Merry, Merry! Give a laptop promo extended to Dec. 31st!

This late gift recommendation is for the younger techies out there since my last blog post was about giving a Wii for your grandma.

You can donate the revolutionary XO laptop to a child in a developing nation, and also receive one for the child in your life in recognition of your contribution. But you need to hurry fast because the promo is only until December 31st.

Give One Get One

My brother in law got to play with one a week ago and he said these laptops are pretty cool (Explore the XO Laptop). They connect to the internet via wifi and it includes games, drawing and music apps, a mini word processor and more! It runs on Linux.

A Wii in Grandpa's and Grandma's stocking

Just in case you're still wondering what to get Grandma and Grandpa this Christmas.

It turns out Nintendo's Wii is growing in popularity among seniors.

A article on the Washington Post reports "On the retirement community scene, bingo is looking a little like last year's thing, as video games have recently grabbed a spot as the hot new activity."

Granny Got Game

There's even Wii parties over at Riderwood Village in Silver Spring ... "It loosens the joints, stirs the brain waves and breaks the ice."

To all the young-at-heart Dads, now you have a great excuse for buying that Wii you've been craving.

For Stars Wars Fans

A great (and amusing) tribute to the maker of Star Wars. Enjoy!

CompUSA Closing

Our big local computer store in Columbia (CompUSA) is closing shop. A few months ago all the CompUSA stores in Maryland were closed except for the one in Columbia. In fact things seemed to have been picking up for the store in Columbia with their assortment of electronic goods including digital cameras, computers, TVs and they're the only non-Apple store in the area that also carries Apple computers. But the company has been sold and their announcement indicates they will close their store operations after the holidays (plan to check out their store-closing sales).

CompUSA is sold and stores will close after the holidays

So who are we left with now? Among the big stores there's Best Buy over at Gateway Overlook Drive. But they don't carry as much computers and parts as CompUSA. And there's also Staples which now also sells Dell computers but they have even less of a selection than Best Buy (although it's a great place to buy printers). And over at Arundel Mills there's Circuit City.

And of course there's always the small stores like ComputerShop over at Owen Brown which carries various computer parts and supplies. There's also Computer Installations over at Clarksville Square which is a good place to order your custom made computer

I've enjoyed going to CompUSA and I hate to see them go but with people buying their computers online (although Dell announced last week they will also start selling their computers at Best Buy) and with falling computer prices, it's a tough business environment. Will we see another big computer store in our area in the future?

Buy Dell computers below cost

You can now buy Dell computers below cost.

Sounds like this is not really a new special because it turns out in the past few months, Dell has been selling their computers below cost. I am constantly amazed how cheap computers are these days and practically every week there's always a Dell special. A few weeks ago a client of mine bought a brand-new Dell Vostro PC with a 19-inch monitor for about $470. When I saw that price, I just found it hard to imagine how Dell could squeeze out a profit. Turns out there were no profits. What kind of a business is Dell trying to run?

Dell's U.S. sales fall, profits disappoint

Is this similar to how some car companies sell cars below cost to earn their money back from repair parts and hope that they win a customer for life? But if computers are this cheap, when it's time for a computer repair, it might be cheaper to just get a new one. In fact there are a few computers and monitors sitting in the floor of my office from clients who just recently upgraded their computers. These are 2 to 3 year old computers that are in fairly good condition, but the Dell ads for a new computer with a flat-screen monitor for about $500 was too enticing to pass-up.