highly anticipated Chevrolet Volt. And guess what, it’s nowhere near half as bad as some folks were guessing. The pricing details are:

• Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price starts at $41,000 ($33,500 net of full federal income tax credit, which ranges from $0 to $7,500); Lease payment on a 36-month lease at MSRP as low as $350 per month with $2,500 due at lease signing including security deposit
• OnStar provides unprecedented connectivity through Volt mobile app; five years of OnStar (Directions and Connections) service standard
• Volt’s eight-year/100,000-mile battery pack warranty provides added peace of mind
• Volt can be your primary car; approximately 340 miles of total range provides freedom to drive wherever, whenever

Starting today, participating Chevrolet dealers in launch markets will begin taking customer orders for the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, the industry’s first electric vehicle with extended-range capability. List this under my DOWANT category.

[ Links: Chevrolet Volt, Chevrolet Volt Pricing ]

GM is earning even more cool points with me. They just announced that 4,400 Chevrolet owners are eligible for free home charging stations.

The first buyers of the Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle with extended-range capability will be eligible for one of 4,400 free home charging stations. The program will provide Volt owners with a 240-volt charge station from either ECOtality, Inc. or Coulomb Technologies. In many cases, it will include the cost of home installation. The projects are made possible with a grant of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds from the Transportation Electrification Initiative administered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

“Many owners will plug their Volt into a normal 120-volt electrical outlet, charge overnight and drive to work in the morning using only battery power,” said Tony DiSalle, Product and Marketing Director for the Chevrolet Volt. “For Volt owners who want to install a faster 240-volt charge station, we expect the Department of Energy project to save $1,000 and $2,000.”

GM is the only manufacturer working with both DOE partners: The EV Project from ECOtality and ChargePoint America project from Coulomb Technologies.

[ Links: GM Volt, The EV Project, ChargePoint America ]

Some leaked details have emerged that T-Mobile is preparing for a June effort to help the fourth-placed U.S. wireless carrier improve its fortunes. According to leaked scripts for two as-yet-unaired T-Mobile commercial spots, the company is planning to give away phones for free on June 19 – assuming of course that you sign a long-term contract.

The exact details of the giveaway aren’t yet clear, though the Father’s Day promotion does seem very broad – the promotion insisting that T-Mobile will be giving away “every single handset in the store.” We can only assume there will be some fine print (when isn’t there?) that hopefully will be revealed in a week or two.

Link to the original article…

Apple iPad isn’t a cellphone. Apple iPad doesn’t have a forward facing camera. I’ve been ranting about that kind of stuff all over my Twitter account for quite a while. Seems like Truphone wants to shut me up with their announcement:

Truphone, the global mobile operator, today announced the availability of its application that offers thousands of Apple iPad customers the ability to make voice calls. The company’s award-winning VoIP application turns the tablet-sized device into a mobile phone that offers free or low-cost international calls, as well as advanced Instant Messaging features that integrate a user’s contacts from across multiple IM networks.

Truphone was the first to officially launch a mobile VoIP calling application for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch platforms, and the company continues to lead the way with the launch of Truphone for iPad.

The Truphone iPad application offers customers free calling to other Truphone and Google Talk users when connected over Wi-Fi, and international calling to mobile phones and landlines for as low as 5 cents a minute. Truphone also offers an unlimited calling plan and free voicemail.

Yeah. So now you can use Truphone to actually make VoIP calls to other Truphone and cellphone users for relatively cheap. The Truphone application is free, there are some fees involved calling phones other than Truphone user to Truphone user.

[ Links: Truphone, Truphone Rates ]

Last week Charter gave their customers a bit of good news by informing Broadband Reports that the company has no plans to impose metered billing, or for that matter even enforce their recently created “soft caps.” The company dropped another bit of good news on customers this morning, by announcing a suite of new speed upgrades for users.

According to a new Charter website and Charter employee Eric Ketzer, the company started bumping their “Express,” “Plus” and “Max” speed tiers last week, and users need to power cycle their modem to see the faster speeds.

The company’s Express tier used to be 5 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up, and is now 8 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up. Charter’s Plus tier has gone from 10 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up to 16 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up. The company’s Max tier has gone from 20 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up to 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up. Prices may vary based on regional competition, but Charter’s website lists the tiers’ introductory new-contract price points at $30, $40, and $55 and respectively.

Ketzer confirms to Broadband Reports that the freshly-upgraded 25/3 Max tier is being powered by DOCSIS 3.0 upgrades, so you will need to upgrade your modem to one that’s DOCSIS 3.0 compliant. Ketzer also confirms to us that this faster speed should be available in all markets, which suggests that Charter has been a very busy company since they exited from bankruptcy late last year. As a related aside, Charter’s latest earnings report shows a company on the mend.

Looking for something faster than 25 Mbps? Charter unveiled 60 Mbps service in St. Louis last year for $139.99 ($129.99 bundled), and Ketzer tells us the company does have plans to expand that service into additional markets. California should be next to see the high-end service, but the company isn’t providing specific dates for the launch.

As always, you can find Charter user opinions and speed tests of the tiers in our Charter forum.

Link to the original article…

At launch, Google took heat for a number of things related to their Nexus One Android based smartphone, including the fact that customers who canceled service early faced $550 in fees – a $200 ETF from T-Mobile, and a $350 Google “Equipment Recovery Fee”. Which was more than the phone even cost. Responding to these criticisms, sluggish Nexus One sales and the FCC’s recent inquiry into ETFs, Google says they’re lowering the Nexus One “equipment recovery fee” from $350 to $150 and talks about the decision to the Wall Street Journal:

A Google representative said the company had been working with T-Mobile to lower the equipment fee. “Google’s overall financial philosophy with regard to operator service plans remains unchanged: We make no profit from commissions from operators or from equipment recovery fees, and our recovery fees are based on operator charges to Google for early termination of service,” the company said in a statement.

