Since many of us TR owners are buying systems and accessories from a variety of places, it might be helpful for everyone to list their favorite/preferred vendors and any special deals they may know. Any anecdotes about what you bought might be appreciated as well.
I’ll go first…
iCube - I bought my 512MB memory upgrade from them. Yuni was very helpful and had my memory shipped to me (from Japan) within a week. They had great communication and sent me invoices and tracking numbers very promptly.
Page Computers - I bought my TR’s enhanced battery pack (BP3T) from them for $275 (not including shipping and handling) which is cheaper than the price of the standard battery. I also purchased the PCWA-300S 802.11g PC Card from them for around $82 which is less than the $99 MSRP. They state on their site that Sony stuff takes a few days more to process than regular items but they still do ship pretty quickly. It takes around 1 to 1.5 weeks with standard shipping.
NewEgg - I actually haven’t bought anything TR related from them but they’re good to deal with nonetheless. I’ve purchased a ton of computer equipment in the past and they have had very competitive prices, great selection, fast shipment, and a pretty decent RMA policy. They do carry the TR so it might be a place to check when you’re shopping.
Users Side - This is a Japanese chain that sells Japanese computers in the US. Unlike Dynamism or other importers, they don’t sell these system with English operating systems as they are mostly targeting Japanese nationals who want Japanese computers while they are working/studying in the US. They offer a pretty good selection of pretty much anything that is currently available on the Japanese market. They will special order items if they don’t have it. Their prices are actually pretty reasonable and you can use them as an example for price matching if you need to. The offer support as well. If your Japanese item fails, they will help you expedite the process of shipping your system back to Japan for repair. Although their site is in Japanese, you can call them up and probabably find a person who speaks English if you need to place an order. If you’re lucky enough to live close enough to one of their stores, then you can stop by and check out some of the systems in person. Also, they always tend to carry neat little accessories that you won’t find anywhere else outside of Japan and parts of Asia.
When coupons or agressive pricing make them competitive. Free shipping $25 order.
Belkin.com
Good selection of cables, accessories, network and bluetooth devices. Good prices using Drachen’s luggage code. Newbies: search: luggage
Buy.com
Coupons help. Often lowest prices on mainstream items. Sometimes double-list with one price markedly lower than the other. Free shipping on most items.
Dell.com
With %-off, coupons and shipping they often offer the best deal. Regular prices are high.
Iocombo.com
Ship from East & West coasts. More tech. oriented. Good Bluetooth selection.
JR.com
One of the old catalog mail-order houses that survived the transition to the web. Sometimes good prices, often carry unique or hard to find items.
Newegg.com
One of the first places I check for a baseline price. They often get the order. Low or no shipping.
Sonystyle.com
The port of last resort. High prices, shipping & taxes. But some specialty items are only available here. Normally this is where I find the part number so I can shop it elsewhere.
When coupons or agressive pricing make them competitive. Free shipping $25 order.
Belkin.com
Good selection of cables, accessories, network and bluetooth devices. Good prices using Drachen’s luggage code. Newbies: search: luggage
Buy.com
Coupons help. Often lowest prices on mainstream items. Sometimes double-list with one price markedly lower than the other. Free shipping on most items.
Dell.com
With %-off, coupons and shipping they often offer the best deal. Regular prices are high.
Iocombo.com
Ship from East & West coasts. More tech. oriented. Good Bluetooth selection.
JR.com
One of the old catalog mail-order houses that survived the transition to the web. Sometimes good prices, often carry unique or hard to find items.
Newegg.com
One of the first places I check for a baseline price. They often get the order. Low or no shipping.
Sonystyle.com
The port of last resort. High prices, shipping & taxes. But some specialty items are only available here. Normally this is where I find the part number so I can shop it elsewhere.
How is buy.com btw? you and tifosiv122 seem to buy alot of things from there. their feedbacks are pretty low on resellerrating.com..
For me, Buy.com has always been fine. I’ve purchased over 20 items, never a serious issue…one item was the wrong size and they paid the shipping back and refunded my money.
I’ve used every major online company and a handfull of smaller ones…I really don’t care most of my CCs have internet fraud protection so I feel safe. If I am really concerned I get a temp CC number with the exact amount of the purchase.
Just ordered a BT GPS system from Belkin.com today…so chalk that up to another online vendor…i’ll let you guys know how it goes and review the BT GPS as soon as I get it.
