Extra Extra: Consumer Reports Electronics Buying Guide is on sale

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It may be a tad early to start your holiday shopping, but there’s a good chance you’ve at least been thinking about it. Maybe you’ve had a big-ticket gift—like a new TV or home theater—in mind for a while now, but are putting off the purchase till November or December. If it’s sales you’re waiting for, you probably know what you want and how much you’re willing to pay. On the other hand, you might just a teeny bit leery of throwing so much cash at something you know very little about. Which is better: a plasma or LCD TV? Should you upgrade to a Blu-ray player or stick with standard-def DVDs?

If you find yourself in need of expert advice, consider the newest edition of the Consumer Reports Electronics Buying Guide. Inside you’ll find a wealth of information on everything from televisions and computers to smart phones, GPS units, and much more. For each product, the Consumer Reports editors walk you through the basics, explaining what’s available, which features matter, brand profiles, and offering tried-and-true shopping tips.

In addition to product information, the guide offers advice on how to shop smarter, including:

• Netting the best deals online, and protecting yourself when you shop on the Web


• When to repair and when to replace a broken item


• How to haggle effectively


• Finding the best electronics retailer based on our comprehensive annual survey


• How to save—and what to be wary of—with refurbished or open-box products on store shelves


• Where to get free office software, free computer security programs, and more useful freeware

Sam's Club to offer free tech support

Low price may not be the only reason to shop at a warehouse club: Sam’s Club has announced it will offer free tech support on electronics products. (The official announcement follows a one-year pilot program.) The wholesaler is also offering home delivery and installation packages starting at $50 and $89, respectively.

According to their release, Sam’s Club “Tech Experts” will give free assistance to members with installation, set up, and troubleshooting queries on a broad range of consumer electronics products—whether or not they were purchased at Sam’s.

There’s a tradeoff, though. While Sam’s return policy on electronics has been among the most lenient in the industry (with no time limit on any item other than computers, which have a 6-month return period), all electronics items purchased after November 1 will have a 90-day return window. Anything bought before then will be covered under the current returns policy.

[Update 9/29/09: A customer service rep for Sam's Club tells me that while the company's Web site does not explicitly say so in its "Returns" section, return policies very from store to store. If in doubt, ask at checkout or the customer service window. —NKM]

Sam’s isn’t the first membership warehouse club to offer free tech support to its members: Costco has been providing free “Concierge Services” to it’s members for a few years now. (If any Costco members have used this service, we'd like to hear about your experience. Let us know in the comments section.)

For more on free help with electronics, see “Get free tech support online.” Also, check out our free guide to buying electronics and our Ratings of electronics retailers (available to subscribers). —Nick K. Mandle

As Dell settles New York State charges, its tech support problems linger

[UPDATE: Sept. 16, 2009: For more on the lawsuit settlement, see our latest post, Dell settlement to spread nationwide, New York AG Cuomo says on the Consumer Reports Electronics Blog, and Cuomo: Lots of Dell users in NY are due compensation on the Consumer Reports Money Blog. —Ed.]

Dell has agreed to pay $4 million to the New York State Attorney General’s Office in a settlement of a 2007 lawsuit that charged the company with engaging in deceptive business practices, including discouraging consumers from obtaining on-site technical support and misleading them about no-interest financial promotions.

Also among the AG’s allegations were that Dell did not provide customers with the tech support they were entitled to under its warranties and service contracts, subjecting them to unreasonable waits on the phone and failing to return their calls.

Back in 2007, when the complaint was filed, we took a look at the specific charges relating to Dell’s tech support and found that our own survey results on the company’s support corroborated the allegations in the complaint.

Curious to see if Dell has improved its support practices since then, we checked our latest tech support survey results. We found some improvements, but some problems still remain. Here are the details:

Waiting on hold. Things are looking better here. In 2007, 32 percent of the respondents to our tech support survey, conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, said they were on hold for an unreasonable amount of time. Our 2009 results say 25 percent of callers found themselves in telephone limbo for an unreasonably long period.

Numerous transfers to support staff. The status quo holds here, with about the same rate of complaints, roughly 30 percent, in 2007 and 2009.

Struggling through the automated phone system. No improvement here either, with approximately the same rate of complaints, roughly 20 percent, in 2007 and 2009.

