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Wednesday, June 28, 2006
By Christina VanGinkel
If you find yourself shopping for something from the electronics department, and you are increasingly becoming a bit bewildered between the differences of one choice to the next, it is time to learn the art of comparison shopping. With electronics especially, it can be difficult to stay up to date with what is what. Features come and go, prices change like the wind, and when we think we finally have the basics of something down, the manufacturer or the designers decide that leaving things be would just be too easy, so they go and switch things all around.
Thankfully, most online outlets that sell electronics have taken these facts to heart and have made it increasingly easy to compare not only prices of the electronics we are interested in, but also the features of the same.
A good example of how the fact that one can compare features and prices will not only get us a good bargain on our next electronics purchase, but also help us understand what it is we are buying, is how these sites break down their comparisons of products, to help us be better informed customers.
For instance, one online site recently offered for sale four projectors that all seemed to be about the same, but ranged in price from $700 up to $3000. Now that is no small price difference, yet at first glance all four projectors seemed to be quite similar, especially in how they physically looked.
When I selected the four models that they were offering to be compared, the site lined up all four models and gave me a line by line comparison beginning with the name of each. As each was manufactured by the same company, the names were very similar, yet the model number that was provided with the name of each made for the obvious distinction.
Next, the comparison chart provided key shopping points for comparison of each model to its counterparts, starting with the contrast of each, along with a brief section outlining any important features that they felt would not be covered in the comparison of each model elsewhere. After the important features were listed, they listed the lumens of each, the resolution, and the included warranty that came with each model. I was not sure what lumens meant, but was able to look it up for a better understanding of how the differences listed from model to model might affect my viewing pleasure. I was also able to see what was included with each base package, and if any customization from model to model were offered, I was able to discern what was being offered to be customized, and what each had available as standard.
If I had viewed these each separately on a store shelf, I do not know how I would have been able to so clearly see the numerous differences. The fact that I could simply check a couple of boxes and receive a comprehensive list of comparisons is one of those features of shopping on the Internet that is hard to find anywhere else.
While each electronic will of course offer a different distinctive list of features when comparing, this is a good illustration of how using such a comparison chart could help even an uninformed shopper, shop with the knowledge they need, to know that what they are buying is exactly what they want.
Another advantage of using an online shopping comparison tool is that you can quickly ascertain if the price difference from a cheaper model to a more expensive one includes features that are worth the difference to you. For example, if you are shopping for a new digital camera, and the cost between two models is one hundred dollars, yet through the comparison feature, the only difference you find is that one has an LCD screen size a quarter of an inch larger than its lesser priced competition, you can quickly decide if that is worth the one hundred dollars to your pocketbook.
The next time you are ready to buy a new television, a projector, DVD player or recorder, video camera, still camera, or whatever electronic accessory that you might be in the market for, shopping online where you can easily compare the gear side by side, is definitely the way to shop.
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