Buy.com was discussed a while back. I’ve been buying from them for years and never had a problem. I’ve never had to send anything back, though. Some items ship quickly, some they seem to have to search out, but they’ve never cancelled an item and have always delivered. In the last two months I’ve ordered eight times (twelve items). Only two items remain unshipped, a yet-to-be-released movie and a recently ordered laptop cooler. Based on earlier experience, the movie will be shipped early and will show up within a day or two of official release.
[quote author=“tifosiv122”]Just ordered a BT GPS system from Belkin.com today…so chalk that up to another online vendor…i’ll let you guys know how it goes and review the BT GPS as soon as I get it.
Erik
Belkin got mine right out. I’ve been putting off a review pending a good road-trip workout.
I like the charging setup, USB cable with Auto and AC USB power adapters. I picked up the remote antenna but have yet to install it. On a sunny day it gets hot on the dashboard.
I’ve intentionally gone off course and it’s kiind of funny. This polite female voice asks you to do a U-turn. If you keep going off on tangents it constantly recalulates your course and keeps telling you when and where to turn. It will keep attempting to send you back down the street you’re on until it finds an acceptable cross street or freeway entrance.
Given an address, it will deliver you right on the money. There are a few things that bug me. I haven’t found any way to just browse around the map. It wants to focus the map on the GPS. Connecting via bluetooth works fine, but but I have to fiddle with the port/program to get it to connect.
I installed the entire continental US map database which takes 1.54GB. I did it mostly just to see how big it was.
So far I really like mine. I’m looking forward to hearing your opinions Erik
[quote author=“dbs”][quote author=“tifosiv122”]Just ordered a BT GPS system from Belkin.com today…so chalk that up to another online vendor…i’ll let you guys know how it goes and review the BT GPS as soon as I get it.
Erik
Belkin got mine right out. I’ve been putting off a review pending a good road-trip workout.
I like the charging setup, USB cable with Auto and AC USB power adapters. I picked up the remote antenna but have yet to install it. On a sunny day it gets hot on the dashboard.
I’ve intentionally gone off course and it’s kiind of funny. This polite female voice asks you to do a U-turn. If you keep going off on tangents it constantly recalulates your course and keeps telling you when and where to turn. It will keep attempting to send you back down the street you’re on until it finds an acceptable cross street or freeway entrance.
Given an address, it will deliver you right on the money. There are a few things that bug me. I haven’t found any way to just browse around the map. It wants to focus the map on the GPS. Connecting via bluetooth works fine, but but I have to fiddle with the port/program to get it to connect.
I installed the entire continental US map database which takes 1.54GB. I did it mostly just to see how big it was.
So far I really like mine. I’m looking forward to hearing your opinions Erik
I ordered the antenna as well…I do plan to mount it…I figure i’ll leave the GPS unit in the glove box…we will see how it goes.
I’ll be pretty tough on it, I am going to compare it to my in-car one that cost thousands more.
[quote author=“linc”]here’s a good workout to put your gps through.. :ph34r:
Sick man, creative use of technology. I doubt he figured it out himself. Anyone smart enough to configure the unit could steal enough juice from any of the lights to keep the units charged.
[quote author=“dbs”][quote author=“tifosiv122”]
eh, i’ve been doing that for years… :ph34r:
Erik
Got yourself a global ex tracking system huh?
Do you have little (air traffic) controll tags for each one? Alerts if they’re, ah, flying to low?
Actually, years ago my friends mom was cheating on her dad…she wanted to know with whom…we had this idea to place my GPS PDA in her car and have it log the route…instead we decided just to follow her one night…we caught her…my friend confronted her mom…needless to say, her parents are now divorced…but for me, it was fun following someone like that…
[quote author=“tifosiv122”][quote author=“dbs”][quote author=“tifosiv122”]
eh, i’ve been doing that for years… :ph34r:
Erik
Got yourself a global ex tracking system huh?
Do you have little (air traffic) controll tags for each one? Alerts if they’re, ah, flying to low?
Actually, years ago my friends mom was cheating on her dad…she wanted to know with whom…we had this idea to place my GPS PDA in her car and have it log the route…instead we decided just to follow her one night…we caught her…my friend confronted her mom…needless to say, her parents are now divorced…but for me, it was fun following someone like that…
Erik
Dam Erick-
Thats hella interesting. I would get should get one of those for my wife
Thank goodness thats not the case and I trust her. I am glad your friend got to the bottom of it for his dad. I never thought to use a gps system as that type of tool.
You should write up a article in a men’s magazine.
Best way to catch your wife cheating. Give her a GPS system