Another criticism of the Nexus One launch was that Google was only offering e-mail support (with turaround response time of up to 24 hours). That’s also changing, with TMO News indicating that Google has officially launched phone support for the Nexus One in the US, 888-48-NEXUS (63987). A third major criticism of the product was that the phone struggled to obtain 3G connectivity, even in markets where T-Mobile 3G service exists. That problem was apparently fixed with a recent firmware update, though some connectivity complaints persist.

Link to the original article…

This is the second “One Year Later” review that I’ve done where I feel like a day, a week, or even a month just doesn’t do service to a review about an item(s) that should be used and critiqued over the year to find any and all problems, quirks and hopefully all of the good parts all enough time to come to the surface. Just a bit over a year ago, I purchased one of the Ooma Hub and Scout combo packages and decided I was going to test it. As with all over VoIP platforms, the Ooma Hub depends upon your internet connection. Your connection goes down, so goes your ability to use your phone.

That’s the nature of VoIP.

But just like Vonage, who I have been with for 7 years, or just like magicJack who I’ve kept for 2 years whenever I travel, and now Ooma – which I’ve kept now for slightly over a year. I tend to stick to commercial VoIP solutions because I like the support they give me. And in one year, I’ve had to contact Ooma only once for an outage last April that lasted for about 4 hours. Mind you, I don’t even make that many phone calls, but seeing that little red light just bothered me enough to send them an e-mail. They promptly responded and solved the problem in under a few hours for all users of Ooma. No problems since.

Unlike magicJack, there’s no implicit limit to how long a phone call can last. You can talk for 60, 90, 270 minutes and it will not disconnect you. The voice quality is on par, if not better than an AT&T landline. In fact, people have heard more of what was going on in my background than an AT&T landline. Sometimes, that’s not a good thing… but that’s another post

Ooma does require a hefty price for their equipment. Their newer Ooma Telo hardware just screams out über-sexy with that fingerprint magnet black plastic and smooth corners, while the older (see above) equipment would be just fine in a 1960 retro styled home alongside your childhood Han Solo blaster toy. Call me odd, but I love my older one just fine. Ooma Telo can be purchased from Amazon.com, Best Buy and other retailers starting around $199.99 to about $249.99. Good part though? There are zero monthly bills after that. But you have to hope that Ooma stays in business so you’ll still have the ability to call out and not just have a pricey piece of kit in your house.

So how does Ooma make money? Besides investments by people ranging from Ashton Kutcher, Ooma’s Creative Director, to venture capitalist that have put in as much as $18.3 million in investments just in Summer of 2009; Ooma makes money from Premier Subscribers and from pre-paid overseas phone calls. Mind you, their rates aren’t exactly the best, but I’d venture to say they’re pretty darn close. But the experience of calling overseas is hit or miss. Phone calls to Germany and Britain were flawless. Better than a cellphone in most cases. Phone calls to Japan, China and New Zealand… went badly. I had to call them again in order to be heard in most cases. And I have a 10mb digital cable connection that’s pretty solid most of the time.

Premier Subscriptions cost $9.99 a month, or $119.99 a year – up from $99.99 when I first purchased my Ooma Hub and Scout – and offers quite a few good perks: Instant Second Line™, Three-way Conferencing, Multi-Ring (the ability to ring more than one phone, like your cellphone for instance) and a rollover, Back-up Number when the internet isn’t being friendly.

For all intents and purposes, I didn’t renew my Premier subscription, despite being grand-fathered with a few other perks that are no longer part of the Premier subscriptions, I just didn’t find myself using it. I have call-waiting. I have caller ID. I can call all of the US without a problem. I have voicemail that I can check via the internet – Ooma’s web interface is actually quite decent and easy to use – or I can check directly on the machine itself. The speaker quality on the Ooma Hub is good and loud. I have e911 access that’s accurate to my house street address. And if you’re another Ooma subscriber, wherever you’re at, I can call you for free. Take the machine to China, once you’re plugged in, I can call you like it’s a free call.

To be honest, that’s all I need. I really don’t want nor need a landline, but having a second line in the house is cool to have in case somebody insists on sending a fax, which Ooma supports too.

But the bad parts about Ooma… I seriously can’t tell you how long they will be around. I’ve gotten a year, so I’ve gotten my money’s worth. They’ve secured more money, they have a presence in Best Buy and Radio Shack, as well as an online presence via Buy.com and Amazon. So I know they’re selling quite a few. Despite being extremely easy to set up, setting up the Ooma behind the router really isn’t suggested. I’ve had some quality problems and what I ended up doing was splitting from the modem to the Ooma Hub then to my wireless router. No problems sense.

Is this the telecom killer? Nope. Is it a good for everybody? No. Is it good if you can find an Ooma Telo or Ooma Hub for cheap? Heck yes. If you’re adventurous, I’d say get it – not knowing if Ooma will go all Sunrocket and instantly close shop on you is a serious fear to have. But for the last year, I’m actually impressed with my Ooma Hub. It saves me cellphone minutes per month. Heck, I have my Google Voice account hooked into my Ooma phone number… so I’ve gotten my money’s worth. But I’m hesitant to buy this for my mother, despite the Ooma Telo being sexy as all get out.

Final statement: Easy to set up, pretty kickass barebones without a Premier Subscription, but it’s just too risky to purchase if you’re not used to being on the edge. I’d call this a 3.5 out of 5 (Only If You’re Brave) – oh, and I don’t even use the Ooma Scout since I use only VoIP and not the landline functionality that Ooma supports.

[ Links: Ooma ] [ Related: magicJack "Year Later Review" ]