Lose The Laptop Challenge

So here we are on the last day of June. Wow!!! This month has flown by. We are wrapping up with the this month's theme of shopping! What have we learned so far? There are a ton of great apps that you can "shop" for in the Windows Marketplace. You can find games, social networking apps, news apps, productivity apps, shopping apps, and more. Both free apps and paid apps, fun apps and serious apps.. it is all there.

Some great shopping apps include tip calculators, grocery list managers, and more. Also, remember that some of your favorite websites for shopping and comparison pricing might have mobile versions available so that you can shop on the go. The ones that I used include Amazon, eBay, Pricegrabber, and Google.

We also learned that pedicures are wonderful and relaxing. :) Shopping WHILE getting a pedicure??? Pure awesomeness! Of course you can apply that to any time when you are waiting for something to happen...sitting in the dentist office, docs office, waiting in line for tickets to an event, riding the train. Any occasion when you can kill some time, make it good and use your Tilt 2 to shop!

Also, shopping for movies to add to your Netflix queue while out is awesome!!! I have done this a couple of times while talking with a friend and they mention a movie as a "must-see". I whip out my phone, open the Netflix app, search for the movie and add it to my queue. In a few days, it arrives at home. :) You can also view movie previews right from your Tilt via the Netflix app. And the quality is not bad at all.

Of course it's not only by using the the phone apps that your Tilt can aid in shopping. You can also use the camera to take photos of items that you are thinking about purchasing for your home such as furniture, send it off to your sweetie, and ask for an opinion. Tease a friend by taking a pic of an expensive item that you know that want in their favorite store and send it off along with a "na na na na na na" LOL! Of course that is silly, but this can be applied in many useful ways!

So, as we think about closing out June while shopping, can you please click the blue VOTE button at the top of this page to vote for me? We can both win a $500 Amazon gift card and you could win your very own HTC Tilt 2!

June 30, 5:11 pm

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OK, so you're out shopping and you find just what you were looking for, a toy for your child called "I Can Play Piano."  Perfect.  You look at the price tag and YIKES!  The toy cost $150.  Should you just go ahead and buy it or shop around?  Nowadays, who has the time to shop around?  You're lucky you had time enough to go to the store in the first place. 

Without wandering aimlessly around the mall, you can comparison shop right there in the store on your smartphone.  In my mind, there are three ways to comparison shop on your smartphone:

1.  Visit price comparison websites - pricegrabber.com,  NextTag.com, etc.

2.  Visit Amazon.com - Amazon.com frequently has great prices on products I have reviewed.

3.  Visit eBay - of course! 

Price Comparison Websites

Sites like PriceGrabber.com, NexTag.com, bizrate.com, mysimon.com, Shopzilla.com, comparisonshopping.com, and others work well for comparing prices.  You can search online to see if the product you have in your hand can be found cheaper.  You often find better deals online but you have to watch the shipping prices to ensure it's still a good price.  Depending upon the location of the merchant, you might even skip the sales tax.  These sites are great - but still require that you type in the product name. Although I find these sites useful, there are a number of clicks you need to go through before you get a comparison of your product across numerous sites.

Amazon.com

I list Amazon.com because I have often found Amazon.com has lower prices on items I have searched for - often much less than the MSRP suggested price.  In addition, a lot of the gadgets I have written reviews on just so happen to have super saver shipping at Amazon.com – which equates to free shipping!  In using Amazon on my Tilt2 I found that although a lot of information doesn’t show on one screen, Amazon.com's website displays pretty well on my smartphone.

eBay.com

I have to admit I use eBay to check pricing on things more than I do PriceGabber.com or other comparison sites.  I love eBay for the thrill of the chase.  eBay does have mobile apps for iPhone and Android to make shopping easier, but for us Windows users, we have to shop the old-fashioned, cumbersome way.  Unless you have an eBay mobile app, eBay is not the easiest to use in on-the-spot comparison shopping.

A Smarter Way to Comparison Shop

I have found that taking the time to type in the product or product barcode into my smartphone takes a bit of time.  There must be a better way.  At last!  A solution that makes comparison shopping a breeze.  Similar to what I shared with you about QR Readers, Barcode software can be downloaded on your smartphone for free and used along with your smartphone to take pictures of a product's barcode.   Once a picture is taken, the program will then identify the barcode numbers in the picture and search for it on the Internet for you.  One program I tried called, BarcodeZilla, searches the Internet and pulls up results on Google.com.  Barcode Readers work well because you don’t need to do any typing – they are the best kept secret for smartphones!  Barcode Readers are fast, easy-to-use, and could potential save you quite a bit of money.

I used BarcodeZilla on my TIlt2 to search for the toy, "I Can Play Piano," and found that online, I can buy it cheaper for $80 plus shipping.  Hmmm, since I have the time, I decided to buy the gift online instead of purchase it in the store. 

