Apple Card – 1 Month Later

It was just over a month ago that I applied for the NEW Apple Card. I got approved and documented the whole application process here:

What’s so special about Apple Card?

This was the first question that my friends and fans started asking me. After all, it is just a credit card right? On the surface, it is a credit card. You apply and if approved you’re assigned a limit and you receive a physical card in the mail. However, that’s where the similarities stop.

Apple Card in My Hand

The first thing that makes Apple Card different is the way you apply. If you watched my video above, you’ll note that the entire process happened in the Wallet app on my iPhone. Yes, you can apply for other credit cards on your phone in a browser or a dedicated banking app, but once you’re approved you’re likely to still need to wait for a physical card to show up in the mail. Once approved for the Apple Card it’s immediately available in your Apple Wallet app. You get to use it with Apple Pay immediately. Even if you don’t use it with Apple Pay you can still look up your Credit Card Number, CCD and Expiration Date in the Wallet app so that you can start using it online with places that don’t yet accept Apple Pay.

A titanium card with just your name on it

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10 Must See Black Friday Gadget Deals

If you live in the US, then chances are you’ve heard of Black Friday. It’s the day after Thanksgiving that retailers hold special sales to lure you in to get your  holiday shopping dollars. Whether you’re shopping for holiday gifts or just looking for deals on stuff, Black Friday, the fairly new Local/Small Business Saturday and Now Cyber Monday (the Monday following Thanksgiving) are worth checking out. Sometimes the savings can be substantial and if it saves you a few bucks on something you were going to buy anyway, why not take it?

I’m not one to go out and stand in line to save a few bucks on something, however I will absolutely check out online deals for gear.

As you might imagine I get all kinds of emails advertising Black Friday deals. So I’ve decided to share some of the ones I’ve hand picked here based on technology, Adobe, iOS/Apple, Photography and the other things that I’m interested in. So here are my Top 10 Picks in no particular order:

 #1

Amazon.com has been running Black Friday deals all week on all kinds of gear:

 #2

Here are some deals on Lightroom 4 and Photoshop Elements:

Special Holiday Pricing: Valid Nov. 22 through Nov. 28

·        Lightroom 4 — Available now for $119 (originally $149)

·        Photoshop Elements 11 — Available now for $59.99 (originally $99)

·        Premiere Elements 11 — Available now for $59.99 (originally $99)

·        Photoshop Elements 11 & Premiere Elements 11 bundle— Available now for $89.99 (originally $149)

 

#3

B&H Photo and Video

 

#4

J&R.com

J&R

#5

Smarthome Black Friday Deals

Smarthome, Inc.

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Quote of the Week: At lengths less than 4 meters you can just about use silly string…

Last week I wrote a post about Paying too much for cables and while most of the response both privately and publicly was in agreement there were a couple of people who felt that I was wrong or my logic was flawed. So I spent a little more time doing some more research. The surprising thing was that I couldn't find a single article or study that suggested that the more expensive cables were worth it. 

One point of clarification

One of the comments suggested that the length of the cable DOES matter and that you should pay for a better cable for longer runs. On this point I TOTALLY AGREE! If I were building a cable into a wall I would absolutely want a better cable as it wouldn't be easily replaced once the construction was done. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that the $200 30 foot cable is necessarily any better than the $50 30 foot cable. Also when I said "it either works or it doesn't", I meant that for ANY length or type of cable. If I buy a 30 foot cable then I expect it to perform like ANY other 30 foot cable should perform. In other words if the picture is distorted, noisy or has artifacts, doesn't transmit HDCP, etc. then that's my definition of "it doesn't work!" Just so you know, I'm also going to plug in the long cable and test it before building it in 🙂

 

The quote of the week – "At lengths less than 4 meters you can just about use silly string…"

comes from this extensive study that a guy did comparing cables and although he starts off stating that there is a difference in quality, his final takeaways  actually confirm my suspicions:

Your take-away from all this should be the following:

 

  • At lengths less than 4 meters you can just about use silly string (OK, not really) and get HDMI to pass at any current resolution. At less than 3 meters you'll even extend that to 12-bit color and possibly the next crazy idea HDMI Licensing decides to throw at consumers. Don't spend a lot on these cables and if you want to save money you won't let anyone at a big box store talk you into buying from them.
  • At long lengths (over 10 meters) you really need to pay attention to the manufacturer if you don't want to risk running into potential problems with 1080p and future formats such as Deep Color. With that said, just about any cable at or under 10 meters will pass 720p/1080i and nearly everyone will pass 1080p at 8-bit color as well.
  • If you have an existing HDMI cable and are running into problems, we'd suggest at least attempting the insertion of an active component at the sink (display) side. This is going to be far cheaper than ripping out your walls and re-running new cables – and likely just as effective.
  • HDMI has proven to be a moving target and there is no telling what crazy (likely unnecessary) format they will try to push down the cable next. Due to this, it's always good to "overbuild" your cable install, especially if it's a longer distance and going to end up behind drywall.
  • If you're not prone to upgraditis and think 1080p will be your maximum resolution for the life of your install, don't sweat it…

See the full report here.