E-mail assistance. E-mail help improved slightly. In 2007, 47 percent of respondents said Dell’s e-mail response to a tech-support question was not helpful. In 2009, that number was 43 percent.

Problem solving. Here, the picture was a bit more grim. In 2007, Dell was able to solve 64 percent of our respondents’ problems. By 2009, that number had dropped to 58 percent. But here’s the most sobering statistic of all: Our tech-support survey shows that Dell has been better than average at problem solving for laptop customers in our 2009 survey. Take a look at our complete tech-support survey results here (subscribers only).

Tip of the week: Get free tech support online

[Image: Courtesy of Ivan Petrov]

We recently blogged about the frustration many of us feel when we can't figure out how to get balky electronics gear to do what we want it to. Here are some ideas on where to get help.

The user guide that came with the TV, digital camera, or other gadget is the obvious place to start—provided you can find it. If you can't locate a hard copy, see if the manufacturer has an electronic copy on its Web site. Many companies do. We quickly located downloadable manuals for Nikon cameras, Nokia phones, and Sharp Blu-ray players simply by searching for "product manual Nikon cameras" and so on. You can also get manuals from some retailers, such as online retailer Crutchfield, and third-party sites such as Fixya, Retrevo, and DiploDocs.

See what other support services the manufacturer might offer. Many have quite a bit. Samsung's online support center, for instance, has FAQs and troubleshooting and how-to guides. It's possible the answer to your question or solution for your problem might already be addressed. Sony's eSupport center online has much the same. Panasonic, meanwhile, has set up a Concierge service for users of its flat-panel TVs.

Dell and HP offer free Windows 7 upgrades—if you’re careful

HP and Dell both plan to give free Windows 7 upgrades to qualifying customers who purchase systems before the official release on October 22.

If you buy a new computer from Dell or HP in the next few months (or bought one since June 26), there’s a good chance you’re eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 7 when it becomes available in October. If you’re still shopping for a PC, be careful which version of Vista or XP you buy with it, because your choice will impact the Windows 7 version you’re eligible for; in some cases, you won’t even be able to upgrade free.

To get a free upgrade from Dell, you must buy an eligible system between June 26 and December 31, 2009. Get the system with Vista Home Premium 32-bit and you’ll be able to upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit when it’s available.

But if you buy a PC with Windows XP (because you want to skip Vista altogether), make sure you get the version that Dell calls Windows Vista Business Bonus –Windows XP Professional Downgrade. That will get you a free Windows 7 Professional later. If you get XP without that official downgrade, you’ll have to pay for any upgrade to Windows 7 later. Also avoid Vista Home Basic and Vista Starter Edition; neither of those qualify for the free upgrade.

HP’s program is similar to Dell’s. You must buy an eligible system until January 31, 2010; it needs Vista Home Premium, Vista Business, or Vista Ultimate (or the official XP Downgrade).

Other manufacturers are offering similar programs. —Donna Tapellini

Update: About 911 and "disconnected" landlines

As some of you have pointed out in our recent post, Using your cell phone as your home phone comes with a risk, some states do require local carriers to maintain a "soft" or "warm" dial tone, which allows you to call 911 on a line that has been disconnected or is otherwise inactive.

An up-to-date-list of affected states is elusive; we struck out in obtaining one from the FCC and some industry groups. However, the following are likely states for some form of soft-tone requirement; we assembled the list from data in an FCC report published in 2000 (Adobe Acrobat software required) and a North American Numbering Council (NANCE) report published in 2002 (link requires Microsoft Word or compatible word processing software).

Here they are:

• Arizona
• California
• Colorado
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Iowa
• Massachusetts
• Minnesota
• Montana
• New York
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• South Dakota
• Utah
• Vermont
• Washington
• Wyoming

Update your Windows Service Pack

Service Packs are Microsoft's way of "rolling up" a bunch of fixes to their Windows operating system into a one-time installation. They are important because, even if your computer is running smoothly now, some fixes in the Service Pack can prevent future problems or make it run even faster and more reliably now. Also, Microsoft drops "mainstream" (free) tech support for the prior Service Pack level two years after a new one comes out.