Using a barcode scanner is a very handy way to search the Internet with minimal typing.  However, the program is not without problems.  Sometimes the picture you take with your camera is not legible and you might have to take a couple pictures for it to work.  I have had some cases where the code was not recognizable.  So it's not a sure fire way to ease mobile comparison shopping, but it sure is sweet when it works.

You can comparison shop with barcode readers on any product - from peanuts to DVDs to phones - anything that has a barcode.   Go to your app store and download a barcode reader for yourself - you'll find that it's a lot of fun.  Happy Shopping!

Lori writes about making technology simple for busy moms and can be found at WellConnectedMom.com.  Follow Lori on Twitter @wellconnectdmom.  Please vote for Lori which also gives you a chance to win a Tilt2 smartphone and a $500 Amazon giftcard.  Thanks for reading!

June 30, 9:43 am

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There once was a challenge from AT&T,
That made my brow a bit sweat-y.
To write about shopping, 
Got my brain really hopping,
As I wrote on my Tilt 2 by HTC.

The challenge was there for 30 days,
My writing contained many a phrase.
"Lose the Laptop," they said,
"Use the Tilt 2 instead,"
And my writing was creative and ablaze.

The challenge for June was shopping, 
Making calls on the phone with no dropping.
The family I shopped for,
As I passed through the door,
Made sure that my battery wasn't stopping.

Shopping with a cell phone is quite fun,
It is helpful when you're on the run,
With HTC Tilt 2s,
You can plow through to-do's,
And talk to your friends when you're done.

The voting for the challenge ends soon,
So be sure to get your votes in by noon,
Vote for me, if you please,
You can do it with ease,
And if you win, you will get a balloon!

About this article: This post is part of an on-going series for the AT&T Lose the Laptop Challenge. This month’s challenge is all about SHOPPING. Remember to VOTE (for me, especially). You can vote every day and you have a chance at winning a $500 Amazon gift certificate plus an HTC Tilt 2 device.

HTD says: While I realize that it isn't St. Patrick's Day, writing limericks is always fun and a great part of the "challenge."

June 29, 10:53 am

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So you saw some electronics gadget or appliance while out shopping.  However, you can’t decide whether it is a good buy, or if it has a design defect or other undesirable traits that will become apparently only after you bring it home.

Rather than wait until you get home (and then travel down to the mall another day), why not just whip out your HTC Tilt2, and start a search on Amazon.com?

Now, I can see what you are thinking, what has Amazon got to do with buying things from shopping at the mall?

You see, Amazon has an amazing compilation of reviews and feedback from users who have previously purchased items from the store.  As such, it is an excellent place to check out the full product description – which might be more verbose than the actual information you can find in the shop.

In addition, you also get other details such as the actual weight and dimension of the product, shipping dimensions (to decide if it can fit into your boot or backseat), price range, ratings as well as full-fledged reviews.

While it is true that some reviews will carry inherent bias, I’ve often found that reading both the positive and negative reviews can yield important information in order to make a better decision.  Personally, that’s one way I research on before splurging on something – both online and offline.

With the HTC Tilt2 in hand and Internet Explorer Mobile launched, it’s a trivial matter to browse to Amazon.com while standing along the aisle.  And if you realize that the product doesn’t work for you, you can also check out the very useful “What do customers ultimately buy after viewing this item?” recommendation for alternatives.

You can follow me on Twitter @paulmah. As part of the June “Lose the Laptop” challenge, readers who vote are eligible for a chance to win a HTC Tilt2 phone and $500 Amazon gift card!  Best of all, readers get to vote once a day, every day, for additional chances of winning.

June 29, 10:49 am

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I work at a rather well known retailer.  For a little over 10 hours a day, I spend walking around where you shop.  I mean I do more than just walk around but that is besides the point.  While I am there making sure items are in stock for guests to buy, I sometimes spot items I want to buy.  I tend to whip out my phone and snap a photo of the label

Why the label? The label holds a lot of information for people who work there.  On the little 3x2 piece of paper.  The item number, the location, and bar code that I can scan.  I can find a lot about the item.  I can find out if we have it in stock still, if it's not on floor is iin the backroom or is it available at another store.  If all else fails I can enter the item number online on the company site and order it from there.

The only downside is I sometimes end up with 20 photos of labels and no idea why I took them.

As part of the AT&T Lose the Laptop challenge for June, we were tasked with the theme shopping. So as part of the June challenge, people who vote are eligible for the prize of a $500 Amazon gift certificate and an HTC Tilt 2. Just register and vote every day and it wouldn’t hurt if you voted for me. Every day you vote, you are entered to win.
 

June 29, 10:46 am

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