Also see this comparison and this comparison. It would be fun to sit people down in a room with an HDTV, good 1080p source and a quality receiver and do a blind test using different cables. I'd be willing to bet money that the doubters wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

 

Lastly, Thanks!

Thanks to everyone that suggested monoprice.com as a source for low cost cables. I've placed an order for some even shorter HDMI cables than the 3 foot ones I found locally.

BTW: If you still disagree and feel better about the more expensive cables you bought, that's fine with me. Enjoy! 🙂 Y.M.M.V.

Last minute gift ideas

Last minute gifts

You forgot _______________. It happens. That relative or friend walks through the door that you totally forgot to get a gift for and you feel bad. Yep, it happens. Personally, I wouldn't sweat it. However, for those of you who do (you know who you are) here are a couple of things you can do to save the day.

 

iTunes Printable Gift Certificates

iTunes

When you go to hang up their coat, head to your computer and fire up iTunes. Then go to the iTunes Store and buy a "Printable" gift certificate. You can print it (quietly) on your printer, fold it and stick it in one of those emergency cards that you keep around. Oh yeah, you forgot those too. OK, a handwritten envelope will do. You can then explain to them that with this they can download music, movies, apps and more. Whew!

 

Amazon Printable Gift Certificates

amazongiftcert

OK, so the person that just walked in is not into digital entertainment. I get it! No problem. Head over to Amazon.com (here's the link to get you directly to the gift certificates. This way you won't be out of the room any longer than you have to be) and buy a gift certificate and print it out. Now they can go order whatever they want since Amazon sells just about everything.

 

Happy Holidays and get back to your guests 🙂

It’s Cyber Monday 2009

cybermonday

Today is the day that etailers follow up to Friday's Black Friday Deals with yes, Cyber Monday deals. The thought here is that not everyone can make it to a brick and mortar store to get all the things they need. Have you ever tried shopping on Black Friday? It can be brutal! So today is the day for those of you who would prefer to shop online in the convenience of your home or office. In many cases the same companies that offered Black Friday Deals have extended those deals through today. Check my Black Friday Deal picks here.

 

 

Apple Store Cyber Monday Deals here.

Staples Cyber Monday Event Deals here.

Kelby Training Cyber Monday Deals here.

Western Digital (great drives) Cyber Monday Deals here.

Frys.com Cyber Monday deals here.

Radio Shack Cyber Monday deals here.

Cyber Monday at OfficeMax here.

Cyber Monday deals from Other World Computing (I buy my hard drives and memory here!)

Cyber Monday deals from J&R in NYC.

Newegg Cyber Monday Deals here.

CompUSA Cyber Monday Deals here.

Also check out CyberMonday.net  and CyberMonday.fm (sites dedicated to Cyber Monday deal and coupon listings)

Black Friday Deals 2009

Terry found a deal

If you live in the US, then chances are you've heard of Black Friday. It's the day after Thanksgiving that retailers hold special sales to lure you in to get your  holiday shopping dollars. Whether you're shopping for holiday gifts or just looking for deals on stuff, Black Friday and Now Cyber Monday (the Monday following Thanksgiving) are worth checking out. Sometimes the savings can be substantial and if it saves you a few bucks on something you were going to buy anyway, why not take it?

I'm not one to go out and stand in line to save a few bucks on something, however I will absolutely check out deals online for gear.

As you might imagine I get all kinds of emails advertising Black Friday deals. So I've decided to share some of the ones I've hand picked here based on technology, Adobe, iPhone/Apple, Photography and the other things that I'm interested in. So here goes in no particular order:

 

Amazon.com has been running Black Friday deals all week on all kinds of gear:

 

Check out B&H Photo and Video's Holiday Specials (my favorite place to buy camera gear) 

 

The Apple Store Black Friday Deals

applestore

 

Adobe Systems' Black Friday Deals

adobe_clr

Save $50 offer:
Adobe Black Friday Offer – SAVE US$50 on orders of US$500 or more.  Enter code BLKMON50 
http://bit.ly/Xj5KL

Save $20 offer:
Adobe Black Friday Offer – SAVE US$20 on orders of US$250 or more.  Enter code BLKMON15 
http://bit.ly/Xj5KL

Free Shipping – commercial and education
Adobe Black Friday Offer – FREE shipping on adobe software products.   Enter code. 
BLKMONFS  http://bit.ly/Xj5KL

 

SmartHome's Black Friday Deals:

Smarthome, Inc.