You can check your Service Pack level by right-clicking "My Computer" and choosing Properties. You'll see something like the graphic to the right. XP is up to Service Pack 3 (issued May 6, 2008), and Vista is up to Service Pack 1 (issued April 18, 2008).

Conficker: Are you infected?

The Conficker Working Group is offering a quick, simple way to check that your PC is free of the Conficker worm. You don’t have to download a thing, and the test is free. Just take a look at the graphic that shows up on your computer when you click the link, and read the interpretation below it to determine if your computer is infected.

Since Kaspersky Lab recently revealed it had discovered a new variant of the worm, it’s more important than ever for you to protect yourself. Kaspersky says Conficker.C is downloading two new files onto infected computers. One is an e-mail worm that steals data and sends spam. The other is a fake antivirus program that says it will delete viruses for a $50 fee. That’s a double whammy, because if you type in your credit-card number, it’s likely going straight into the hands of cyberthieves.

Kaspersky says it believes the new variant will remain active until May 3, 2009. —Donna Tapellini

Best Buy bundles shipping and setup with HDTVs

Spend $999 on an HDTV at Best Buy, and the store will deliver the TV to your home, plug in an existing video source, and haul away your old set for recycling—all at no extra charge, a first as far as we know.

The retail chain, one of the largest retailers of HDTVs, introduced the offer in its weekly circular on March 8 and on its Web site. It covers TVs bought online at www.bestbuy.com or at one of the company's 1,006 locations nationwide (provided you’re within 25 miles of a store).

Delivery, of course, isn't newsworthy in and of itself. But it's often an extra-cost service that adds $50 to $100 or more to the tab. Even when delivery is free, as it is from online retailers such as Crutchfield and Amazon—top scorers in our most recent Ratings of electronics retailers—it might be limited to certain sizes or to the threshold of your home. No other retailers, to our knowledge, include recycling of your old TV and setup with free delivery.

We hasten to point out that the setup that comes with the Best Buy offer is as basic as it can be; they'll simply plug in one existing video source, such as a cable box or satellite or antenna feed. But even that can be helpful for consumers who are completely flummoxed by technology.

Best Buy said it has not raised TV prices to cover the cost of the added services, which they estimate as a $70 to $100 value for delivery and basic setup. Our quick, informal price check against other retailers showed that a 46-inch Samsung LCD that did very well in our TV Ratings (available to subscribers) was listed at $1,600 at Best Buy (including the delivery bundle). The same set was selling for $1,500 to $1,750 at several other online retailers, and in some cases shipping was additional. And you'd have to hook it up and remove your old set yourself.

In a separate move, Best Buy recently rolled out a recycling program for most electronics gear at all its stores. Consumers can bring TVs and monitors up to 32 inches, VCR players, computers, phones, and more to a store, where they'll be accepted for a recycling plan at a cost of $10 each. The plan began last year as a pilot. The retailer got low marks for previous recycling efforts, but the current program seems to be improved.

—Eileen McCooey

Class-action settlement reached for owners of Toshiba rear-projection DLP TV owners

If you own a Toshiba rear-projection DLP TV that's had a problem with short bulb life, you may be getting some relief. Last week, a court approved a class-action settlement that requires Toshiba to reimburse the cost of replacing the bulbs used in the lamps, and to extend the warranty for replacement bulbs from six to 12 months.

The settlement applies to 2004 and 2005 Toshiba rear-projection DLP sets purchased between January 1, 2004 and September 18, 2008. The lawsuit alleged that the bulbs used in the lamps were defective, and that Toshiba knowingly misrepresented the life span of the bulbs, breaching express and implied warranties. The suit claimed that while Toshiba estimated the life of the bulbs to be about 8,000 hours, many customers found they were burning out after 300 hours, or about two months of regular use. Replacement bulbs cost about $300 each if installed by the user.

Toshiba, which is no longer in the rear-projection TV business, denied any wrongdoing, but agreed to the terms of the settlement, which was approved by a federal district court on Feb. 24, 2009.

If you own one of these TVs and believe you are eligible to make a claim, visit the settlement's website (http://www.dlplampsettlement.com) for more information. While the warranty extension applies to all TVs covered by the deal, regardless of whether you file a claim, you will have to apply to get a new bulb or receive a reimbursement for one you've already purchased.

—James K. Willcox