 

CompUSA & TigerDirect's Black Friday Gone Pink Sale:

Black Friday Turns Pink at The All-New CompUSA.com

Black Friday Turns Pink at TigerDirect.com

 

Office Depot Black Friday Deals here

Hot Offers

 

 

Other Deals

Nikon Black Friday Deals here.

SanDisk (my favorite memory card brand) Black Friday Deals here.

3G Store Black Friday Deals here.

Elgato Black Friday Deals here.

Mophie Juice Black Friday Deal here.

Save 20% of Gelaskins.com products using this code: MRHAPPY until Monday. See my review here.

Micro Center Black Friday Deals here.

 

Yes, there's an App for that

Don't forget to check out the BF Deals App that I reviewed here for your iPhone or iPod touch.

 

My 2009 Holiday Gadget Gift Guide

Also don't forget to check out my 2009 Holiday Gift Guide for gift ideas and one stop shopping in multiple categories.

 

Check back throughout the day and the rest of the weekend.

If I come across more hot deals I'll update this post. Good hunting!

 

iPhone App of the Week – BF Deals

BFdealsicon

It's almost Black Friday! The day of madness and retail shopping. Actually with the economy the way it is, I welcome it this year. Go out and buy stuff PLEASE!

Of course you probably want to know where all the deals are. So I thought I would get you ready by giving you an iPhone app to use to keep up on all the potential savings. 

BF-deals    .BF-deals2

BF Deals

BF Deals is an iPhone/iPod touch app that dynamically pulls in the RSS feeds from all the popular Black Friday Websites. Well that's not really all that exciting. You could do the same thing with your own RSS reader. However, this app goes over and above by providing lots of useful features.  First off you can enable Push Notifications to see the deals as they come in.

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iPhone App of the Week – Nice List

NiceListicon

It's that time of year again and many of you are about to start (or have started) your holiday gift shopping. There are several good iPhone/iPod touch apps out there for managing lists, but for holiday shopping it's probably best to go with one designed to give you more than just a check list. I used one last year and it was great because besides letting me add people and the gifts that I wanted to get them, it also kept track of the budget and total spent.

 

Here's what I look for in a Holiday Gift List App

  • The ability to easily add names from my Contacts. Chances are if you're on my list, you're already in my Contacts. So why have to type them in from scratch.
  • The ability to add multiple gifts per person and their estimated costs
  • Of course the ability to check off what I've bought 
  • A passcode lock for the app itself to keep prying eyes out 🙂
  •  

NiceList-addperson

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My 2009 Holiday Gift Guide is Here!

That's right it's my guide to help you with you holiday shopping for the gadget lover (freak) on your list. The way this thing started was each year towards the holiday season all my friends started asking me and emailing about what my picks were in various categories and of course the answers were usually the same. So I decided to compile a list and just email it to the folks that asked.

Once again I've put together a Holiday Gift Guide to help you pick out gifts for the techies and gadget lovers on your gift list. However, instead of making a PDF with links to multiple sources, I've decided to go with once source this year. I've chosen Amazon.com simply because they are the one online retailer with not only the largest presence, but also the one that carries 99% of the items I recommend. Another advantage is that I can continue to add things that come up all the way up to the final days of the holiday season. In previous years I would always find some cool gadgets after the static gift guide was published. Now because they don't carry every single item on my recommendation list, you can check for some Extras at the bottom of this post.

 

How did you pick the items that you recommend?

Simple! If it's in my guide it's because I either use it now, have used it in the past or one of my close friends or colleagues use it and I trust their opinion. Now in some cases there may be an item in the guide that is NEWER than the one I use and I had to list that one because my model is no longer available. Two examples come to mind: The Epson Workforce 610 (I have the 600) and the Sony BDP-S360 (I have the 350). So there was no choice but the recommend the current model. Each year, I get dozens of emails from companies trying to get into the guide. However, unless I've used it or know someone who has, it doesn't get in PERIOD.

 

How does the gift guide work?

The guide is broken out by Category so that you can shop accordingly. This way you can pick your gift by the kind of person you're shopping for. I know that sometimes you have to buy a gift based on a certain dollar amount or budget (like gifts for co-workers), so I've given you a couple of dollar amount categories too. Happy shopping and in case I don't see you later, Happy Holidays to you and your family! You can go straight to my 2009 Holiday Gift Guide here.

 

2009holidaygiftguide

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iPhone App of the Week – RedLaser

redlaserlogo

I've pretty much always been a comparison shopper. Sure sometimes I buy things that I know I can get cheaper somewhere else, but I need them right then and there and don't feel like running around. The internet has certainly made it easier to find deals, but for those who still like to visit brick and mortar establishments, RedLaser is a must have app for you!

In these economic times everyone is looking to save a buck here and there. One way to save money is to not pay more for something than you have to. Although I have a couple of apps for doing price comparing on the iPhone, neither of them is as cool as RedLaser. 

 

Here's how it works

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